Happy Reformation Day

In honor of Martin Luther, his 95 Theses.
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Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.

In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.

2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.

3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.

4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons.

6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God’s remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.

7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest.

8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.

9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.

10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory.

11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept.

12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.

13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.

14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.

15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.

16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety.

17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase.

18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.

19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it.

20. Therefore by “full remission of all penalties” the pope means not actually “of all,” but only of those imposed by himself.

21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope’s indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;

22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.

23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.

24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.

25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.

26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.

27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].

28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.

29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal.

30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.

31. Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare.

32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.

33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope’s pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him;

34. For these “graces of pardon” concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.

35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia.

36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.

37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.

38. Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the blessings of the Church] which are granted by the pope are in no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission.

39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition.

40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them].

41. Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love.

42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy.

43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons;

44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty.

45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.

46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.

47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment.

48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring.

49. Christians are to be taught that the pope’s pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God.

50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter’s church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.

51. Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope’s wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold.

52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.

53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others.

54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.

55. It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.

56. The “treasures of the Church,” out of which the pope. grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ.

57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them.

58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even without the pope, these always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man.

59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church’s poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.

60. Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ’s merit, are that treasure;

61. For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient.

62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.

63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.

64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.

65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches.

66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.

67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the “greatest graces” are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.

68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.

69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence.

70. But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope.

71. He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed!

72. But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed!

73. The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons.

74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth.

75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God — this is madness.

76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.

77. It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope.

78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii.

79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.

80. The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render.

81. This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity.

82. To wit: — “Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial.”

83. Again: — “Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?”

84. Again: — “What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul’s own need, free it for pure love’s sake?”

85. Again: — “Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?”

86. Again: — “Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?”

87. Again: — “What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?”

88. Again: — “What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?”

89. “Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?”

90. To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy.

91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.

92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Peace, peace,” and there is no peace!

93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Cross, cross,” and there is no cross!

94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell;

95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.

What if….

A little over a year ago, I came to a difficult realization. I talk about doing alot of things, but seldom see them through. I had found, up to that point, that I would speak quite a bit about doing a number of different things, but when it came to the actual doing, I seemed to fall short.

I suppose some of this is based in perception, and is a bit subjective. Next month will mark 6 years ago that I competed in my first (and only) bodybuilding contest. For that contest, I trained and dieted for an entire year. I set aside all other facets of life and focused solely on my preparation. Life essentially stopped for that year, as anything short of family or work were an afterthought, and anything undertaken was first and foremost considered within the immediate question of “what effect will this have on November?” But anytime I was asked as to why I was doing the show, my immediate response was always, “because I wanted to set a goal and see it through to its completion.”

It took me some time to get used to “normal” life after November of 2003. Not long after the dust settled from the relentless contest prep and endless dieting, I found myself in something of a rut…..a rut I remained in for the better part of the next 5 years. The rut was this: I woke, I worked, I came home, and I slept. Rinse, and repeat.

Sure, life continued outside of those things. A few nice family vacations, a stint in More In Sorrow of close to 4 years. But even my time in More In Sorrow, for as involved as I have always been in music and for as much time as was devoted to playing shows and the band, amounted to little more than a hobby to me, albeit a passionate one. I loved my time with that band, and still think of it with fond memories. But when that chapter ended for me, it ended.

Back to the grind.

Until last year. Last year, I began to really come to grips with the fact that most of my time was spent in routine. Mind you, from a family perspective, I’m not complaining. My wife and my children are everything to me, and no part of any of this entry is meant to imply anything to the contrary. The ways in which they enrich my life and bring me joy are countless. But I came to a point in life where I really began to question the bigger picture, and whether or not I would just think about things, or talk about things, and never act.

I think as believers, we get too caught up in the routine. All people have gifts and talents that they possess, but especially believers have not only gifts and talents, but a means by which they can make those gifts count for something real and tangible, something with eternal impact. But how many of us don’t utilize those talents, for whatever reason?

For better or worse, and even though it is probably a bit dated now, one of my favorite movies is “Dead Poet’s Society”. Anyone who has seen the movie knows the lesson Robin Williams teaches on the very first day of class to his students.

“Carpe Diem.”

“Sieze the day.”

No day is as important as today is, and no decision is more vital to your being than what you decide to do with that day. How often have we been caught up in our routine that we forget all the potential God has given us? How many times have we shelved our talents because of a lack of foresight or a fear of failure?

One of my best friends wrote a blog here where he quite simply said, “You can’t fail if you don’t try.” And really, that’s the whole thing. That thought this last year has gotten me thinking: Do you sing? Can you write? Do you act? What is stopping you from exploiting that talent? I mean, COMPLETELY exploiting it? Too often we put our talents on the shelf. We set them aside because we don’t think we can be the next Dave Matthews, Tom Clancy, or Tom Hanks. We have lost that sense of doing something with excellence, subjecting our trade to that of the mediocre, or worse still, we’ve forgotten it altogether, and settled instead for a life of waking, working, and waiting to die.

So a year ago, I endeavored to try. I determined that whatever talents God gave me, I was going to use. You can’t fail if you don’t try, but in the failing comes the success. Learning what you didn’t know before. Looking for the opportunities that sit in front of you, and when you don’t see those opportunities, making them.

I see so many people every day who simply live, only waiting to die. They have families, they have jobs, but it’s as if they have no direction or ambition to go after those things they are truly passionate about. For so long, that seemed so normal. Now, it’s definitively abnormal to me. I decided that I refused to be one of those people who ended up asking “what if….” What if I would have done this or that? What if I would have taken advantage of that opportunity? What if I would have decided to move on that desire?

What it came down to for me was simply this: God has not done the things in my life that He has so I can wedge myself into routine and wait to die. This is not the end of my story. Whatever roads He takes me down, and whatever lies ahead, I refuse to believe that anything I do or set my mind to has to be ordinary or routine. God created us for so much more than that. Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Everything we do is a praise to the One who made us. Yes, that includes our daily routine, our jobs, raising our kids, but doesn’t it also include all the things you’d love to take a stab at, but are too afraid to undertake? Too often we get caught in our box mentality, where everything we are has to fit comfortably into a certain criteria.

You can’t fail if you don’t try.

The only way you’ll know if you’re a writer is if you try writing a book.
The only way you’ll know if you’re a musician is if you write a song.
The only way you’ll know if you’re an artist is if you paint a picture.
The only way you’ll know if you’re destined for something greater is if you let God use your talents and gifts for His glory, and go for it.

Exploit it, do something you never considered before. Allow yourself the chance to fail so you can succeed. Don’t end up full of regret, asking yourself, “What if……”.

honesty in struggle

Part of the reason for me starting up the writing here again has been this desire to attempt at being honest with myself about life and circumstances. In that hopeful honesty, I am trying to expose some of the questions, doubts, and struggles of life. I suppose the ultimate hope is that no matter if one, two, or ten people read this, or even if this is only for me, that I can look back at some point having learned something from the experience, and not doomed myself to repeat history, be it in my own life, or in the bigger picture of life around me.

Last week I talked at length about humility and submission. I’m finding inside of that the struggle of circumstances that do not change in conjunction with my outlook. Put another way, I’m finding that place where the “rubber meets the road”.

The easiest part of confronting an issue is identification. If we’re honest with ourselves, it’s pretty simple to see areas in our lives where change is needed. The problem comes in two areas. First, in implementation. If we cannot implement the change we know is necessary, then identification becomes worthless. The second part is allowing that change to endure. If we implement the changes we see need for, but cannot maintain them, then it becomes of little effect to us. The essence of the change amounts to nothing more than a shallow New Year’s Resolution. We try to make the change, but there’s no lasting power in it. Most of the time, the lack of staying power is directly tied into the fact that we’re changing for someone else, or because someone else tells us to, not because we sincerely see the need for change.

The other motivating factor behind maintaining something God reveals to us is in the fact that sometimes our circumstances just. don’t. change. What do we do when we know God has called us to minister to that co-worker, but that co-worker’s attitude and actions have not changed? How do we react when we know God wants us to take the lower seat, even if we are justified in our stance on an issue, and even have the right to address the powers that be?

Honestly, this is where I’m finding myself right now. I know what God has shown me in regards to submitting and having a humble spirit in my own life, but the struggle found in knowing that the circumstances surrounding that issue have not changed is bringing a…..time of *cough*frustrating*cough* growth. It would be so much easier to let my feelings be known, to vent my point of view to the necessary parties, but I’m finding more and more (each day, it seems) what a painful lesson obedience is. The urge to rise up when God calls us to a place of humility goes against everything our sin nature knows. I believe it is in these times though, that God’s power is most evident in our lives. When we put aside our desires, and make them subservant to His, then His glory is manifest in our life.

1 Samuel 15:22 tells us that “to obey is better than sacrifice.” Sometimes, our greatest fulfillment in Christ isn’t in what we do, but what we don’t do.

More later……

Jesus Wants The Rose

Ok, last Chandler post (for awhile anyway…..). Unfortunately, I’ve been hearing about far more who have acted like the speaker he talks about than not. Frustrating.

Irreverant Silly Myths

Another nugget from Chandler, this time on the importance of Christ-centered teaching and preaching.

The 85bears – Ten Years Looks Good On You

This was posted to my facebook as well, but just in case any of you reading this aren’t facebook friends with me….

This is the new acoustic full length by Mike Siggs and I. It’s called “Ten Years Looks Good On You”. Right click the link, “save as”, unzip and enjoy. Pleaseandthankyou.

The 85bears – Ten Years Looks Good On You

Track Listing
Quaint and Country
Shadows
Meshac
Speak Now
What You Hate
Needles
Abraham
MercyUnending
The Vine
Friends With Benefits
FeatherWhite
Never
It’s All His

Humility and Submission

When you think you are humble, chances are you’re not. In fact, I’d say just the thought of having humility is a two-edged sword. The second you garner the thought of humility, you’re automatically assuming a position of arrogance, even if it’s only in your own mind.

I think humility and submission are two of the hardest traits for a believer to master. Submission is tough, because it lends itself to….well, submitting, to a higher authority. And it doesn’t matter if it’s the President, a school teacher, a pastor, or your parents (whether you’re 4 or 40), no one likes to be told what to do. It’s part of our sin nature. If given the choice, we’ll go our way 9 times out of 10, because at the heart of a lack of submission is the superior attitude that we know it all. Ask any teenager, they’ll prove this out every time.

A lack of humility takes that air of superiority and ramps it up a notch. Humility does not allow itself to be center, neither does humility look for the glory. But very few are those, especially in 2009, who are not looking for the glory. It doesn’t matter if you’re Kayne grabbing the mic at the MTV Video Music Awards, a sports star cashing in on the multi-million dollar contract, or the average Joe bragging about that big promotion, glory seekers are all around us.

The other side of humility is the desire to be right. It can manifest itself in a variety of ways, from the outright to the passive-aggressive, but either way, when someone is struggling with humility issues, they almost always will voice their opinion on a given topic they think they have the “upper hand” on. This antithesis to humility (pride) plays out everyday, in businesses and churches, social clubs and gatherings, from the halls of our schools to the highrises of capitalism.

Pride is a killer. It is born from within every one of us, and goes back as far as the Fall. Genesis 3:6 tells us that Eve took of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because it “was to be desired to make one wise.” At the heart of the issue of the Fall is the fact that, through the serpent’s deception, the first couple desired to be as wise as God Himself. Pride. And thus, through their action, humanity was cursed, bringing about the need for God to reconcile Himself to His creation through Jesus Christ.

Jesus, then, serves as our perfect example of submission and humility. His life on earth, His mission amongst the people He created, was to serve as the template for life, while also taking upon Himself the iniquity of all humanity; past, present, and future. He did so with perfect servitude, and with a right spirit. Surely He wanted to stray from that mission, otherwise He wouldn’t have prayed in the Garden, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42) Perfect submission drove Him to forgoe His desires for the greater purpose. It caused Him to ask, yes, but ultimately to bow His will, His humanness, to the will of the Father. Humility carried Him to Calvary, bypassing all His divine abilities, and instead taking on the guilt, not only of the man who was freed in His place, but also that of all of mankind.

Humility and submission, then, beg the question to be asked- “Who’s will are we bowing to?” Because submission to authority will always puts us in the right place positionally. God raises up, and God brings low as He wills. Ultimately, nothing we do can elevate us without His hand taking part, but most certainly our lack of submission can serve as the catalyst for bringing us low.

Likewise, humility, when we act and conduct ourselves with the proper attitude, will always bring us into alignment with God’s will. No one who acts with a prideful spirit will be in tune with God’s will, because God “opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) When we are bringing ourselves into alignment with Gods’ will, a humble spirit says, “I don’t care if I’m right, I will ACT right, and allow God to do the rest.”

A humble spirit doesn’t need the spotlight, the recognition, or the pat on the back. A humble spirit has a continuity of conduct, whether acted out in front of 10,000 or 10 or 1. Whether everyone sees, or no one at all. True humility, as Christ showed us, helps one to lay down their wants and desires for the good of the whole. The program of God, God’s will and plan, is always perfectly in sync with those who have a humble spirit.

8 years later….9/11

Originally posted elsewhere on 9/11/09.

Verse of the day, thanks to Hold Fast Ministries in Harrisburg, PA:

Romans 12:17-21

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Quote of the day, courtesy of Walter Wink:

“In the final analysis, then, love of enemies is trusting God for the miracle of divine forgiveness. If God can forgive, redeem, and transform me, I must also believe that God can work such wonders with anyone. Love of enemies is seeing one’s oppressors through the prism of the Reign of God – not only as they now are, but also as they can become: transformed by the power of God.”

Wise words to remember today, on both counts.

Take time to say a prayer today; for the families of those who’ve experienced loss, certainly. But also for those who act out in violence, who we cannot see and do not know, but who are in need of God’s grace just as much as you and I on a daily basis.

“Any peace achieved by violence is a peace forever threatened by violence.” -Gregory Boyd

Restart?

Some days you just need a do-over. Just sayin’.

poem

hands reach out but fall short of your grace skin tears from bone scratching at this dirt that stains with sins i cannot utter in the quiet of this madness screams sound like whispers escaping this cracked vessel longing to be heard crying to be acknowledged but falling on the deafness of those who pretend to know you i’ve been this way before and i’ve seen what these motives bring i cannot remember the last time i felt this weak i will claw my way up through tears and blood none the wiser but fashioned over time i keep circling around this mountain i know i was made to climb.