it was 30 years ago today

happy 30th birthday to my dear beloved brother.
he won;t have received my card or gift yet, but we have a tradition of extending such celebrations as long as possible, so for today he'll have to make do with a simple message...

ewan

as i've told you before, had we been forged together in the womb i cannot imagine being more bound in love to you than i am... you rock the kazbah like no other. you have shown me by an example that defies your years, the arts of humility, joy, willing service to the needs of others, and always giving a humanoid the best chance to show their beauty before ever deciding what you think of them, a lesson i am still to even remotely master...you live under the bullshit radar... i have learnt so much from you i cannot believe i have to take the place of elder sibling...

and you have given me so much music, one of my greatest loves in life. it means that you are always with me because i'm always playing something and when i feel a surge of passion for what's on the radio or the 'pod, or the decks or the stereo, i think of you. you have persistantly delighted in sharing your love of all things audio and lovingly embraced my love of the music that i love, always trying to make those connections with my familiars so that you can expand my boundaries... i can't wait for christmas/new year and hitting the dance floor with you, even if it's the kitchen floor... i can't wait for you to pull out the vinyl and hit your decks saying, "you gotta hear this..."

and that is significant because you have taught me the art of spilling over... letting your passions and cares bubble out like champagne... because to love is to always give away, to share, to include, to embrace...

i admire and love you brother as much as i miss you. i wish you more joy than you know what to do with...your gentle giving passionate heart deserves it.

happy birthday! welcome to your thirties...may your beautiful smile never have cause to leave your face.

cary, (your sister) ;0)

::

at some point i will get round to writing my reflections on gb 06 but i'm in reading, nay, devouring, mode at the moment, soaking up undergoing god: dispatches from the scene of a break in by james alison. i want to eat the pages. stunning theology. he reads to me like a catholic Caputo, beautifully and delightfully written. depicting a shape of Christinity that is leading me back toward the rugged road... where faith had seemed like the desert, he persistantly depicts a kingdom, "a world full of mercy where there are no they" a world we get to be co-creators in, and in great freedom. go order it. intelligent, insightful, life giving study of the tricky issue of homosexuality in biblical texts and yet about so much more... he manages to be both radical and obediently Catholic at once.

postscript: for the 2006 seminars, including james alison on the clobber texts, and seminars going all the way back to 1996, go here... once again we need to see an increase in women's voices in the mix...hmmm, or maybe women are teaching by different methods, i dunno. but regardless there are some wonderful seminars in there. right now as i work (and blog) i am listening to dear buddy pete (rollins, ikon founder), who's so popular i couldn't get in to hear him on site. ah, the wonders of technology...

LB,x