Category Archives: thoughts

That Jealous Balance

(On Jealousy and Relationships)
I wish I knew where to draw the line between having a healthy jealousy and having an obsessive jealousy for someone else.

When it comes to having a healthy jealousy (or having a “normal relationship”, for that matter,) one might think of the old adage: “If you love somebody, set them free.” It seems like this idea that one should both “care” yet “not care” for a loved one has quickly become ever more socially acceptable (at least in the United States.) If one cares “too much” for one’s significant other, it may be a sign of further, underlying issues at work. But on the other hand, if one does not give love, time and attention to one’s significant other, the relationship may become hard to maintain. Is there any middle ground, here? Is there any way to care for a loved one while still maintaining a healthy level of jealousy?

When it comes to having an obsessive jealousy, one might be tempted to think of the relationship between G-d and the Israelites. The jealousy of G-d is a curious thing. When reading Exodus 20:5 or Deuteronomy 6:15, one word for jealousy (“qanna“) can be found (and this is just a superficial look at the meanings that accompany and make up the word “qanna”.) This word “qanna” is interesting in that it appears [1] to also translate to the word “zealous”… which (in English, at least,) can also be interpreted as a good thing, depending on the context. Is there any middle ground, here, as well? It would seem that there could be a way to be jealous (zealous) without obsession.

I suppose this balance between healthy and obsessive jealousy has something to do with trust… and, perhaps, not putting one’s every hope, whim, and concern into a loved one. Still, I wish I knew how to find that jealous balance…

1. Skip Moen, “Till Death Do Us Part”, Hebrew Word Study, October 12th, 2012.

Consolidation

Been working on consolidating the different branches of this website into one “easy to navigate” collection. Not sure if that “easy to navigate” part has happened yet… but at least the sites have a common navigation bar at the top (kind of like all those other websites on the Internet…) so that it’s at least a little harder to get lost when browsing the sites.

At the same time, I’ve been trying to add more detail to entries in the Music Scrapbook so that I can then automatically pull information from the Scrapbook for display on the main website. Trying to reduce the number of times I repeat myself… and maybe it’ll work out this time…

Next Christmas Gift Album Underway

Work has finally begun for the next Christmas Gift album. It seems that the album will probably be just a seemingly-random assortment of different types of songs… instead of being a concept album, like that one Christmas Gift 2010 album.

A lot of thoughts have been put upon my mind over this past year: thoughts about loss, self-centered thinking, and (a lack of) spiritual growth. Somehow these thoughts will most likely find their way into songs on this next album.

I also am hoping to get another song in the Life of Christ series added… if possible. 🙂

Here’s an early quote from the project:

“You cannot have just what you want
without hurting yourself
and others, too.”

Stuff

I have too much stuff. Slowly trying to get rid of it. Some things aren’t as meaningful… and are easy to pass on. I guess I don’t understand what to do with things that have personal memories attached. On the one hand, I can’t hold on to any of these possessions forever. On the other hand, some of these items are (sometimes handmade) gifts from family and friends; unique things that I cannot find in just any store.

I am definitely not as obedient to the Law as the rich young man who had kept the commandments since childhood. But I cannot stop being reminded of these words:

“You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” — Jesus

G-d’s People as a Body

Been reading through the book of Isaiah and have been thinking about how G-d tells his people that he is ready to offer them mercy and grace, though his people continue to ride fast horses and run away. It’s been making me wonder if there is any difference between G-d’s people as a whole (the “Body”) and the individual people in that body.

In the past, when some of G-d’s people disobeyed to a point of no visible return, they were cut off from the rest of the Body. The Body itself still remained… but with some parts missing. It reminds me of how Jesus taught about it being better to enter into life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.