New isn't always Better

....but sometimes it is.

Here's Tom Waits' song, Chicago.

The seeds are planted here
But they won't grow.
We won't have to say good bye
if we all go....

I found out this week that I didn't get a job I was really hoping for. It would have meant a lot of security for Janell and me as we start our life together. It also would have meant staying in Binghamton for a few years. I've found community at Good Shepherd and with the friends I've made here. They have seen me through so much and we've built something special. But can that be everything? Can that be enough to make me stay?

I've left places before, often prematurely, and am reaching an age where security means a lot. Janell is still young and has dreams and aspirations that she could truly fulfill.

Well, it's brave to stay,
Even braver to go.
Wherever she goes I go.
Maybe things will be better in Chicago.

...Or New York City, or Philadelphia. Janell is talking about doing a fellowship in NYC, living there for a year or two and maybe being involved at Bronx Bethany. Then we could move to Philadelphia where I would go back to school at Westminster Theological Seminary for counseling. It's a good dream, and possible...if we do it together.

What we need the Lord will give us;
What we want we'll carry with us.

 New dreams, new wife, new place, new life. Whatever is in store for Janell and me will be good, because, as she says, "We'll have each other and we'll have Jesus."

I'm literally resuscitating my blog

I learned a new word today: contranym. Spell-checker wants to change it to countryman, but, no, contranym. It's when one word means two opposite things. 

I was listening to a PODCAST about how the English language is constantly in flux - regarding spelling, punctuation and meaning. The speaker talked about the growing way in which the word 'literally' actually means 'figuratively'...as in "He literally had no leg to stand on." The OED says of this use: Now one of the most common uses, although often considered irregular in standard English since it reverses the original sense of literally. 

Two other examples of contranyms are sanction (permit or penalize) and cleave (separate or adhere). So how do we interpret a sentence like: "He sanctioned their cleaving."?