I decided to add another category to this blog to provide an outlet for my lighter side

Yes, oh you friends that know me well, that does not bode well for the world - for you know just how twisted and dark my “lighter” side is

Or maybe you don’t know… and don’t want to know either…

HA! TOO BAD! MUAAHAAHAAA!

This year, recklesspassion has been my outlet for discussing and wrestling with observations on spirituality and what I like to call “applied philosophy” - i.e. not just about big ideas, but about actually applying said ideas to practical living.

One thing I have observed is that many people seem to be in constant conflict with who they really are, especially who God has gifted them to be.

Well, I recently realized that I am no different - one area I am constantly in conflict with myself about is my sense of humor : somehow I feel that to be funny is a silly thing, not worth much, and that to be valuable means to be serious and to contribute seriously.

So… here goes - I’m going to set aside this section of reckless passion to let myself go recklessly in the area of humor This is where I aim to write down all the humor that occurs to my twisted mind - with very little filtering.

Like I said… MUAHAAAHAAAHAAAAAHAA!

So the next several weeks are going to be quite busy, leading up to our megatrip vacation in November (details here : Vacation trip details), here’s what’s going on:

• Mon, Oct 9 - Fri, Oct 13: I’m teaching classes in Natick.
• Sat, Oct 14: Alexis and I leave for Albuquerque, NM.
• Sun, Oct 15: Sightseeing Albuquerque, NM
• Mon, Oct 16 - Fri, Oct 20: I’m teaching in Albuquerque.
• Sat, Oct 21: Sightseeing Santa Fe, NM
• Sun, Oct 22: Alexis and I fly to Chicago. From there she flies on back home to Hartford, while I fly to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
• Mon, Oct 23 - Fri, Oct 27: I’m teaching in Cedar Rapids.
• Fri, Oct 27: I fly back to Hartford.
• Mon, Oct 30 - Wed, Nov 1: Working in Natick.
• Thu, Nov 2: Alexis and I leave on our six-week megatrip!
• Fri, Nov 3: We arrive in London, visit my sister.
• Sun, Nov 5: Travel from London to Cairo, Egypt.
• Mon, Nov 6 - Thu, Nov 23: In Egypt with my parents. Pyramids, Nile cruise, Red Sea resorts, Suez Canal, Alexandria, etc!
• Fri, Nov 24 - Sun, Nov 26: In Dubai, U.A.E., with my parents.
• Mon, Nov 27 - Sun, Dec 17: In India, visiting family in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and then relaxing in Kerala.
• Sun, Dec 17: LONG travel day, from Chennai to London, transfer planes, then London to Chicago. Staying overnight at the airport hotel in Chicago to recover.
• Mon, Dec 18: Flying back to Hartford from Chicago. We’re back!

We’re putting together a prayer letter that we’ll post on kumarmail.com - please do keep us and our families in prayer as we embark on a 40-day trip

It has been a month since my last post? Wow.

And my last post was about the encounter with the evangelical woman in St Louis? And I haven’t posted anything since? Wow.

It has been a busy month, since that trip I have been to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and just last week Alexis and I were in Austin, Texas.

I had several good conversations with many interesting people whom I met on these trips. I got to be goofy and silly and just plain weird at times (while teaching, or at the airport, or in a restaurant), and I got to be random every now and then. The highlight was driving back to Austin on Saturday night, after we had spent the day in Houston with our friends the Geloks, Dan and Ning. When we left Houston it was already close to sunset, but we drove down to Galveston so that Alexis could jump into the ocean (it was WILD, the waves were huge, generated by some off-shore storm), and then we got caught in the wildest lightning and thunder storm that I have ever seen, much less driven through. I felt truly reckless to be driving in the middle of a storm that we really had NO control over.

But I am also weary, and melancholy. There is some lingering depression hovering in me - I feel tired, sad, unhappy, bored, listless.

Sometimes just breathing is a drag.

My buddy John took this personality test and came up with something called his personal DNA that he posted on his blog. I was surprised - it seemed to capture him pretty accurately as I know him - so I gave it a shot too.
(more…)

I’m with Alexis in Fort Collins, Colorado, on a training trip. I’m teaching a four-day course starting tomorrow, but today is Sunday, and we are hanging out in a nifty local coffee shop in downtown Fort Collins, right on College Street in “Old Town”. Alexis is reading and journaling while I am walking through the course materials in preparation for tomorrow.

We’re listening to some folk and jazz over the cafe’s music system, and at one point I take a break to look up the start time for the World Cup final. As I am browsing BBC’s news website, a new song comes on the speakers, a funky/bluesy/folksy tune with the main refrain being “Look at the daaaay the Lord has made… take a look… take a look… Look at the daaaay…”

It was a catchy and upbeat tune, with a clapping chorus section, and enthusiastic vocals. It was quite pleasant…

… except that, for me, I was reading the main headlines on the BBC while the song was playing, so it kinda formed a surreal soundtrack for the day’s major news stories:

“Look at the daaaaaay…”

• Dozens killed in Baghdad attacks: Gunmen kill at least 40 people at a fake checkpoint, while at least 17 others die in a double car bombing in Baghdad.
• Passenger plane crashes in Russia: Nearly 150 people, including many children, are feared dead after a Russian airliner crashes on landing.

“… the Lord has made…”

• Two French girls in kidnap alert
• Pirates film on target for record

“… take a look …”

• After the shooting: Israeli battle leaves anger and grief in Gaza town
• Blue is the colour: Berlin set for biggest party as World Cup nears climax

“… take a look …”

• India tests new ballistic missile
• Bulls savage runners at annual Spanish festival

“… this is the daaaaay …”

• US soldiers charged in rape case
• Gaza assault ‘may continue’

“… the Lord has made …”

• Children use fancy footwork in clog world record attempt
• Federer battles to fourth title

“… take a look … take a look … this is the day the Lord has made…”

I’ve often experienced a similar surrealness when watching the typical TV news broadcast : call me sensitive, but when a smiling and charming news anchor seamlessly goes from shocking story to brutal story to sad story to silly story to celebrity story to local interest story to weather story to war story with the same fake smile, all within five minutes, it really does disturb me deep down that we are so plastic and callous to what mankind is up to.

This is why I often check the BBC for my news instead of CNN - I find CNN to have a really warped entertainment-centric focus, and the BBC’s main page really does a great job with presenting the major world stories in one place.

But to hear such an upbeat optimistic song in the background while reflecting on the news… exhorting us to focus on the presence of the Lord in all this, to believe that the LORD made this day…

My reality check just bounced.