Love,

Blake

On any particular day of the week at any particular time, anyone can walk down this main street and observe something like this intriguing scene.

On the newspaper stands are headlines preaching the end of Wall Street as we know it with photographs of distressed stockbrokers with their heads in their hands as to say, “What I live for is crumbling before me.”  Existence finds meaning in the well being of our financial system.  Or does it?

Next to this newspaper stand is a group of young men who laugh and smirk and I hear one of them say, “You actually f***ed her?  No way, man.”  Then the guy he is talking to simply laughs and says, “Seriously, man.”  The meaning of existence is wrapped up in the well being of our sex lives.  Or is it?

Walking with one of her friends, a girl wearing a “Delta Gamma” hat says, “It was the worst tasting margarita I have ever had in my life.  I decided to have vodka instead and I got so plastered.”  Night after night, she lets a liquid drown her thoughts to oblivion.  Existence means something when what we live for is to not remember living.  Or does it?

Sitting on the curb, a guy says to his friend, “I can’t believe she actually drinks.  I can’t believe she is in a sorority.  I can’t believe he has sex with his girlfriend.  I can’t believe she is a Democrat.  I can’t believe he is a Republican.  I can’t believe she smokes pot.  I can’t believe she is an atheist.  I can’t hang out with them or love them anymore.”  Day after day, he lets his pride show itself in judgment.  Existence is defined in how good we look in comparison to other people or how much we can stick to our comfortable groups or how much we can judge other people.  Or is it?

It is so interesting to observe the ways we put definition to the root of existence, whether that is in the way we pride ourselves in doing “bad” things or in being too good for the people doing “bad” things.

I am wholeheartedly convinced that the root of existence does not lie in either of these things.  I am convinced that the meaning of our existence is defined by the way we love Jesus and love each other.  I am convinced that our existence is defined in the way we love Jesus with all of our hearts, intellects, money, things, strength, and time.

I am also wholeheartedly convinced that if we do this we will, in turn, love our neighbors/enemies/friends/foes with all of our hearts, intellects, money, things, strength, and time.

This is the beautiful existence I am convinced of.

http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html

this is truly an incredibly interesting article about how our so-called “counter-culture” is actually “consumer culture.”  very interesting.
truly….
do we want to really care about important issues?
or do we just want to look like we care about important issues?

what do you think about this?

love,

blake

Amen.

The markets crash and the cyclones scream.
Still,
He whispers cooling rain on our burning hearts.

The homeless search for a place to lay their heads.
Still,
He wanders with them for He was like them.

The guns may fire and the bombs explode.
Still,
He calls our names through the chaos.

He sings to us.
He beckons our insides.
He breaks us down.
He builds us up.
His love, oh His love, wipes the drops falling from our eyes.

Our leaders fake righteous cause with a sword in their hands.
Still,
He weeps with the hurting.

Anxiety plagues the heart and ravages the soul.
Still,
He beckons us to the river of security.

Our fears oppress us and annihilate our minds.
Still,
He screams to us, “I AM PEACEFUL REFUGE! I LOVE YOU!”

We try to over-intellectualize Him through fancy words and adult-like language.
Still,
He calls us to sit on His lap as children.

Our fathers hurt us and abuse us.
Still,
He empathizes with us because His father on earth was imperfect, too.

People who claim to be following Him judge with bitter pride.
Still,
He calls us away from them and to Himself.

He yearns for us.
He desires the touch of our souls.
He makes destroys the old.
He lovingly creates the new.
Praise the Lord, our souls are quenched.

The world crashes down.
Our Perfect Refuge,
You breathe peace upon our souls and love us more than we love ourselves.

WE DON’T HAVE TO BE AFRAID ANYMORE PRAISE THE LORD!

The back of my heals teeter on the side of the edge of this cliff. The wind slaps my face and forces me to quiver back and forth, my body shaking uncontrollably. Between the safety of the sturdy rock and the uncertainty of free fall, my mind can’t help but imagine the exhilarating thrill that could be experienced by simply taking a 2-millimeter step.

It is strange, however, because I stand on this cliff in the dark of night. A man that I met earlier in the day told me that when I got to this point, I needed to simply jump. I’m not jumping. No way. Not a chance.

He told me that it would be for my own good. He told me that it would be for the good of everyone.

I think that he wants me dead so I’m not jumping from this ledge.

My mind automatically assumes that I am hovering over what seems to be a sizable distance between where I stand and the ground below. My mind also automatically assumes that by braving the step of faith to find out the truth about my fate, I would find certain death.

With that in mind, I stand on the edge of this cliff all night too scared to jump but too curious to turn back.

Eventually, out of the corner of my peripheral vision I see the sun peeking over the horizon and beginning to bring my once dark surroundings into visibility. The sun continues to rise and I think to myself, “I am about to see the horrors of the fate that the man wished for me to face!”

The sun rises in it’s beauty and lights the “drop” beneath me. My eyes open to what I have been afraid of.

By now, the sun has risen so that I can see a pool of water with a ship floating on the surface below me. Inside of this ship is man with a mouth that is taped shut. He is holding a piece of poster board that simply says, “YOU MISSED YOUR SHOT. I TOLD YOU TO JUMP. I’M OFF TO PROGRESS!”

At the exact moment that my mind comprehends what I have read, the ship begins to sail away into the unknown. I am left here in the bright of day to turn around and head home.

I shout aloud, “Next time when I’m in the dark of night, I must follow the guide and be thrown into the unknown! I’ve realized now that progress can sometimes only be made when I dive into the night without understanding where I’ll be landing!”

THE END.

-My friends, let us realize together that sometimes progress and change can only come when we take risks based on the faith that those risks will result in positive outcomes. May we not allow ourselves to be so comfortable that we avoid jumping into water that may contain a ship that sails us to progress… even if this means doing so in the middle of the night.