Let it snow...I guess...

Well, after a week or two of subzero temperatures and ice and snow, I think I can safely say that I strongly dislike winter in the city. It seems so cozy when you are all tucked into a house in the woods, and the snow is actually white. Here, people still go 70 miles per hour, barreling through inches of gray, wet, dirty snow and ice, and I don't think I can remember a time when I didn't spin out at an intersection or fishtail when turning onto the road to my house. Ahhh, winter.

However, I do have to be grateful. I am warm at night, I have amazing friends, and I get to see my family for more than 24 hours this weekend. A lot of us have so much in this world and don't even realize it. The other day at dinner, some friends and I were discussing how when it gets this cold, we think about all of those people out there-- for some of us, actually just down the street or outside our front door--who don't have a home to go to when it gets to be 10 or 20 below. Where do they go? I encourage you to think about that in the coming days--not just to be thankful for what you have, but to realize that the body of Christ has a responsibility to others. I admit I am often guilty of forgetting about those who live differently than I do, and I want to remember them all year, not just when it's cold, or Christmas, or Hanukkah. It's a rough world...and aren't we supposed to be shining a little of Christ's warmth into every corner? It's just something that deserves our attention, whatever that means for you--praying, giving, or spending time helping.

I'll be heading to my parents' for the holidays, so on a Christmas note, I thought I'd share this clip from my favorite Christmas movie, The Muppet Christmas Carol:









Have a happy holiday season! Bring on 2009!


Peace,

J

Up and Down

It's amazing what can happen in a day, and how quickly a person can go from happy to extremely frustrated in a matter of hours.

For example, last night, Linds and I went to concert that she had won tickets to. Not just any concert, mind you. This was JINGLE BALL 2008. We had been trying to win tickets for weeks, and she finally won! It was like six concerts in one (hosted by our favorite radio deejays). So, I was bopping along to Rihanna, having a generally great time in this crowd:



A few short hours later (it all pretty much felt like the same day though), I was bringing my roommate to the airport, and got stuck in this for an hour and twenty minutes:




Ahh, the highs and lows of life.

Catch it!

It seems the topic of late, at least in 2008, has been that of suffering. I don't want to use that word melodramatically, nor do I want to get into the discussion of comparing sufferings. Each person has their own problems and tolerance for pain, I believe (physical and emotional), and God gives us each what we can handle. So, on this topic, I was collecting my thoughts this afternoon, and reading over some old notes from books I've read, and I found this quote. It's from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger:

Once you get past all the Mr. Vinsons, you're going to start getting closer and closer--that is, if you want to, and if you look for it and wait for it--to the kind of information that will be very, very dear to your heart. Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever been confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them--if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry.

I was driving home the other night, listening to the radio, and a horrible thought came into my head. I just kept wondering why bad things happen to me, why my life seems so hard, and why can't things go smoothly ever for me. I felt awful about it, but I just couldn't seem to get out of that mental framework. I feel like I've been stuck there for many months now, and witnessing my friends go through hard times makes me wonder if life just isn't one big constant struggle. However, I tried to remember everything I've been given freely, it would seem. Number one, God has given me his grace. I also have a very warm bed and home, food on a regular basis, plenty of clothing, a decent job, opportunities to go to graduate school, a family who would take me in again, if I was ever on the street, the list goes on and on. When I think of these things, I don't try to diminish and push away the pain and suffering that I personally feel, I just try to fit things into perspective, and try to see the situation through God's eyes. This quote by Salinger made me just realize, I am not the first person to see the tragedy that so often is this world. And I have others before me whom I can read, listen to, and speak with who remind me that I am not alone. And I think that is the point--God filled this earth with six billion people and counting: a pretty strong hint that he wants us to spend time together, I'd say. Whether we are bonding over shared happiness, sadness, loneliness, or joy, at least we have someone to share it with!

Lator (v.)

In response to a comment left on the previous post:

The term "lator" is actually a twenty-first century colloquial abbreviation derived from the phrase "See you later, alligator." The phrase is most often employed when an adult (defined as one who finds it interesting to overuse the phrase in the name of "cute" or "funny") is saying his/her farewell to a much younger child (often defined as one who once found such a phrase as hilarious, but now simply puts up with it to appease said adult). The stress is found on the "o" in the word (pronounced lay-TORE), and is often followed by the phrase "After a while, crocodile!" The phrases, combined, hold humor due to the fact that alligators and crocodiles are closely related, divided only by the continents on which they are found. (For "lator" see illustration below).



Of course, when used as a proper noun, LaTor, the word holds a completely different meaning altogether.

My Dearest Sanguines

I told my friends I would write about them, so here I am--fulfilling a promise! Imagine that. I hope they don't mind me actually posting about them, but I hardly equate being written about on this blog with loss of anonymity.

Honestly, I've been wanting to do this for a couple of weeks, just because they are so fabulous. This was prompted moreso by my recent stress freak-out regarding the GRE, and how wonderful these two were to me throughout my mental breakdown. I am speaking of two of my best friends, whom I also happen to live with, Linds and Amanda.

Amanda: Where do I even begin? We met in our second year of college as we happened to live across the hall from each other. I have known her now for four years and I can say quite positively that she is one of the gentlest souls I have ever come upon. I give her a lot of crap for being such a positive person (which she puts up with with a pleasant smile on her face), but in reality, without her around, everything would be a little bit less cheerful. She often sees things in a completely different light than I do, and I have learned so much about people from her.

Our year has been a very difficult one, to say the very least, but it has done nothing but draw us closer together, and when she moves in January, I'm not quite sure what I'll do. She keeps me sane! What God has chosen to give us in this life has just made me realize what a truly unique and special person she is, and I am so grateful that God had our paths cross.

Linds: Ahh, yes, the pepper to my salt. I have known this lovely lady pretty much since college started (five years now), and again, have no idea where to begin. I've come to depend on this girl for so many things, and am so amazed, again, that God has seen fit to put her in my life. She is wonderfully outspoken and intelligent, and has no problem being open to others, which is a trait I envy in others more often than not. We often have the same random, skewed perspective on life. But most importantly, she is probably one of the funniest people I know, if not the funniest. I don't think we laugh harder than when we are around each other.

I think I can speak for all of us when I say that though things have been difficult this year, it's pretty obvious that God led each of us on a path that put us together for the past six or seven months. Where we will go from here, none of us really know, because life can change in an instant. I cannot forget what these girls have done for me, and the bonds that we have created between the three of us--nor would I ever want to (yes Linds, I am being very dramatic--but I don't know how to say it better!). To sum it up, I love you both very much, so don't forget it!

Amanda, Linds, and me on an impromptu trip to Lake Superior.

Hurrah!

Oh, the amazing things Google image search can find you! I went in to take the GRE on Saturday morning. For those of you who don't know, the GRE is the test one takes to get into graduate school. Unlike the ACT or SAT, you can register to take the GRE pretty much any time, any where. I signed up to take it all the way in Woodbury, which, at 7:00 am on Saturday morning, was a good half an hour drive through a snow storm with blustering winds (yeah, yeah, I realize that is dramatic, you know--"uphill both ways"). But my lovely friend L woke up with me to cook me a delicious breakfast full of brain food, and off I went! It had caused me a lot of stress in the past two weeks, just dangling over my head. Now, I can breathe and march onward with my graduate school application process. Thank the Lord!



In book news, I am currently reading the novel Speaker for the Dead. The second book (chronologically speaking) in the Ender series by Orson Scott Card, which I mentioned in a previous post, has been a very interesting read so far (that's not vague at all, is it? Sorry! It is just hard to explain without giving away the other books). I had postponed starting it while preparing for my exam, so it was a bit slow-going for awhile, but I'm now getting into it and feeling that swept-away, can't-put-it-down-until-I-know-what-is-going-on feeling. It's so easy for my overgrown imagination to just launch itself into another world, especially on cold, snowy, lazy December days. Check it out, if you want!

Peace,
J

And we're back!

I hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving. I realized today it had been a week since my last post, so I thought I'd share something that has been in the recesses of my mind lately. I also wanted to say, I am studying/preparing for a test I'm taking on Saturday, so I'm not sure I'll post again before then.

I've been trying to put into words the frustration I feel with my generation, or with society in general (apologies for the cliche). I was reading a book by Chuck Colson called How Now Shall We Live a few years ago, and found this quote that I had marked. It's within a discussion about God's divine authority:

Yet, at the same time, many of us don't want to submit to that divine authority ourselves; we don't want to recognize an external, transcendent source of moral truth that restricts our own behavior. That would be a blow to human pride and self-centeredness, and a denial that choice is our ultimate right, that we are morally autonomous. What's worse, it would mean that when we fail to live up to that transcendent truth, we are in the very uncomfortable position of having not only to admit guilt before the divine tribunal but also to accept the consequences. This is the price we pay for accepting the Christian answer.
And yet the price for rejecting it is much higher. When morality is reduced to personal preferences and when no one can be held morally accountable, society quickly falls into disorder. Entertainers churn out garbage that vulgarizes our children's tastes; politicians tickle our ears while picking our pockets; criminals terrorize our city streets; parents neglect their children; and children grow up without a moral conscience. Then, when social anarchy becomes widespread in any nation, its citizens become prime candidates for a totalitarian-style leader (or leader class) to step in and offer to fix everything. Sadly, by that time many people are so sick of the anarchy and chaos that they readily exchange their freedom for the restoration of social order--even under an iron fist.

I want to focus more on the first portion of this excerpt, and how I see this reflected in those my age around me. I have said before, entitlement is a topic that I have a hard time keeping mum about, and my frustration with my generation is rooted in entitlement. In this case, moral entitlement. I have had countless conversations with people who are just seeking to "do what is right for me," without a second thought to the consequences to those around them. Don't get me wrong, some of these people are very genuine, caring people--but when push comes to shove, "me" comes first. The main problem I see is that people will push a social and political agenda of caring for others in need, i.e. the poor and the sick, but at the same time, protect themselves above it all. When their perceived "moral autonomy" is threatened, say by one of those in poverty, or one who is ill, you can bet who gets priority, and which political agenda is thrown out the window. It is an ugly dual personality that few people seem to take issue with, but that is so glaringly obvious to me.

To be more clear, I am frustrated with the general self-centeredness of those my age, myself included. I can see tendencies in myself to want to pick my own morals, forgetting that I have given myself to Christ, and his authority. I want to have my morality defined by "personal preferences." And this, I believe, is the crux of the issue. We set our moral authority by what is around us, by what we desire, and do not recognize the divine authority that God has. To be sure, even when we deny it, even for those who have never followed Christ, that authority is still there, and we will answer to it, whether on this earth or off.

In ending, this quote by C.S. Lewis has been in my head for months now, and inspired this post. I pray that we will not find ourselves to easily pleased, and rest in our Lord's perfect and sovereign authority.

It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.