Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We get the day off school. Banks close. There’s no mail. But does it mean anything to you? Thirty-five years ago this man, along with millions of others, worked to break down the shackles of racism in our society. In some ways, they succeeded. They forced the government to deliver their promised rights.
Missing God
A thousand voices echo through the hall, rising and falling in a crescendo of worship. Hands are lifted high in praise, voices strain and tears fall. A powerful wave of emotion sweeps through your body as you catch the tiniest glimpse of the meaning of the words you’re singing. I watched the drummer pound out the beat with every ounce of strength he had. Joy overflowed in my heart and I beat my hand against my leg to the rhythm.
God, how can I constantly miss you? I’m there, and I take the time, but somehow I’m just not there. My mind isn’t there and my heart isn’t there. You long for all of me, and I give you a time slot in my day. Take my life.
Better is one day in your court,
Better is one day in your house,
Better is one day in your court,
Than a thousand elsewhere.
When I Should Be Sleeping
What do you expect from me? You come here occasionally, sometimes daily, looking to glean a little slice of thought. Why do I always have to be the one to think? I stare blankly into the screen at 1:07 in the morning, wondering why the screen stares so blankly back at me. I’m not a brilliant guy. I don’t know it all. I don’t have the answers, and I certainly don’t pretend to. Yet you keep coming back, presumably to see what I have to say. Am I that profound? Or is it just fun to see what’s on my mind? Do I actually stimulate your thinking? Or are you just bored, looking for something to amuse your eyes while you eat your breakfast? Sometime I can’t help but wonder what the point is. For me it’s a selfish reason, I need to think, I need to write. So here it is. But what about you? Why do you come here? Do you have anything to say? Sometimes I wish I could here it. Here the thoughts that echo in your mind at the end of the day. Would you ramble on about something that ticked you off? Or would you ask a puzzling question and saunter off to bed? Or maybe you’d tell a little tale, adding in a few rhymes and have yourself some fun. What would you do if they were your thoughts? Would you even open them for the whole world to read? Would you speak in cryptic tones that border on poetic insanity, or would you lay it out cold? Sometimes I just sit here and wonder, when I should really just go to bed.
Recalling Chicago
He was the kind of person your mother told you to stay away from. I sat next to him on the train. I offered him some crackers, and listened to him talk about crack. Tattoos ran up and down his arm like the profanity woven through his language. The other passengers glared at him or pretended he wasn’t there.
He sat slumped against a potted tree, clutching an empty water bottle, its label long since faded away. He mumbled quietly to himself. I watched him take a long, soothing drag on his Marlboro, and then extinguish the burning embers underneath his shoe. I could see his bare toes wiggle as he smashed the cigarette, his toes poking out of his holy socks, poking out of his dilapidated shoes.
It was hot enough to make the asphalt sticky. I was slumped against a building, trying to build up the strength to continue on. From my vantage point I watched her fall all the way to the earth. She stumbled, her leg giving out, and her knee came crashing into the concrete. It slammed into the concrete with jolting force. You could feel it from a distance. The others around her on the sidewalk hesitated for a moment. We all saw her fall. Their pace slowed for a second. They weren’t sure what to do. But the proud woman kept her gaze low. With all her might she pulled herself back up and struggled on. The people around her resumed their pace, grateful they didn’t have to dirty their hands and stoop to help the clumsy woman.
What did you see?
First Goal Ever
The snow flakes fall like a million stars in the nighttime sky. It covers everything like a soft, quiet blanket. It covers the ground and sticks to the branches, it buries cars and sticks to the grooves in your tires. Through it all voices echo, screaming, yelling, cheering. Bodies move in not-so-fluid motion, arms flail and feet kick. Sticks fly and a small orange ball rolls lazily through the snow before a flying dive and the ball is sailing across the rink again. People scamper and everyone converges on the ball.
Broomball. The ultimate winter sport of buffoonery. At first glance it looks like a game for clowns. But those clowns know how to have fun. Tonight I scored my first goal ever.
Evergreen
My big Christmas present this year was a new camera (thanks Mom & Dad!). One of those real cameras, not just a point and shoot deal. So now I can act like a photographer. I got my first rolls of film back today. Since I’m still giddy about pretending to be a photographer, I thought I’d show you one of my new pictures. It’s called “Evergreen.” (hey, I’m an art minor, I’m allowed to at least act like an artist)
Follow Up
I received an interesting response to Sunday’s thoughts (you may want to read the thoughts from two days ago so you know what I’m talking about). They started by asking how you can know if a person is sinning. Anger, hatred, and jealousy can all be sins committed entirely in your mind (of course anger, hatred, and jealousy are not always sins, I’m just using them as examples of emotions that can be taken to the point of sin). So then how do you know if someone is sinning? Secondly, the response pointed out that our only job is to love people. An interesting addition to the dialogue. I need to think a little more about that one before I just start rambling. Just thought I’d add a little to the thinking.
People’s Stubbornness
Have you ever been completely infuriated at people’s stubbornness? They so want to see things their way so badly that they ignore the obvious. They’re blinded by their own stubbornness. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m the blind one. I’m probably opening a can of worms here, but I think it’s time to pop the lid. Christians have a serious problem dealing with this world. By “world” I don’t mean the people in this world. That’s another issue. By world I mean environment. Christians have a very hard time dealing with the environment we live in and how we’re supposed to interact with that environment.
Dealing with Differing Beliefs
It’s the foggy night air, and you just can’t see anywhere. My headlights shine into the mist, but it only gets cloudier.
I was having an e-mail discussion with someone about dealing with unsaved friends. We were discussing whether or not you should be doing questionable things with them. How good of friends can you be with an unsaved person? The other person made a remark that when the person is committing a sin we shouldn’t be around them. The person gave the example that Jesus never talked with a person while they were sinning. If they were sinning, he would reprimand them, and then talk to them. I pondered this for a few days and came to a very different conclusion. When is a person not sinning? At what point can you go up to someone, realize they are not sinning at that exact moment, and talk to them? I don’t think you ever can. Now Christians are a special case. Christians have the saving blood of Christ, and while they can still sin, there is a point when they are clean and without sin. I don’t want to get into that debate. What about the unsaved? Let’s say you want to share Christ with a prostitute. Obviously, you don’t share Christ while she’s committing her sin. But afterwards, isn’t she still in sin. Just because she’s not committing the act, doesn’t mean she’s pure. In fact, I’d say she’s living in a sinful lifestyle. So how can you ever approach a person when they’re not sinning?
It’s just an interesting thought and addition to an on going conversation of how Christians should relate to the world. A lot of people think we should be reserved and withdrawn. You never know when the world could pull you down. While that may be true, I think we have to realize that sin is sin. It’s pulling the whole world down. There’s no way to escape that. The choice is either hide in your little church shelter, or go out and fight the sin. Notice I didn’t say embrace or accept the sin. Somehow, I think the Bible is pretty clear on which option we’re supposed to choose.
Another thing I’ve noticed, is it just me, or is the way we refer to those who aren’t Christians kind of weird? Unsaved? Non-Christians? Unbelievers? Just a thought. Maybe I’ve been in Christian circles for too long.
Y2K Non-Compliant
By the way, I’m still writing the date as “99”. You’d think with all the millennium hoopla I’d be able to remember that it’s “00”. But oh no. Did you ever notice that the ReAL Thoughts dating system isn’t Y2K compatible? If these are around for another 99 years we’re going to have some major problems.