I felt like Henry David Thoreau the other day. My friend was very upset about her situation with her family. Actually I was a little upset too. We were sitting in her car crying about just everything. And then I asked "what do you want to do." She didn't know what to do either. So I suggested we go on a walk.
Just long walk, with no destination. We talked and talked, our conversation following the aimlessness of our journey. I felt like Thoreau as we walked and talked aimlessly. He writes about walking aimlessly through nature. He basically says just walk, just go. Which brings a whole new meaning to everything. My walk was a literal reflection of his advice. The talk was a more figurative reflection. Our lives should reflect this advice as well. Sometimes people go through life waiting for a journey or opportunity or job or mission or command or passion or anything to happen before they start living. But we should just start walking, start living, start our journey and we will eventually find something. We should just go, and do.
This kind of reminds me of Dr. Seuss actually. It sounds childish, but people should go back and read Dr. Seuss, his poems have so much more meaning now that we are adults. In Dr. Seuss' "Oh! The places you'll go!" he writes about the 'waiting place' (for people just waiting):
"Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or the plane to go or the phone to ring or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for a fish to bite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pear of pants or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting"
Dr. Seuss and Thoreau are right. We need to stop waiting and walk. Just find a journey, no matter how aimless that journey may be. Just go. Thoreau also says that there is a right way to walk and we often choose the wrong one. But I think the wrong path is simply picking the path that everyone else takes, which is often the life of no journey at all. I believe we need to stop waiting or blending in or being scared. We need to walk. We need to live.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
sad day
I hardly ever post and here I am posting something sad. I'm mourning a loss today and I'm mourning the sadness that is happening in Uganda.
For anyone who reads this who doesn't know went to Uganda this summer. I was sick a lot. it was a love/hate trip. but now that I'm home I miss Uganda very much. when I get e-mails from my friends in Uganda I am so happy to know them and so sad that I can't be there. I love Uganda so much. I got to know so many people and got to love so many people.
As many people know US troops have been sent to Uganda. It's hitting me very hard. I can feel the pain and stress of those that I know and love. Not to mention the people who our troops are there to control thinks they are speaking in behalf of God. they are not. But many Ugandans only hear from the LRA, the Lord's resistance army, an army that steals children to become soldiers and sex slaves and perform terrorist attacks on behalf of God. Obviously God isn't really speaking to them, but Ugandan's don't always know that. And when our troops do something about it the African people may think we are killing christians. this is a mess. And I'm so scared for the safety of the friends I made there.
Also my favorite pastor I got to know, pastor Edward, lost his wife this week. It makes me so sad. She was so young, they have so many children, they are such wonderful people and she died. The worst part? If they were in America she would not have died. This may sound like I'm questioning God's plan, like I'm mad about this loss. I am not. I trust God, and his plan. I know that he is doing things that I can't see or understand, and I trust it. But I'm so sad for them. I'm so hurt about the pain they are going through. Its hard to communicate in coherent words the emotions I'm feeling right now. I've never cried over the loss of anyone that has ever died in my lifetime, but this death makes me want to cry all day. I'm so sad for everyone in my Uganda.
I'm longing to go back there. I miss everyone in Uganda so much. I love them. They are on my mind non-stop today. I'm praying for them all day.
Also my favorite pastor I got to know, pastor Edward, lost his wife this week. It makes me so sad. She was so young, they have so many children, they are such wonderful people and she died. The worst part? If they were in America she would not have died. This may sound like I'm questioning God's plan, like I'm mad about this loss. I am not. I trust God, and his plan. I know that he is doing things that I can't see or understand, and I trust it. But I'm so sad for them. I'm so hurt about the pain they are going through. Its hard to communicate in coherent words the emotions I'm feeling right now. I've never cried over the loss of anyone that has ever died in my lifetime, but this death makes me want to cry all day. I'm so sad for everyone in my Uganda.
I'm longing to go back there. I miss everyone in Uganda so much. I love them. They are on my mind non-stop today. I'm praying for them all day.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
I need to get in shape
This blog is slightly different then my usual ones. Usually I try to write about very big, very meaning flu topics. But today I'm going to discuss getting healthy. Have no fear this is not an inspiring story of wanting to get healthy and run a marathon, it is not a low self-esteem pity party, it is not about preventing disease, and it has nothing to do with molding to society's views of how I should look. This is a realization of why I need to be healthier and take care of my body.
I typically aspire to loose weight, as do most women, but I never really stick to a plan or work very hard. I'm mostly too busy to work hard at loosing weight. I do not particularly like my weight but I do not care to become model skinny and I refuse to be influenced by medias pressures to conform to a look that is simply not me. I have attempted many work out and diet plans, usually so that I will look better, feel better, decrease stress or whatever else they are planned for. But I usually set the bar to high and fail myself and stop trying. I've started to realize that I might be doing it for all the wrong reasons. First off we are supposed to be working at everything we do as if we are working for God. Which I have not been doing so that might have something to do with my failure. Second I've realized two reasons (these are not exclusive) why I need to get healthy, and they are for God.
First: I need to love myself the way God loves me. Now this means I should change my expectations and view of myself so I may love myself as I am. But sometimes this also means changing myself a little to meet my expectations of myself. Keeping in mind to have reasonable expectations and loving the things that can't change of course. I do not particularly like who I am when I'm not treating my body right. I don't like that I get so grumpy when I don't sleep, or don't eat regularly. I don't like how I feel when I eat left over cookies for breakfast and pizza for dinner. I don't like how I look or feel when I don't work out, or at least get outside. So this means I need to change myself a little so I can love myself more like God loves me.
Second (and more important): My body is a temple. A temple is a place dedicated to worship. It is also a place traditionally where God dwells. So if God is dwelling in me then why the crap am I treating myself so horribly. If the president was going to come and stay in my house I sure as heck would not be leaving it alone. I would be cleaning and fixing and remodeling and rearranging to make prefect living quarters for the president. God is not only the king of the entire universe, but he made it, and us, and loves us and died for us. And he is going to come and live in me. First off that is crazy awesome. Second I need to fix up these living quarters. Plus we are a place for worship. Worship is a way of life and we need to be healthy for that. This means being mentally healthy and stable. This means me sleeping enough so I can be kind to people share Gods love. This means eating enough so I have the strength and energy to do his work. This means eating right and exercising to make me feel good enough to do work for him. This means taking care of me.
This is not to say that I am going to go out and run a marathon at 6 AM and go to be at 9 every night. It just means that I need to make small adjustments to be healthy. Like going to bed earlier, going out for walks, eating more salads and less cheese, etc. I need to respect and take care of what God has given me, take care of where God is dwelling, and take care of God's tool.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
6th anniversary
So I'm sitting at the warehouse right now, listening to my beautiful church rehearse and watching a flashback of how we grew as a church. It's so weird to think that I started going to church 6 years ago. It's weird to think about how the church has changed, and how the people have changed, and how I have changed in the past 6 years. It's such a short amount of time but its so long at the same time. So much has happened, my life has changed one hundred percent. Journey has become a significant part of who I am and what I do. But I feel like I just started attending here. I could make the argument that I left church for a while and that's why it feels like a short amount of time. But I came back to church 4 years ago. I've been serving with the children for 4 years. Attending Journey Students and now Journey College group for 4 whole years. I'm a complete part of Journey as Journey is a complete part of me. Which is weird to say. Because Journey Church is not the building we worship in it is the people who have attended here, who do attend here. And I'm a part of them. And they are a part of me.
Now I sound like an Avatar movie, or Pocahontas maybe. Saying we're all a part of each other. But it's true. We are all a part of the church. The global church. As christians we all have that in common. We are a part of the bride of Christ together. Its like when you see a car with a logo of your favorite team on it, you fee like you have some crazy secret bond with that person. But its different. When you meet another believer have a deeply rooted bond with that person. You know you will hang out with that person in heaven one day and that you can be comfortable about your faith with that person. And more than that, the exact same Holy Spirt that lives in your heart, lives in their heart. That is a supernatural bond. So every Christ Follower is a part of me and I am a part of them because Christ a part of us.
Thinking of that and of the people who have walked with me on my journey these past 6 years and continue to walk with me on my journey makes my heart stir. Today we're remembering who we are and and who we were. We're remembering where we are going and who connects us. Not that things have always been good. We have as much drama as any other relationship based setting. But we try to forgive and forget. Because God forgives and forgets. Because God has gotten us here. He works in us to make our church successful to bring Himself glory.
So I'm posting this to thank God for what He has done with our church. What He has done with our lives. And I'm posting this to commend all the people who have given their lives to make our church a success. And to encourage everyone who ever encouraged me on my walk. Because I know all those people would feel blessed to know that their work at Journey has changed my life.
Now I sound like an Avatar movie, or Pocahontas maybe. Saying we're all a part of each other. But it's true. We are all a part of the church. The global church. As christians we all have that in common. We are a part of the bride of Christ together. Its like when you see a car with a logo of your favorite team on it, you fee like you have some crazy secret bond with that person. But its different. When you meet another believer have a deeply rooted bond with that person. You know you will hang out with that person in heaven one day and that you can be comfortable about your faith with that person. And more than that, the exact same Holy Spirt that lives in your heart, lives in their heart. That is a supernatural bond. So every Christ Follower is a part of me and I am a part of them because Christ a part of us.
Thinking of that and of the people who have walked with me on my journey these past 6 years and continue to walk with me on my journey makes my heart stir. Today we're remembering who we are and and who we were. We're remembering where we are going and who connects us. Not that things have always been good. We have as much drama as any other relationship based setting. But we try to forgive and forget. Because God forgives and forgets. Because God has gotten us here. He works in us to make our church successful to bring Himself glory.
So I'm posting this to thank God for what He has done with our church. What He has done with our lives. And I'm posting this to commend all the people who have given their lives to make our church a success. And to encourage everyone who ever encouraged me on my walk. Because I know all those people would feel blessed to know that their work at Journey has changed my life.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
character
First off, I am horrible at keeping my commitments to this blog. And as my readers I gave you full right to call me out on my lack of blogging. But alas I have not blogged, and I must. I want to keep my promise to myself, just like Horton the elephant. But good news! I can use my blog for school credit because I've been writing about a lot of emerson's concepts. So to stick with that theme, I wanted to write about character. (which is an emerson piece)
So Emerson wrote this essay called Character. Which is basically a commentary on who you are innately, how you come to be who you are, what makes you who you are, and what you do with that. He plays off of a lot of his other ideas. He writes about how we have a character about us that is guided by nature (which I basically translate as God). A lot of what he says he walking in circles (haha, get it... like emerson's other essay... #emersonjoke #nerdhumor) but I love one of his quotes "new actions are only apologies and explanations of old ones." I like it because first it brings up the idea that "action speaks louder than words" and then it basically says that you can't remake a first impression.
The quote makes you think about your actions, your initial actions. How you act around people and how you present yourself shapes the perspective of how people will view you forever. This is from the very beginning of a relationship with someone. And every other action following the first impression is a explanation, or apology of the first impression. And no matter who you really are, if you present yourself a certain way you will be viewed with that presentation in mind forever. This is pivotal for christians.
As followers of Jesus we wear his name wherever we go. Plus we are supposed to be attracting people to us so we can have an opportunity to witness to them. So if we get caught on a bad day when we are cussing out traffic and avoiding people and being generally grumpy and impatient then people will not only view you through a 'miserable grump' framework. Then they will view all christians with that frame work. And then how will that person ever believe that Jesus is the way to peace? He/she will forever believe that all christians fake joy and are truly miserable. and likewise for overly pushy christians. If a christian is shoving the gospel down others throats then society will forever expect that from christians everywhere. Situations like this make it very hard for Christians to build a positive reputation. Christians with the right character making the right impressions is still explaining and apologizing for the actions of other christians. Which puts each of us under extreme scrutiny.
So where does that leave us, right? We are forever stuck with the reputations of other christians but we have the carry Jesus' name well. Quite honestly that just kinda sucks for us. But sometimes you are the first and only Jesus that anyone will ever see. If you give someone a good framework for viewing christians then it will rebuild our reputation. Maybe people will stop believing the stereotypes. But we are still under scrutiny. We are sinners and we mess up, and every time we do someone is waiting to associate our sin with all christians everywhere. Which again, quite frankly, sucks. But maybe we should pull a Taylor Swift. She avoids using red solo cups because if anyone snaps a picture they will assume she is drinking. She is a role model and doesn't want to represent her character in any inappropriate way. We need to be on our best behavior at all times. That does not mean we need to wear a mask and try to pretend we are perfect, because society needs to know that christians sin too (and thats why we are christian in the first place). But we need to make an effort to show people an appropriate representation of christians.
Beverly Carroll always says we need to wear Jesus well. Maybe thats what I'm getting at. Being christian is part of your character. And your character is shown through your actions. And your actions can never be taken back according to Emerson. Your actions build how the world sees you. So watch what you do and say, because you are representing a lot more than your character. As a christian you are at all times representing Jesus.
So Emerson wrote this essay called Character. Which is basically a commentary on who you are innately, how you come to be who you are, what makes you who you are, and what you do with that. He plays off of a lot of his other ideas. He writes about how we have a character about us that is guided by nature (which I basically translate as God). A lot of what he says he walking in circles (haha, get it... like emerson's other essay... #emersonjoke #nerdhumor) but I love one of his quotes "new actions are only apologies and explanations of old ones." I like it because first it brings up the idea that "action speaks louder than words" and then it basically says that you can't remake a first impression.
The quote makes you think about your actions, your initial actions. How you act around people and how you present yourself shapes the perspective of how people will view you forever. This is from the very beginning of a relationship with someone. And every other action following the first impression is a explanation, or apology of the first impression. And no matter who you really are, if you present yourself a certain way you will be viewed with that presentation in mind forever. This is pivotal for christians.
As followers of Jesus we wear his name wherever we go. Plus we are supposed to be attracting people to us so we can have an opportunity to witness to them. So if we get caught on a bad day when we are cussing out traffic and avoiding people and being generally grumpy and impatient then people will not only view you through a 'miserable grump' framework. Then they will view all christians with that frame work. And then how will that person ever believe that Jesus is the way to peace? He/she will forever believe that all christians fake joy and are truly miserable. and likewise for overly pushy christians. If a christian is shoving the gospel down others throats then society will forever expect that from christians everywhere. Situations like this make it very hard for Christians to build a positive reputation. Christians with the right character making the right impressions is still explaining and apologizing for the actions of other christians. Which puts each of us under extreme scrutiny.
So where does that leave us, right? We are forever stuck with the reputations of other christians but we have the carry Jesus' name well. Quite honestly that just kinda sucks for us. But sometimes you are the first and only Jesus that anyone will ever see. If you give someone a good framework for viewing christians then it will rebuild our reputation. Maybe people will stop believing the stereotypes. But we are still under scrutiny. We are sinners and we mess up, and every time we do someone is waiting to associate our sin with all christians everywhere. Which again, quite frankly, sucks. But maybe we should pull a Taylor Swift. She avoids using red solo cups because if anyone snaps a picture they will assume she is drinking. She is a role model and doesn't want to represent her character in any inappropriate way. We need to be on our best behavior at all times. That does not mean we need to wear a mask and try to pretend we are perfect, because society needs to know that christians sin too (and thats why we are christian in the first place). But we need to make an effort to show people an appropriate representation of christians.
Beverly Carroll always says we need to wear Jesus well. Maybe thats what I'm getting at. Being christian is part of your character. And your character is shown through your actions. And your actions can never be taken back according to Emerson. Your actions build how the world sees you. So watch what you do and say, because you are representing a lot more than your character. As a christian you are at all times representing Jesus.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
An elephants faithful, one hundred percent.
I read 'Horton Hatches an Egg' today while babysitting. Its a cute story about an elephant who gets stuck in a promise to sit on a birds egg for a moment. Horton takes care of the egg for 30ish months, keeping his promise longer than expected, and eventually hatches the egg. and the whole time when he could give up caring for the abandoned egg he says basically that he is going to keep his word and care for the egg.
and I got thinking about promises. People don't take them very seriously. People promise to keep secrets and they run off and tell the first person they see. People promise to be there but "something came up" and they bail. People promise to do chores or homework or anything really, but "they forget" or "their computer crashed" or "they just can't". When you watch children make promises you watch them pinky swear, or double swear, double dog promise (thats the big leagues right there). They try to establish trust and explain the importance of what they are saying. They know that not everyone keeps their promises. They already know not to trust everyone.
I think that's a pivotal problem in our society. If everyone grew up knowing that promises or even just someone's word will be kept then everyone would trust a little more. If everyone kept their word, there would be a lot less hurt people out there. Employees would be more efficient, employers more trustworthy. Siblings would be better friends. Friends would be more reliable. Parents would be super heroes again. Relationships wouldn't die so easily. The concept of a promise needs to be rethought and retaught. We need to teach each other how to keep a promise by keeping every promise we make. Everyone has that responsibility. But I think parents play a huge role. If parents show their kids how to always keep a promise then children will grow up learning it. And then the children will grow up keeping their word and being more trusting.And maybe this means making fewer promises.
That reminds me of a lesson I was taught at college group about the word 'love' and what it really means and how we use it. the word 'promise' needs to be used more carefully too. but the words 'love' and 'promise' are kind of the same. Because when you love someone you promise to deal with all their baggage and care about them and love them forever. And you would never want to break a promise to someone you love. In the message we learned about truly understanding love before committing to someone and before professing love to one another. And I think one step further is remembering the promises of love in the long run. At a wedding the bride and groom even say that they promise to be together forever. They, not only, say they love each other and promise everything that love entails but they promise to commit and love forever. People need to relearn that. People get divorced because they forget their promises to each other.
Thats why I thought of this whole post. Because I watched a movie where a couple got divorced and the husband said "but you promised; for better or for worse." and the wife didn't even care what she promised. But what is she took promises seriously and made that her last reason to stay? We grow up knowing not to trust people and accepting that promises don't have to be kept. But what if we grew up in a world where any promise was like a 6 year old's "double dog promise." People would be more careful of what we promise. People wouldn't be hurt so much by broken promises. I think we all need to stop promising so many things that we can't do. we should write down every promise we make so we can take it seriously. especially for children.
And I don't think we should make any promise unless we are willing to lock pinkies on it. or even *gasp* spit in our palms and shake on it. risking spity hands would certainly make us think about what we are doing before we promise anything big. or maybe we should be a little more like Horton the elephant. We should all sit on eggs in trees in the snow and rain, to hatch a half elephant, half bird baby. Or maybe not. but maybe regardless of what we get stuck promising we should live by Horton's famous quote "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, and elephants faithful, one hundred percent." But, you know, make that about humans.
and I got thinking about promises. People don't take them very seriously. People promise to keep secrets and they run off and tell the first person they see. People promise to be there but "something came up" and they bail. People promise to do chores or homework or anything really, but "they forget" or "their computer crashed" or "they just can't". When you watch children make promises you watch them pinky swear, or double swear, double dog promise (thats the big leagues right there). They try to establish trust and explain the importance of what they are saying. They know that not everyone keeps their promises. They already know not to trust everyone.
I think that's a pivotal problem in our society. If everyone grew up knowing that promises or even just someone's word will be kept then everyone would trust a little more. If everyone kept their word, there would be a lot less hurt people out there. Employees would be more efficient, employers more trustworthy. Siblings would be better friends. Friends would be more reliable. Parents would be super heroes again. Relationships wouldn't die so easily. The concept of a promise needs to be rethought and retaught. We need to teach each other how to keep a promise by keeping every promise we make. Everyone has that responsibility. But I think parents play a huge role. If parents show their kids how to always keep a promise then children will grow up learning it. And then the children will grow up keeping their word and being more trusting.And maybe this means making fewer promises.
That reminds me of a lesson I was taught at college group about the word 'love' and what it really means and how we use it. the word 'promise' needs to be used more carefully too. but the words 'love' and 'promise' are kind of the same. Because when you love someone you promise to deal with all their baggage and care about them and love them forever. And you would never want to break a promise to someone you love. In the message we learned about truly understanding love before committing to someone and before professing love to one another. And I think one step further is remembering the promises of love in the long run. At a wedding the bride and groom even say that they promise to be together forever. They, not only, say they love each other and promise everything that love entails but they promise to commit and love forever. People need to relearn that. People get divorced because they forget their promises to each other.
Thats why I thought of this whole post. Because I watched a movie where a couple got divorced and the husband said "but you promised; for better or for worse." and the wife didn't even care what she promised. But what is she took promises seriously and made that her last reason to stay? We grow up knowing not to trust people and accepting that promises don't have to be kept. But what if we grew up in a world where any promise was like a 6 year old's "double dog promise." People would be more careful of what we promise. People wouldn't be hurt so much by broken promises. I think we all need to stop promising so many things that we can't do. we should write down every promise we make so we can take it seriously. especially for children.
And I don't think we should make any promise unless we are willing to lock pinkies on it. or even *gasp* spit in our palms and shake on it. risking spity hands would certainly make us think about what we are doing before we promise anything big. or maybe we should be a little more like Horton the elephant. We should all sit on eggs in trees in the snow and rain, to hatch a half elephant, half bird baby. Or maybe not. but maybe regardless of what we get stuck promising we should live by Horton's famous quote "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, and elephants faithful, one hundred percent." But, you know, make that about humans.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Refocus
In college we are learning not only about Emerson, and Dickinson we are learning who we are. We are learning who we want to be, and learning what we want to do with our lives. Usually that's quite a daunting task. But as I'm learning it all I think it's time to refocus; to list what I want and what I know I don't want (which can be just as important as listing what I want). That way when someone says "what are you doing after your out of school?" I will have some sort of answer. And more importantly I will be able to set small goals to achieve that will build me in to the person I want to be one day. So..
What I know I do NOT want to do with my life
1) I do not want to be a math major
2) I do not want to go into the medical field
3) I do not want to be a girly girl
4) I no longer want to be a princess.... unless I find a prince, or just a frog in need of a smooch (but not really because..)
5) I do not want to get married (this is because...)
6) I do not want to get divorced (which is because....)
7) I don't want to to ruin a kids life because of my life. (so I don't want to have kids)
8) I do not want a "career" so to speak
9) I do not want to be complacent. ever. with anything.
10) I do not want to be dependent on any worldly thing or person
and that will bring me to...
What I know I do NOT want to do with my life
1) I do not want to be a math major
2) I do not want to go into the medical field
3) I do not want to be a girly girl
4) I no longer want to be a princess.... unless I find a prince, or just a frog in need of a smooch (but not really because..)
5) I do not want to get married (this is because...)
6) I do not want to get divorced (which is because....)
7) I don't want to to ruin a kids life because of my life. (so I don't want to have kids)
8) I do not want a "career" so to speak
9) I do not want to be complacent. ever. with anything.
10) I do not want to be dependent on any worldly thing or person
and that will bring me to...
What do I know I want to do with my life
1) I want to travel.. a lot
2) I want to have a job to requires me to travel
3) I want to study abroad
4) I want to get a degree
5) I want to do missions
6) I want to write a book
7) I want to learn (everything I can)
8) I want to learn about and get to know people
9) I want to teach people
10) I want to inspire people.. or more I want God to inspire them through me.
So this is what I'm starting with. It will change many times. But it's a start.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
being different
Today in American Lit we studied Emily Dickinson. We discussed her life and how she lived her life. We talked about how she didn't get married and didn't conform to organized religion. And also about how everyone thought she was so weird. She's one of the most highly acclaimed American poets. and everyone thought she was a freak. When you think about it, every significant figure in history was viewed this way. Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Galileo, Da Vinci, Columbus, Einstein, Poe, Dickinson, Darwin, Paul, King David, Jesus (and every other respected person from the bible). That's only naming a few. All of these people were criticized and ostracized for being different. But they all continued to do what they saw fit, or what God saw fit. Now when we look back into history we study these people that society hated. We admire them and try to understand them. We strive to be like them. But not really.
You see,in present day we believe in and understand what Einstein studied and what Dickinson wrote and what every other significant person did, so we try to achieve their level of expertise. That is what society values. But when they were studying and writing they were not trying to achieve someone else's goals or study someone else's work, like we study theirs. They were not trying to conform to societies approved goals. They were watching, and studying, and observing, and researching, and testing, and painting, and writing, and thinking, and learning. All for themselves, all about their own interests. And they didn't care about what anyone thought about it. So when we study what society believes what are we really gaining? Shouldn't we 'march to the beat of our own drum' so to speak. To get ahead in society, shouldn't we really be renouncing society? Just like every other significant person?
This concept is even more significant for christians. Romans 12:2 says "do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world..." and throughout the bible everything our society believes in is discouraged. "you cannot serve both God and money" (matt 6:24). "but many who are last will be first and many who are first will be last" (matt 19:30). "when I am weak then I am strong" (2 cor 12:19). "... better to be poor than a liar"(proverbs 19:22). "love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you" (matt 5:44). All of these are against societies views. All of these things Jesus commanded for us. But we're afraid to do these things because we're afraid to be criticized. But in matt 5:10 it says "blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." So even if by some chance we are persecuted, or simply criticized, for believing in Jesus and doing what he commands then we will be blessed for it. Jesus was one of the most hated men of his time, and probably still holds that status, and we're supposed to be just like him. So why are we still conforming to what the world wants?
Biblically we should not conform to the world even if we get criticized. We will be blessed for it. And in society and history we shouldn't conform to society's goals because not a single person recognized in history was remembered for blending in well. So why are we trying so hard to fit in? Why do women starve themselves, and men injure themselves? Why do business people steal and cheat? Why to politicians lie? Why do people go into debt? Why do people do a millions awful things that they are not comfortable with all to conform to the world? Conforming will never bring a single person glory and more importantly it will never bring glory to God. We need to renounce everything society tells us in order to do anything of value. Do you think Paul wrote half of the new testament by conforming? He went to Jail! Do you think Columbus discovered America because he was a conformer? It took his whole life to get there. And Dickinson, she never had a husband or friends, and she was never even published in her lifetime. But just look at her poetry. When King David defeated Goliath, was he conforming? All of his brothers were terrified of the giant, along with the rest of the army who told David not to fight goliath. And David even won by casting off all the army's suggested armor and weapons and using a sling shot. And Jesus? How about him? He was brutally beaten and murdered and crucified because he was not a conformer. and in that process he saved us from our sins. His persecution was the biggest victory in the entire world. And we are afraid to be criticized for being different?
I think thats the greatest downfall of people. We are afraid. We are afraid of criticism. We are afraid of persecution. We are afraid to deviate. We are afraid to change. We are afraid to think. We are afraid to believe.
You see,in present day we believe in and understand what Einstein studied and what Dickinson wrote and what every other significant person did, so we try to achieve their level of expertise. That is what society values. But when they were studying and writing they were not trying to achieve someone else's goals or study someone else's work, like we study theirs. They were not trying to conform to societies approved goals. They were watching, and studying, and observing, and researching, and testing, and painting, and writing, and thinking, and learning. All for themselves, all about their own interests. And they didn't care about what anyone thought about it. So when we study what society believes what are we really gaining? Shouldn't we 'march to the beat of our own drum' so to speak. To get ahead in society, shouldn't we really be renouncing society? Just like every other significant person?
This concept is even more significant for christians. Romans 12:2 says "do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world..." and throughout the bible everything our society believes in is discouraged. "you cannot serve both God and money" (matt 6:24). "but many who are last will be first and many who are first will be last" (matt 19:30). "when I am weak then I am strong" (2 cor 12:19). "... better to be poor than a liar"(proverbs 19:22). "love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you" (matt 5:44). All of these are against societies views. All of these things Jesus commanded for us. But we're afraid to do these things because we're afraid to be criticized. But in matt 5:10 it says "blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." So even if by some chance we are persecuted, or simply criticized, for believing in Jesus and doing what he commands then we will be blessed for it. Jesus was one of the most hated men of his time, and probably still holds that status, and we're supposed to be just like him. So why are we still conforming to what the world wants?
Biblically we should not conform to the world even if we get criticized. We will be blessed for it. And in society and history we shouldn't conform to society's goals because not a single person recognized in history was remembered for blending in well. So why are we trying so hard to fit in? Why do women starve themselves, and men injure themselves? Why do business people steal and cheat? Why to politicians lie? Why do people go into debt? Why do people do a millions awful things that they are not comfortable with all to conform to the world? Conforming will never bring a single person glory and more importantly it will never bring glory to God. We need to renounce everything society tells us in order to do anything of value. Do you think Paul wrote half of the new testament by conforming? He went to Jail! Do you think Columbus discovered America because he was a conformer? It took his whole life to get there. And Dickinson, she never had a husband or friends, and she was never even published in her lifetime. But just look at her poetry. When King David defeated Goliath, was he conforming? All of his brothers were terrified of the giant, along with the rest of the army who told David not to fight goliath. And David even won by casting off all the army's suggested armor and weapons and using a sling shot. And Jesus? How about him? He was brutally beaten and murdered and crucified because he was not a conformer. and in that process he saved us from our sins. His persecution was the biggest victory in the entire world. And we are afraid to be criticized for being different?
I think thats the greatest downfall of people. We are afraid. We are afraid of criticism. We are afraid of persecution. We are afraid to deviate. We are afraid to change. We are afraid to think. We are afraid to believe.
blog fail
Seeing as how I've been playing with the idea of writing as a profession and declaring english and journalism as my majors I've decided to be a much better blogger. Ive been a blog failure lately. and so I'm to post at least 2 blogs a week... baby steps, baby steps. and you can hold me to that! haha. but don't be brutal. so, with out further ado, let the blogger commence!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Big Boy Pants
So Amanda and I are writing a movie. It's a typical boy meets girl story, only it's animated and the people are turtles. And the boy turtle, Stan, was deeply in love with his best friend turtle, Michelle. Michelle loved her best friend turtle, Stan. Everyone knew that Stan loved Michelle except for Michelle. And everyone knew that Michelle loved Stan except for Stan. They flirted and texted and hung out and had adventures. They could talk about nothing all night long, and often did. People began asking turtle Michelle why she and Stan weren't dating. She did not know the answer. She wanted to be with Stan but She knew it was his responsibility to ask her, cause that's the turtle way. So she waited, and waited. They still texted and talked and had adventures. Then one day he stoped texting Michelle back. Poor Michelle didn't know what she had done wrong. He acted normal on there adventures but he would not talk back. So she decided to stop texting him at all. He went away on vacation for a while. And while he was gone she decided she was done waiting. He missed her very much on his trip. He realized the maybe he should ask her out because no one understood him like Michelle did. And when he returned he finally called her and asked her to dinner and a movie. She said yes. At dinner Stan asked Michelle to be his girlfriend. But Michelle had moved on and she told him that she got tired of waiting. He was heartbroken for she was his perfect turtle match. But he waited to long.
Moral of the story? Put on your big boy pants and go for it.
The end
Moral of the story? Put on your big boy pants and go for it.
The end
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
iPhone
So I have a nifty new iPhone in my hands. I'm currently blogging on it and it is already changing me. I'm already facebooking more and getting online more and playing more games and getting new apps. I swore I would never get twitter but that will soon change I can already tell. This nifty new phone is a social networking phone just like it says. No complaints though, I love this thing. It spell checks everything by the way, which is awesome. Or maybe it keeps me from learning how to spell. Who knows. But I just thought I should tell everyone that I am now a social networker and you will be hearing more from me very soon. You can decide if that good or not though.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
study room
I would like to complain about the lack of understand of the term STUDY room. At my school I have a study room I can use whenever I like. This is a room for a select group of people to use a computer and get school work done in quiet. Today I went to my nifty little room to get some history studying done. I had a wonderful productive 10 minutes. AND THEN this girl walks in with every type of rock known to man so she can scratch them together and complete a lab. AWESOME. and not only did she scratch rocks together she was making small talk with someone at a volume only used in the superbowl crowd. I wanted to die. A STUDY room is for STUDYING!! you can not STUDY with rocks scratching and people practically screaming. go to the room to STUDY not scratch rocks and talk. my goodness people.
Monday, January 31, 2011
truth
In this one book series I read a few years ago a boy altered his brain so that he didn't have the abitlity to lie. Not only could he not lie he had to tell the whole truth. He couldn't control it. I sometimes wish that we all had that brain alteration and we all had to be honest. I have a huge circle of friend I hang out with and we all try to act like we are all best friends and there is no drama. In reality theres more drama in my group than in a soap opera. The whole reason for the drama is the fact that NO ONE in honest. There are crushes that everyone knows about that everyone ignores. There's pain that people know about and everyone ignores. There are awkward break ups, and scandals, and hookups, and fights and everyone (including myself) ignores it. I feel like if people were just honest about all of it we could all function as friends better.
Now don't get me wrong; in the right setting with the right dynamic we actually are the best friends ever. But that's the hardest part because to achieve that dynamic is like chess. For example "if we invite her to the party than he will come because he likes her but that means he'll bring them and they don't like me but I want her to go but he said that she said that we don't like whats her name and blah freaking blah." And when that happens and the perfect dynamics can't be achieved then people get hurt. People feel isolated, aliened, ignored, and disliked. And then by the end of what ever the hang out is half of the group posts on facebook how great the night was and half of the group sits in a car together venting about how hated they feel.
Don't worry though this blog's purpose is not to make anyone feel bad or persuade people to treat their friends better. It's purpose is to emphasize the importance of honesty. If people were honest in my group of friends then yes things would change but people would know the truth and we could stop the "he said she said", and the guessing, and all the crap. We could stop ignoring the epic elephants in the room. We could learn to actually love and accept each other for who we are. If we could be honest like we should we would actually be that great loving circle of friends we pretend we are.
Now don't get me wrong; in the right setting with the right dynamic we actually are the best friends ever. But that's the hardest part because to achieve that dynamic is like chess. For example "if we invite her to the party than he will come because he likes her but that means he'll bring them and they don't like me but I want her to go but he said that she said that we don't like whats her name and blah freaking blah." And when that happens and the perfect dynamics can't be achieved then people get hurt. People feel isolated, aliened, ignored, and disliked. And then by the end of what ever the hang out is half of the group posts on facebook how great the night was and half of the group sits in a car together venting about how hated they feel.
Don't worry though this blog's purpose is not to make anyone feel bad or persuade people to treat their friends better. It's purpose is to emphasize the importance of honesty. If people were honest in my group of friends then yes things would change but people would know the truth and we could stop the "he said she said", and the guessing, and all the crap. We could stop ignoring the epic elephants in the room. We could learn to actually love and accept each other for who we are. If we could be honest like we should we would actually be that great loving circle of friends we pretend we are.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
whats good.
Recently I've been dealing with and praying about a certain situation in my life. Last night an event happened that was exactly what I wanted out of the situation. So I atomatically thanked God for that event. And then I realized something; if I hadn't gotten what I wanted I would have immediatly been mad at God, or blamed satan for what happened. How awful is that? I only thank and appreciate God when I get what I want. In all honesty I think a lot of people live like that too. We judge what is good depending upon what makes us happy. But who is to say what is good and what is bad. Certainly not us. Most of the incredable stories in the bible have people going through horrible situations. When Jesus was crucified everyone thought it was the most tragic event that ever happened, untill he came back from the dead and saved us from eternal death. I'm learning that even when God causes or allows something bad to happen to me I'm not the one who should judge if it is right or wrong because God has it under control. Whether I get what I want or not I need to thank him for it anyway because I know God is taking care of me. Something bad that happens to me could be the biggest blessing in my life and I just can't see it yet. I think we all should start thanking God just for being God because his presense in our lives is the only thing that really matters in life.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Coffee. It's the new sleep.
I've noticed a new trend; when people are tired they solve the problem with ungodly amount of caffeine. Back in the day (which was a wednesday, by the way) when people were tired they slept. Many places in Europe have a designated time after lunch when people take naps. and that's not just for kindergardeners, high schoolers and even college students get an extended lunch period to go home and nap. Here in America we do not nap because that's lazy, we take five hour energy shots, drink starbucks and caribou, take caffeine pills and then we wonder why we can't sleep at night. Here's a idea, if you don't drink the double-shot-half-caf-no-whip-venti-caramel-twist-lattes at 9 o'clock at night you might not need the ambien to sleep. When did the revolution begin? maybe when starbucks became a part of common vocabulary? or when new york stopped being the only city that doesn't sleep? or maybe when cute coffee mugs become a fashion trend? Lets all stop being trendy and take a trip to italy where we all take naps after eating an immense amount of carbs. I'll book the plane tickets, but only after a stop at starbucks.. I'm tired.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
today's phrase: Broken Home
I'm not a fan of this phrase. I was told the other night that I come from a "broken home." When did a divorced family become a broken home anyway? Last time I checked I got two birthdays, two Christmases and two places to call home. Not to mention if my parents were still together I would have probably killed myself by now. They hate each other. So why does society make the word divorce a huge epic deal? So it's a sin. So is greed but CEO's of major corporations are praised for their achievements. And so is gluttony but obese people are pitied for there problem with emotional-eating. So society should give up the phrase "broken home" because divorce is really more a solution than an act of breaking. It solves a dysfunctional family and creates two separate fully functional families. I've learned more from my parents getting divorced than I have think I would have learned from my parents staying together. It comes with it's own challenges but think every lifestyle has it's own challenges and divorced families shouldn't be reprimanded for the way they live. In conclusion the term "broken home" is officially not a part of my vocabulary. And I would like the phrase taken out of societies vocabulary all together because at the current rate we are at 2 out of 3 marriages will end up a "broken home". and that's a lot of brokenness for one world to handle.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Very First Post
This is my very first blog post ever. I'm not really one of the internet savvy twitter, blogger people. But I was reading someones blog today and decided I wanted one too. Maybe I just decided I needed a place to blab about my everyday thoughts. Maybe I've become so conceited that I need a place to say anything I want and not have a single person dispute me. Maybe I want the world to hear what I have to say. Or maybe I secretly don't want anyone to read this ever. Regardless of the reason I started this blog it now exists. It doesn't have much of a purpose other than for me to talk about the random things I want to talk about every once in a while. The impromptu things if you will. I hope you enjoy it, but then again maybe I hope you're not reading it at all.
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