We are meant for relationships. We are not meant to be islands of independence.
Being created in the image of God inherently means that we are relational.
What I'm realizing is that this means that I cannot simply be a lean, mean machine moving between school and sleep. I need others, I need community.
More than any amount of bucket-listing, I need time with people.
And so, until my time as a nomad is finished, I am putting the list to the side. Instead, I am focusing on nourishing my soul with God and with others.
23 October 2013
16 October 2013
quarters, buckets, and playing the victim
Today I turned 24 years old.
Now, I know, some people may say that I am really young still while others would feel like I am quite old.
And I think I would agree with both.
There are parts of me that feels quite young; there are so many things that I have never experienced. Yet at the same time, I've been through experiences that I don't think any 20-something plans on going through.
So, here I am feeling both old and young at the same time. But that was not the goal and that means I've once again become distracted (it happens more often than I would like to admit).
I am 364 days from being half a century old. And there are so many things that I want to do yet I sit and complain about how I can't do anything because of my past illnesses. When someone asks why I haven't traveled outside of the US like I claim I want to, I use my illnesses as an excuse.
Why do I do that?
Why do I make myself the victim to my life experiences?
Why do I put myself in the passive position of not having control in my life?
I'm not sure of the answer to those questions. But maybe it's not about having the answers to every question. I'm choosing to not sit and ponder those questions. I'm choosing to act.
Which leads me to my announcement. Today, October 16, 2013, marks the first day of my new quest to be active in my own life and not let my illnesses continue to hold me down.
I'm calling it Quarters In A Bucket.
My short-term goal is to accomplish as many items on my bucket list as possible before I turn 25.
Long-term, my goal is to change my habit of inaction and excuses into a habit of action and freedom.
Here is to a year of change, action, and freedom.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. - Galatians 5:1(NIV)
Now, I know, some people may say that I am really young still while others would feel like I am quite old.
And I think I would agree with both.
There are parts of me that feels quite young; there are so many things that I have never experienced. Yet at the same time, I've been through experiences that I don't think any 20-something plans on going through.
So, here I am feeling both old and young at the same time. But that was not the goal and that means I've once again become distracted (it happens more often than I would like to admit).
I am 364 days from being half a century old. And there are so many things that I want to do yet I sit and complain about how I can't do anything because of my past illnesses. When someone asks why I haven't traveled outside of the US like I claim I want to, I use my illnesses as an excuse.
Why do I do that?
Why do I make myself the victim to my life experiences?
Why do I put myself in the passive position of not having control in my life?
I'm not sure of the answer to those questions. But maybe it's not about having the answers to every question. I'm choosing to not sit and ponder those questions. I'm choosing to act.
Which leads me to my announcement. Today, October 16, 2013, marks the first day of my new quest to be active in my own life and not let my illnesses continue to hold me down.I'm calling it Quarters In A Bucket.
My short-term goal is to accomplish as many items on my bucket list as possible before I turn 25.
Long-term, my goal is to change my habit of inaction and excuses into a habit of action and freedom.
Here is to a year of change, action, and freedom.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. - Galatians 5:1(NIV)
15 May 2013
numero fifty and God-with-us
Hooray! This is officially the 50th post on this blog!
I guess that really isn't that many considering that I've been writing for 3 years but I'm going to celebrate the occasion anyway. My original intention for this blog was to write about my travels studying abroad, which never happened. I guess in a way, I did eventually travel away from home so at least I have fulfilled that purpose somewhat.
On a completely unrelated note, I was going through the files on my laptop tonight, cleaning and organizing (yes, you can do that on a laptop), when I came across a reflection essay that I wrote for my Christian Doctrines class.
And I thought I would share it with you. It is a reflection of Matthias Grünewald's "The Crucifixion," part of his larger piece the Isenheim Alterpiece.
So, without further ado, here is my essay; enjoy!
What difference does it make that Jesus died?
Instinctively, I know that it does make a difference that Jesus died…I just don’t know how to put into words what that difference is. The painting is very graphic.
It isn’t like a lot of crucifixion paintings where Jesus looks more like a super-human who hasn’t been truly affected by his suffering.
Rather than portray God-with-us as a God who is all-powerful, Jesus is battered and grotesque and wasting away and beaten and weak at his end.
So, why does it matter that he died? First off, I think it matters because it shows that Jesus lived the entire human lifespan from birth to death.
He didn’t skip out on any aspect of it but instead lived it all.
I think what it is even more awe-inspiring in that knowledge is that he didn’t sin at all even when suffering and dying. I know for me, when I was on the brink of death I struggled to even be able to have the thought of mind to even think about sin.
My energy was spent on just surviving – the bare minimum necessary to make it through the day – so I didn’t have any extra energy to devote to loving God and others above myself.
And yet, Jesus did that.
Another aspect that stands out to me is that if Jesus suffered and died, then there is no amount of suffering that I could go through that Jesus has not himself experienced. You could argue that his suffering was taken to completion in his death.
There is no more suffering after that point and he went there.
So, no matter how much suffering I go through, Jesus has taken it further than that because he took it to its completion.
When I was extremely sick, my body was shutting down: I was dying. Jesus knows what that is like because he was in that same place.
There is no aspect of the human life that he did not live fully.
He conquered death and that means that there is nothing that has not been conquered by him.
There is nothing that does not bow in submission to God – God reigns supreme over all including death and the depths of Hell.
My dear brothers and sisters, I pray that you will come to know Jesus, God-with-us, in ways that you never could have thought or imagined. I pray that you will rest in the knowledge that the God of the universe is with us in our lives - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I guess that really isn't that many considering that I've been writing for 3 years but I'm going to celebrate the occasion anyway. My original intention for this blog was to write about my travels studying abroad, which never happened. I guess in a way, I did eventually travel away from home so at least I have fulfilled that purpose somewhat.
On a completely unrelated note, I was going through the files on my laptop tonight, cleaning and organizing (yes, you can do that on a laptop), when I came across a reflection essay that I wrote for my Christian Doctrines class.
And I thought I would share it with you. It is a reflection of Matthias Grünewald's "The Crucifixion," part of his larger piece the Isenheim Alterpiece.
So, without further ado, here is my essay; enjoy!
A very human death of Yahweh: God-with-us
 |
| The Crucifixion, Matthias Grünewald |
What difference does it make that Jesus died?
Instinctively, I know that it does make a difference that Jesus died…I just don’t know how to put into words what that difference is. The painting is very graphic.
It isn’t like a lot of crucifixion paintings where Jesus looks more like a super-human who hasn’t been truly affected by his suffering.
No, Grünewald’s painting is very much in touch with Jesus’s human nature and what it means to suffer to the point of death.
Rather than portray God-with-us as a God who is all-powerful, Jesus is battered and grotesque and wasting away and beaten and weak at his end.
So, why does it matter that he died? First off, I think it matters because it shows that Jesus lived the entire human lifespan from birth to death.
He didn’t skip out on any aspect of it but instead lived it all.
I think what it is even more awe-inspiring in that knowledge is that he didn’t sin at all even when suffering and dying. I know for me, when I was on the brink of death I struggled to even be able to have the thought of mind to even think about sin.
My energy was spent on just surviving – the bare minimum necessary to make it through the day – so I didn’t have any extra energy to devote to loving God and others above myself.
And yet, Jesus did that.
Another aspect that stands out to me is that if Jesus suffered and died, then there is no amount of suffering that I could go through that Jesus has not himself experienced. You could argue that his suffering was taken to completion in his death.
There is no more suffering after that point and he went there.
So, no matter how much suffering I go through, Jesus has taken it further than that because he took it to its completion.
When I was extremely sick, my body was shutting down: I was dying. Jesus knows what that is like because he was in that same place.
There is no aspect of the human life that he did not live fully.
He conquered death and that means that there is nothing that has not been conquered by him.
There is nothing that does not bow in submission to God – God reigns supreme over all including death and the depths of Hell.
My dear brothers and sisters, I pray that you will come to know Jesus, God-with-us, in ways that you never could have thought or imagined. I pray that you will rest in the knowledge that the God of the universe is with us in our lives - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
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