“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours… If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” (Henry David Thoreau, “Walden”)

With an archipelago of dreams and ideas, I step out into this world. I don’t know how it all relates, and I don’t know how it’s all going to work out. I don’t know where it will take me, whether to the highest peaks of Mount Millomeeks and the farthest reaches of the great Isle of Sneeches, or just down to the corner. But I can see. And I can hear. I can hear the beat of a different drum, and despite my complete lack of rhythm, I want to march to that beat. The hollow, droning march that everyone else unquestioningly follows doesn’t interest me. It seems dull and vapid, and life is so much more.

I see a world with problems, corruption, and pain. I also see a God with love, mercy, and grace. Why is it that the two don’t fit so well together? The question and the answer seem so obvious. Am I only the only one who sees? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But if it is broke, don’t just stand there. This world is need of much fixing. And where are we Christians? Pigeonholed in the corner of the Christian bookstore with “Our holy karaoke / Prayer in stereo” (All Star United, “International Anthem”).

Now is not the time for another follower in the endless stream of Christian subculture. Now is the time to give the world what it truly needs. A girl I know has become clinically insane in the past three weeks. She’s been sharing her faith with total strangers, just going up to them and asking them questions. In three weeks seven people have accepted Jesus Christ. Her cousin became the seventh on Sunday, and after they finished praying her cousin asked why more people don’t do this. I took that two ways: Why don’t more people share their faith despite their fears? Why don’t more people accept Christ’s sacrificial love?