Tuesday, August 10, 2010

A big hairy mess

So lately I've been struggling with evidences, paradoxes, and similar types tings related to faith.

Perhaps it's because I've been reading scientific type books, or there has been so much controversy in the news as of late. Who knows.

I recently re-read "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. I enjoy his writing style, and something he mentioned in his book is that some people have to have a faith bigger than the evidence, bigger than what other people say.

It's made a big difference for me in the way I see the world. All of a sudden, God can take first place in my life. It doesn't mean that I'm no longer selfish, or occasionally self-serving- it just means that I realize that God is above all of the things we argue about.

For example. I had a conversation today with a friend about the legal issues in the United States. During that conversation I realized that we need to be loving other people and united on those things, and allow God to judge the things we all can't work out.

I can't sort out what's right; I'm not wise enough and the facts are too confounding, confusing and alternating between idealism, harsh reality, and hope.

So I've come to the conclusion that accepting God as infinitely wiser than myself is a better solution than trying to figure out something that I'll likely never have a solid solution to.

God is great, greater than all of this political mess.

Have you ever seen heat lightning?


Bursts of light and power silently exploding in the warm summer sky.

It's breathtaking, and it reminds me that God is here, that He gave us this place- that He can take it all away in an instant, but that he graciously allows us to live in and alter this place.


So if God can do that, then I guess he can sort out all of the world's confusion. We can just take care of people, show love and bring joy to the less fortunate. To bring justice to the world- not the justice that we think of as people getting retribution for their crimes, but the justice of people without friends being befriended, those who starve eating, and the unfortunate being shown fortune.

And I'm not there yet. I'm far too selfish.


But I want to be there. Let's pray that we can be more loving, more holy, and more like the people God created us to be.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

I've got a picture at Mt. Rushmore, but I forgot what I did there...

I'm in class. I know that I shouldn't be writing a blog entry while in class, but let's be honest- I'm a distracted person at times.

As a matter of fact, it's the end of the semester and I feel like my mind has already checked out. It feels strange being a student. It also feels strange knowing that I may not use this degree for anything in particular.

I spoke with somebody today in regards to living life. I made the comment to this person that I wondered why "some people wait to start their life when they started living a long time ago."

That's the idea I've been bouncing around in my head lately- how am I living life right now? How am I getting excited about where I'm at and what I'm doing and who I'm around at this moment in time? Otherwise we're all just waiting around in between big events.

So how to do this? For a future focused obsessing person such as myself, this can be a ludicrously hard task.

I'm trying everyday just to enjoy this blessing called life, and these blessings known as the people I run into.

Sometimes we get so focused on the end point- the finish line, that we forget about the race. We get so focused at taking a picture that we forget to enjoy the scenery behind us.

So that's where I'm at- trying to be content in any and all situations.

Here we go!