The World Is Our Playground

"Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world"-The Grateful Dead "Eyes of the World"

In one of my earlier posts I shared my story of how I became a Christian. There's more to my testimony than that one story, there were definitely more instances that contributed to the fostering of my faith. I'm going to share one of those stories now.

The summer after my freshman year in high school, I got a phone call from my mentor Jay Hanson about going on a father-son camping trip in Moab, Utah with my 7:07 group. I was pretty excited about this because I had never been to a desert before and I thought it would be really fun hanging out with all my 7:07 buddies. The catch was that I had to organize it, I had to call the guys, find out where we would camp, what we would do, and how we would get there. Certain circumstances led to this trip from being a trip for the whole 7:07 group to being a trip with only me, my dad, my brother, and Jay and his son. It was still a lot of fun and really let me bond more with my dad and brother and Jay and his son.

During this trip we did a lot of man stuff. We hiked, we went canoeing, and we used the restroom wherever we felt like it. We also had Bible studies that we did and we were able to not just grow closer together, but also grew closer to God. One of my favorite memories was when we were hiking in Arches National Park. There was a large rock and Cole, Jay's son, asked if he could climb it (it seemed like the only three things Cole and my little brother wanted to do was eat, pee, and climb stuff). Jay answered with "that's why God put it there." Cole, my brother, and I immediately climbed that rock.

Jay's response has always stuck with me since then. Many times people believe that God has better things to worry about than them, that the Creator of the universe doesn't worry about a singular person. What if we're wrong, what if when God was creating earth he made a huge mountain in the Western part of North America and over the past billion years he made the wind pass over this mountain and had the rain hit the mountain so that by the time five people from Brunswick, Georgia made a trip to Moab, Utah, what used to be a mountain was a rock, small enough and with enough handles to climb, but big enough to be exciting for a certain child to climb. What if God made certain things in nature for us to enjoy?

How many times have you seen something and nature and said "Wow! That's so cool! But, I have something else to do, too bad." What if at that moment you missed out on something that God made just for you? I'm reminded of a time when I was working at a local grocery store as a bag boy. I was outside getting grocery carts when a lady came up to me. She said "Excuse me, but look at that!" She pointed to what may have been one of the most gorgeous sunsets I've ever seen. She said "Doesn't it just look like it belongs in a western movie? I just had to show someone that." I was so glad she did too.

When you have an experience like this you have to take advantage of it. When you're outside and see something that you want to climb or look at, do it. Or just share it with someone else. Who knows? Maybe that's why God put it there.

Just Chillin'

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."-Calvin and Hobbes

Have you ever had one of those days when there's nothing that needs to be done? When you have an entire day to do whatever you want to do and you can't think of a single thing to do? Many times people hate these kind of days. They feel bored and they try to think of something to do so they don't feel like they're wasting the day. What if doing nothing was exactly what the day was meant for? What if by doing something that you don't really want to do you are in fact wasting that day of nothing.

As a college student I often have homework to do or a test I need to study for, so when these days come up I start worrying that I'm forgetting something. That there has to be something I should be doing at that moment that I just can't think of. That's how the other day started for me. It was a weekend day and I woke up and immediately started to think about what I was supposed to do that day. As I brought up my mental day planner I drew a blank. I had done all my homework the day before, I didn't have any tests coming up, I hadn't made any plans with anyone, what was I supposed to do? I'll tell you exactly what I did: I went back to sleep.

An hour later I woke up and took a shower. After the shower I put on some very comfortable clothing and sat in my hammock for a bit. I didn't turn on the T.V., I didn't pick up a book, I just sat in my hammock, my mind was completely blank, it was nice. Why don't we appreciate these times more? There's plenty of time to get things done when they need to be done, but we need to take advantage of those days when we have nothing to do and no reason to do anything. I encourage you that the next time one of these days come around, don't force yourself to do anything, just chill, it'll be nice, I promise.

Valentine's Day Special

WARNING!

If you are one of those people who don't like Valentine's Day or stuff like that, you probably shouldn't read this post.

"All you need is love" -The Beatles, All You Need Is Love

All right, so it's a day late, but here it is: my Valentine's Day blog, dedicated to my Valentine, Mallory Taylor.

So over a year ago, I was at my high school's homecoming foot ball game. I bumped into someone in my Spanish class who introduced me to one of her friends. The next day I met this friend of hers again on my way to Chick-Fil-A. I had pretty much given up on finding a girlfriend while in high school so I thought we could be close friends. God had a different opinion though as I found myself wanting to be with her as much as possible and I felt like we were supposed to be more than just friends.

So on October 23, 2008, I took a huge chance and asked Mallory Taylor to be my girlfriend, and she said yes! I was so happy! We hung out every night and when we weren't hanging out we texted each other whenever we could. After that Christmas, Mallory went with me and my family to my grandparents' cabin in North Carolina. Every night while we were there we would just sit on the porch and talk to each other. I opened up to her more than any one else and I realized in those days that my feelings for her had grown from some immature crush to me falling in love with her.

This leads me to the main part of this blog. What is love? Around this time of year, love gets thrown around, but I feel like lately with about 50% of marriages ending in divorce (remember when 'till death do us part meant something?), I feel like people don't really understand what love is anymore. So, I'm gonna look up a couple of things about love and then I'll let you know what I believe love is.

So first, where do you go when you need an answer to anything? That's right folks, the Bible. So, what does the Bible say love is? I went on to www.biblegateway.com, which is a searchable online Bible and typed in the word 'love," I got 697 results, so when I find a definition it should be pretty solid. And here it is:

I Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Wow, do you think we follow that these days? In couples you see who say they love each other do they follow these guidelines? Especially the last sentence, how many couples let their love bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and especially endure all things? This is a pretty solid definition of love.

Next, it's dictionary time. The dictionary application on the MacBook defines love as an intense feeling of deep affection, a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone. This is an all right definition of love, but, no disrespect to the Mac, I think it's too wimpy. Love isn't just affection or romantic/sexual attachment that can be broken, I think love is much deeper than that.

So, I'm sure you're wondering "Eli, what do you think love is?" Well, I'm glad you've asked. My definition of love is much closer to the Bible's definition. Love to me is an inseparable bond between two people. It is forever. You can't be in love with someone one day and not the next, love doesn't work like that. Also, I feel (and many will disagree with me) I don't think true love will occur unless it is two-sided, I don't think one can truly love someone without the other returning that feeling. Love is when both people want what's best for the other person, even if it might not be what's best for them. Love is not never arguing or always being happy, but it is knowing that no matter what feelings occur, love will still be sustained in the relationship. Also, love occurs only in a God-approved relationship. When love happens, it brings both people towards God, not just towards each other.

So that's what I think about love, if you have any questions or thoughts about love then please post a comment.

View from a Hammock, and Other Relaxing Stuff

"Ripple in still water/where there is no pebble tossed/nor wind to blow" -The Grateful Dead, "Ripple"

Psalm 23:1-2 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

My good buddy Ty from down the hall gave me a great idea last week that I was able to put into action this Sunday. I raised my bed up as high as it will go (the bed in my dorm is able to be bunked up to provide extra storage), and hung a hammock underneath it, giving me what I like to call a "no-stress cave." I could not have picked a better week to make it too. Homework's been piling up and I've got to start finding a place to live next year, my head has become so cluttered with "productive" thoughts that I have no room for the important stuff (this is way I have been slacking in the blogging lately, sorry). But now, thanks to my no-stress cave, I now have a place where once I sit down, my worries go away. I don't know, maybe it's the swinging of the hammock or the seclusion of the space under my bed, but there is just no room in there for all the baggage of productivity. Now, I make sure to get everything done before I enter my no-stress cave, so I am still being productive, but everyone just needs that space to just chill with your thoughts.

I love it when I can just get rid of all my stressful thoughts. One thing that always seem to do it for me is the song "Ripple" by The Grateful Dead (by the way, I am proud to say that I was able to see Bob Weir and Phil Lesh's band Furthur in concert last Saturday), perhaps it's because my parents are so unconventional sometimes that instead of singing a traditional lullaby, my mother sang this song to me. It's almost as if it's engrained into my psyche as a sort of relaxant. As soon as this song starts to play, I am instantly care-free. According to a book that my loving girlfriend gave me for our first Christmas together (The Complete Annotates Grateful Dead Lyrics), this song is supposed to be a sort of interpretation of Psalm 23, which would also happen to be my favorite Psalm, whenever I read this the same sort of calm comes over me. If you've ever experienced this phenomenon then you'll know how refreshing it is to just have one thing that triggers your calm. It's a great feeling and I really encourage you all to find something, whether it be a spot or a song or a book, that helps you forget all your worries and stress and gives you a way to just chill, and just chill for a while. It'll change your life.

Life on the Road

"Lately it occurs to me what a long strange trip it's been"

-The Grateful Dead, "Truckin'"

I just spent almost two hours driving from my dorm at Georgia Southern University to my home in Brunswick, GA. This is the fourth weekend in a row where I've spent a good bit of time on the road. I've grown accustomed to driving a good bit, whether it's to spend time with my best friends at other schools or to come home and spend time with my wonderful family and my loving girlfriend.

One thing I've noticed is the more trips I take the more familiar the roads become to me. I-16 and I-95 have become like close friends of mine and I have memorized all it's twists, turns, the places where it's crowded and the places where it'll be just me and my thoughts. I've driven through about every condition there is: sunshine, rain, day, night, hot, cold, alone, with a car full of friends, and even with a dog in the back seat.

I'm beginning to really love driving on my long trips. The times when it's just me on the interstate and the sun's shining are when I have some of my favorite driving experiences. I don't know what it is but the music I'm listening to always seems to fit and I don't have worry about anything except the speed limit (which on some parts of the interstate you don't even have to worry about that). Some times I think about where I'm going, sometimes I think about where I'm coming from, other times I just think about the drive.

It's during these times that I find real peace, that kind of peace where you just forget about everything and you just are (if that makes any since). Here I am able to sense God all around me, I feel so refreshed and relaxed that sometimes a two hour drive feels like it's 30 minutes. I feel like everyone has something that they do to feel this sort of peace, whether it's driving or reading or hiking, I even have a friend who runs to feel this sort of peace. I think that everyone just has their "thing" that they can engage in to feel this sort of worry-free moment and I just want to greatly encourage you to find yours.

Taking Woodstock: Perspective

"Everyone with their little perspective. Perspective shuts out the universe, it keeps the love out." -Carol (Christina Kirk) in Taking Woodstock

Ok, so another idea from another movie. The movie Taking Woodstock, based on a true story about Elliot Tiber, is about Elliot Teichberg is the son of a couple who own a failing motel. In an effort to make keep the motel in business, Elliot rents out the motel to the Woodstock Music Festival. If you can get past the extreme nudity and extensive drug use it was an all right movie, nothing to write home about (although I guess I got something out of it or I wouldn't be writing about it right?).

There was one quote, however, that caught my attention. After a huge argument with his parents, Elliot ran into Carol, someone who helped put Woodstock together (and who was most likely tripping on some sort of drug most of the movie), and explained that the argument was no big deal, to which she replied with the above quote saying that the argument could end up being the most important thing in the world.

Now, maybe I'm reading too much into this, maybe I've listened to too much hippy music, but I really think that this is a viable idea. What if everything that we went through was much more important than we think it is? What if something that could have turned out to be something great didn't because we didn't give it the attention it deserved? How many relationships have been ruined because what seemed to not be a big problem grew and grew until it was unbearable? What if we just ignored every problem because we thought it wasn't a big deal? What if we treated everything in our life like it was the most important thing going on? I really have no idea how it would work out, but try it sometime, whenever a conflict arises, don't let it pass by like it's nothing, examine it, talk about it, resolve it. I think that this could really help in every day problems and relationships, so try it out, it might be that whatever you're going through now is the most important thing happening in the universe.

The Book of Eli: The Bible As A Weapon

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

"It's not just a book-It's a weapon. "

-Carnegie (Gary Oldman) from The Book Of Eli

The Book Of Eli amazed me this weekend. This movie was not just a great film, but it was also an amazing example of what happens when a man literally stores the Word of God in his heart. I'm not going to ruin the movie for you so you're going to have to go see the movie to get the full effect of it. What I want to talk about are the above quotes.

In this movie Eli, played by Denzel Washington, is a man who has a divine mission to take the last surviving Bible West to an unknown destination through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Eli had survived through many battles when he came to a small town ruled by a ruthless man named Carnegie, played by Gary Oldman, who is doing anything to find a certain book, which just so happens to be the Bible that Eli has in his possession. Eli was able to take out most of Carnegie's men to protect his book and when the leader of his militia asked him what was so important about a book, Carnegie responded with the quote above.

As a Christian, I had heard the Bible verse many times but I guess I had never really realized what it was saying until I heard this quote come out of a man who's idea of the Bible was a tool to use to command all of humanity to obtain his greedy purposes. Carnegie says that he needs the words from the Bible to inspire the people in the town so he wouldn't have to do the terrible things that he does for his authority. That if he only had the right words then his town would be a better place. Eli knows that all Carnegie will do is bring a distorted since of religion to the town and use it for his own greedy purposes so he does not give Carnegie the book.

I think this is what it means when the Bible is called a weapon. If someone knew the true meanings and really took it to heart they could do some amazing good in the world, and if someone really knew what it meant and how to use it, they could twist and distort it and do some terrible damage. The most disturbing part is that Satan knows that God's Word is the most powerful weapon of all and he will do all he can to distort the Word to you and he will succeed if you don't study the word yourself and really take it's meanings to heart.

So what can we do to effectively utilize this amazing weapon that God has given us? We read it, we study it, we pray about it, and we bury the message in a hearts and we use what we learn in real life. The Bible is The ultimate weapon, all we need to do is learn to use it and guard our hearts from the distortions of the ultimate evil.