The Great Return

Before I mention anything else, there are many concerts and musical events in the area this month. For more information:

myspace.com/somethingcompletelyridiculous
myspace.com/morganandphil
myspace.com/iseamonsterspa



Cedar Rapids, Iowa was our last stop. We stayed overnight with Paul's distant relatives. It was very icy outside. We left early in the morning, for a 16 hour return trip, which felt like nothing. To me, it was no time at all. We ate at Megan's house again, and her family had whipped up delicious Cheese Tortellini and brownies and all that. We had good conversation and were thankful for a final home-cooked meal.

My mom arrived on campus to meet me at 2:30 AM. After driving all the way home, I realized I didn't have my computer with me. Knowing that I would not sleep and would experience massive anxiety in its entirety if I didn't know my Macintosh was safe, I decided, "What the heck, Messiah's only 45 minutes away" so at 3:45 AM I made a two-hour round trip to pick up my computer. I slept from 6 AM to 3:30 PM at which point I took my family out to dinner, partially because I hadn't given any Christmas gifts, but mostly because it's fun to go with them to dinner (especially Chinese buffets).

After dinner I drove to Jeremy's house so he could teach me some songs for the show Jan 24 at the Championship venue five minutes from campus. I'm so pumped to play heavy music again, in particular, music with challenging lyrics about faith.

I learned a lot while on our trip, most of which I will keep to myself. One thing I will mention is my appreciation for the east coast. Out here, all towns seem to blend together. No matter where you are, there are going to be people or houses or stores or something of the sort. Out west, there is so much distance, and now I realize our huge potential for fellowship. Not to mention, it sure makes for more convenient musical endeavors, having many places to play and not to far to travel.

Speaking of which, it's nice to have an acoustic guitar in my hands again. I can't put it down. I have ideas flowing through my fingers.

When I was in Oregon, Elise told us about one camper's experience:

The staff at Wildhorse Canyon had noticed lots of windows broken in the A-frame houses that the RajNeesh used to house the homeless people that they bussed in (see last post). They didn't know if it was a windstorm or something like that that damaged the tiny, seemingly useless buildings.

One day, the camp received a letter from a previous female camper, which in paraphrase read: "When I came to Washington Family Ranch for camp, I was at a point in my life where I had an empty cup. I needed to fill my cup, because I was hopeless and thirsty in my life. However, no one would fill it except for God, and I just didn't want to accept that from him. Anyone but God would be fine, but I certainly wanted nothing to do with him. One night I was fed up with what God was offering and my inability to be filled elsewhere. I was the one that broke the windows of the A-frames. Thank you. Here is a check for the damages."

She had hit a point in life that we all hit. A point where more often than not, we don't speak about it. We need to speak about it. We need to stop letting our pious image prioritize over the honesty of our hearts. We gotta start being real with each other, or we'll create our own downfall.

This story shows that there is nothing God can't use. When Christ was hanging up there, some dude put a crown on his head and put up a sign saying that he was the King of the Jews. Although these symbols were used to mock Him, they were instrumental in showing the guy hanging next to Jesus his way to salvation.

Some people want to know whether 2009 will be a better year, whether they will be a better person. Bekah told me that every year of her life has been progressively better, despite external circumstances. I'm in the same boat, and though it may sound self-righteous, I think that's due in part to being submissive. Not like in the way of the western version of "Karma," where good actions lead to good future blessings and bad actions create future punishment or suffering. It's more in the way of seeking God's will, which ultimately leads to happiness. Not so much the finding God's will part (though that's always spectacular), but the seeking part. Seeking truth. Even when I'm off (which is often), it's a lot of fun. It's fulfilling, ya know? The destination is fine, but if you continually are trying to reach it without looking around you, you will never find it. You have to appreciate the journey. Live in the present. Someone was explaining about a river. He or she explained that if you want to have clarity, if you want to see to the bottom of a river, you have to stop the water from moving. You have to cut off the source and dam up the end. Only then can you see the bottom crystal clear. That thing I wrote about a really long time ago, when Moses told his people to be still and let the Lord fight. But then one time a guy was relating seeking God's will to motion. To drive a car to a destination, he said, you can't receive directions until you start driving. I definitely see the value in both sides. So the point might not be to always be still or always be in motion. The point may be to always be at peace. This requires something bigger than ourselves because as individuals in humanity, we are by nature and sin, not at peace. Something bigger than ourselves....