You wasted life...

Ocean Breathes Salty
Modest Mouse

Your body may be gone, I'm gonna carry you in.
In my head, in my heart, in my soul.
And maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both live again.
Well I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Don't think so.

Well that is that and this is this.
You tell me what you want and I'll tell you what you get.
You get away from me. You get away from me.
Collected my belongings and I left the jail.
Well thanks for the time, I needed to think a spell.
I had to think awhile. I had to think awhile.


Isaac Brock, frontman of indi-band Modest Mouse pens a poem of regret and wasted chances. Inspired by the suicide of a close friend, he writes of his own mixed feelings as he says goodbye. You wasted life... why won't you waste the after life. I have had many theological debates with mixed up kids that think suicide is an answer to problems. But nowhere is the folly of this line of thought better critiqued then in this stirring song and it's surreal video.


The ocean breathes salty, won't you carry it in?
In your head, in your mouth, in your soul.
And maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both grow old.
Well I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I hope so.




Ithaca
Constantine P. Cavafy

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.

The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.

The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long.

That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.
Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.

It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.


In many ways I feel like Jon Foreman in The Beautiful Letdown. "I don't belong here." Heaven is our home. It's the return to a state of oneness with God and everyone, (everything really) it is reaching harmony. Oh to be 'home'. Oh to escape the trials of this world.

But lately I have been musing about life, how rich it is. It is truly the greatest gift God gives to us. It is short, fleeting and every moment is GOLDEN, magical, and ripe for the taking.

In his poem Ithacas, Greek poet Cavafy write of the journey to heaven, home, the end. He urges us to live life richly, not to hold back and not to give up to soon. It's a call to suck the marrow from the bone, to eat that juicy apple core and all. Yes, life is a gift,and though I am on my way to a wonderful home... nothing is better than taking advantage of this world God has given us.



Well that is that and this is this.
Will you tell me what you saw and I'll tell you what you missed,
when the ocean met the sky.
You missed when time and life shook hands and said goodbye.
When the earth folded on itself.
And said "Good luck, for your sake I hope heaven and hell
are really there, but I wouldn't hold my breath."
You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death?
You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death?

The ocean breathes salty, won't you carry it in?
In your head, in your mouth, in your soul.
The more we move ahead the more we're stuck in rewind.
Well I don't mind. I don't mind. How the hell could I mind?


This life isn't perfect... But it's wonderful. I am broken... But that's OK. I am focusing on something that's far greater. How do we use the opportunity- the voyage home? Do we use it on ourselves? On timidness or selfishness? Do we take chances? Do we spread joy and truth? Do we reach out to others- comfort the lonely or feed the poor?


Well that is that and this is this.
Will you tell me what you saw and I'll tell you what you missed,
when the ocean met the sky.
You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste the afterlife?


Life is precious. It's a great adventure. Let's never waste the chance that God has given us.