A Bit from My Mind

Let me tell you what’s been on my mind lately. Recently I’ve come to the knowledge that several people with whom I have or have had varying relationships with have fallen on some hard times. Their relationships with God have all been on the decline which, in my mind, has led to the poor decisions that they’ve made that brought them to their predicament. Granted, there were other circumstances at play that also led to the difficulties, but the positions in which they find themselves can be directly tied with the decisions they’ve made as a result of those other circumstances. This knowledge of their predicaments has bugged the hell out of me.

I have found varying degrees of guilt festering in my mind along with anger and sorrow. The idea of people I know or have known suffering really makes me sick. For one, I look back on the time I was able to spend with these people and realize all the opportunities wasted that I had to strengthen the relationship that might have led to better decisions from these people in the future. I look back on the times when I thought the person’s decisions problematic for the future and neglected to say anything. These things weigh heavy on my mind.

I struggle now with what my response is to these situations. Some of the people I have not talked to in several years and I fear what the reaction might be if I attempt communication. Others, our relationship has never been one that’s open to struggles and triumphs, but rather a casual friendship; still, I feel I can do something. Also, I’ve been struggling with the limited time I have to be available to these people. I am scheduled to leave for service with OM August 16^th which is a little under one month away. I have moving to do, people to see, and loose ends to tie up, where am I going to find the time and energy to concern myself with these people?

Then there’s God trying to teach me a lesson in all of this. Jesus says in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” It’s God’s want, desire, passion, whatever overly used descriptive word you want to use, to see lost people come back to Him. Not lost as in they haven’t spoken the secret password of “Jesus, I’m a sinner” and come to “salvation”, but rather, lost in the sense that they’ve, with words or with actions, told God, “I’d rather you be dead,” and gone off to do their own thing. Lost in the sense that the shepherd has left the other 99 sheep to go and find the one that ran off into the woods. It’s something almost poetic God seeking the lost; not formulaic where we pray and God takes us in.

I’ve taken this lesson and I’ve taken these people that have been on my mind to God and said, “Well God, you want them back, and I want them back. What is it we can do to get this done?” In this question, I again struggled with guilt (Maybe if you did a little more, they wouldn’t have run off in the first place?), anger (God, why did you let them run off in the first place?), and sorrow (I really miss them. I wish they wouldn’t have run off in the first place.), and I’ve struggled with my limited ability to physically do anything. However, in this question, God has given me the answer; prayer.

Cue the cheesy music, cue the “Oh come on’s”; I realize how clichéd that sounds, but that’s the answer. God wants those people back and I want those people back with Him as well. But, I’m not the one who is capable of bringing these people back. I’m not even responsible for bringing these people back, God is. If I want to be involved in this rescue, as it were, my first investment is to bring to God my desire to see these people returned. Partition on their behalf how much I’d like to see them come back to right relationship with God, and things will start moving.

Quite often our response to situations where we want to see God work is, “All right, what where should I set up; what should I do?” looking for some role to play physically. But really, we need to step back and allow God to do the work; letting Him know how much we’d like to see the work done. Then, further along in the process, a position might open up where God will allow us to take part. After investing in prayer, I believe, we’ll easily be able to step into that position.

All of this to say, I am now fervently invested in bringing these people back to God. He and I have been in conversation quite frequently about these people and I look forward to seeing what role I might be able to play in the future.

Report: Both Hitler and Mussolini Experiencing a Cold Front

Somewhere deep beneath the earth’s surface now lives a giant frozen wasteland. It seems hell has frozen over and I have taken interest in a pair of political candidates. Both Barack Obama and John McCain have struck me as interesting and it’s making things a bit difficult. Allow me to explain.

See, about a month ago I had the genius idea of getting to know each of the new American presidential candidates a little better. I was growing apathetic toward all the sound bites and political bickering I was hearing on the news, so I went to my local library and proceeded to check out books written by each of the candidates. I fell upon Barack Obama’s The Audacity of Hope and John McCain’s Faith of My Fathers. I then proceeded to read both of them simultaneously as to gain a better perspective on each of the men who I am to choose who will potentially become the next leader of my country.

The idea seemed innocent enough. I would gain more knowledge on each of the men which would in turn better inform my decision on who to vote for in the coming November elections. Whether it was the books I had chosen or the men who wrote them, I’m unsure, but nevertheless after reading both books, I feel less able to choose now than before I had read the books.

It seems that both Barack Obama and John McCain are very interesting people. Mr. Obama has very ambitious ideas and high hopes for the future of America as was spelled out in his book and Mr. McCain has a very long family history of influence in America (both for good and bad, but more for good it seems) and wishes to continue that influence (for good I’m assuming) as President. After reading these books I couldn't help but think what good people these men really are.

That’s the problem I now have. After reading these books and learning about these men, I can’t help but see them as people. Before, people in politics, for me, always represented ideas. Ideas that I could easily agree with or disagree with without much thought or concern for the impact they would have on me and the people around me. Politicians never seemed human to me. They were more like statues in a museum representing an ancient culture. These statues represent real people that lived at one time, but when you see them in a museum you can’t help but think of the time period they represent rather than the people they represent.

However, now when I look at the election coming up in November, I have to choose between two people (two really good people in my opinion) rather than two ideas. It makes the whole decision a little more difficult. I see the winning candidate being really joyous of his victory and I can even feel some of that joy with him, but I also see the losing candidate being really heart-broken about all the hard work and dedication amounting to essentially nothing and I can feel some of that heart-brokenness.

What’s really troubling though is that I should have been thinking like this all along. When it comes to people, thinking of them as people always beats not thinking of them as people. I think this exercise really helped solidify that idea in me. I’d recommend it.

Hope Springs Eternal

I enjoy flying by the seat of my pants. My overly analytical brain tends to overheat in the process of planning; then blows a gasket in the analysis of the potential success of those plans. So, I find it much more comfortable to plan as little as possible so as to keep any little brain functionality I already have.

This past week is a fine example. I took a trip out to eastern Tennessee to visit some friends and do some hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains with my friend Ben. Before arriving in TN, the hike was planned out as far as we both agreed to go hiking in the Smoky Mountains. After I arrived and after some much needed sleep, food, and Nintendo Wii time, Ben and I sat down to pick a route to follow. We both wanted to follow part of the Appalachian Trail (AT); so, we found a route that met that criterion. We found out we needed reservations on some of the campsites on the AT so we did that, and our trip was planned.

Upon arriving at our campsite the first night, it had become abundantly clear that we had left out one crucial aspect in the planning of our route. The very key to life, what scientists are searching for on Mars, the element of water.

See, in planning hikes in the Cascades where I’m used to hiking, the idea of water does not cross your mind. Snow is year round, so rivers and creeks are usually running at some capacity and lakes are rarely dry. However, in the Appalachians, the water situation is different. Rivers and creeks are dependent on springs which are dependent on ground water which in turn is dependent on rain fall. The southern states are currently experiencing drought. The creek that was supposed to be about a mile and a half from our campsite was dry. We had no water source for our first night of the hike. The day of hiking prior to our stop for the night was warm and quite an uphill battle, so we were thirsty. We had to conserve what water we had left since we were unsure where the next place to get water would be.

The next day there could be no hot breakfast as we were still in conservation mode. We each had a liter of water to get us to the next campsite, Double Spring Gap, where we hoped one of the springs was producing. This portion of the hike would take us on the AT and over Siler’s Bald. Bald meant an uphill climb, higher elevation, and no trees which spells disaster when it comes to dehydration and you are already low on water.

Signs of dehydration were already setting in before we reached the AT; headaches, nausea, and muscle cramps, and still no sign of water.

We reached the AT and within one mile of our entrance, we came across another pair of hikers; a young couple. We exchanged hellos and I asked where they had stayed the previous night. They said Siler’s Bald Shelter, to which both Ben and I asked if there was any water. They said there was a trickle, but not much. That was good enough for us. That’s more water than we’d seen in at least 12 hours (not counting the water we were seeing in our dreams).

Now, when it comes to human anatomy and the ability of the human body to do certain things or whatnot, I know very little. That being said, I feel as though I’ve experienced the physical effects of hope on the human body. Before Ben and I met this couple on the trail, dehydration was rather rampant. After they told us there was water not three miles away, I felt slightly energized. The headache I had? Well it didn’t go away, but I was slightly number to its pain. The nausea I was experiencing? It was still there, but I felt I could endure it. The cramps I was getting in my legs? I found a way to walk where they didn’t bother me. How do I account for this?

Well, hope is a good thing. People say, “Don’t get your hopes up.” Why not? People can do some pretty courageous things fueled solely on hope. People get these kicks of adrenaline and all of a sudden they’re lifting cars. All this from the hope of saving whomever is trapped under the car. It seems what I’ve learned from this whole experience is that hope is a powerful thing. One of my major ambitions for the next two years is to be able to offer people hope. What’s truly exciting is to be able to witness what this hope stirs in people.