Wild at Heart
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Finding life in death.
This morning, a colleague and friend of mine at Etix passed away while running in the Rock and Roll marathon in Raleigh. He was in his low 30's with two kids. Last Saturday, the father of one of my youth group guys passed away suddenly. This week will make 4 funerals I'll have attended over the past month.
Honestly, I've had a thought or two that somehow or another, death is following me; but I know that's silly.
It has definitely been difficult not to get depressed when death is all around. It's hard not to get sad or angry when those around you are leaving behind loved ones, friends, and lots of unanswered questions. I've had to watch a sophomore in high school cope with the loss of his father, had to see families grieve the passing of their loved one. Today, my friends, my coworkers are hurting, grieving, and stuck in a place without the answers that they so desperately search for. It's been the hardest, personally.
I can't stop thinking about how weird it will be to go to work tomorrow, and to see and personally experience the void that is the loss of a friend and coworker.
I'm not sure how I'll react. I'm not sure how my coworkers will react.
The reality that where someone once was they no longer are is profound. It's incredibly humbling for sure. Life can be so short.
HOWEVER. Oh, the great however.
In death, Christ gives us life. It isn't always pretty, it isn't always the way we expected, BUT through death Jesus gives us life. And, we're called to live life to the fullest.
In one of his last posts before he passed, my coworker wrote this: "Under promise and over deliver, care more and complain less, live and love in this moment..."
Live life to the fullest. Abide in Christ, and he will produce fruit in your life. "Life to the fullest" might not always fall into the plan that we had for ourselves, but I do know that life, when lived to the fullest in Christ, is more glorifying and more gratifying that any other form of life. We are called to LIVE into the resurrection, into the life that Christ defeated death for.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
My Funeral.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
It is Necessary to Use Words
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Recent Thoughts
Saturday, January 5, 2013
On Community
Friday, December 14, 2012
Comprehending the Incomprehensible
Newton Elementary shooting. Today. 26 Killed.
Oregon Shopping mall shooting. December. 2 Killed.
Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting. August. 6 Killed.
Aurora Colorado Movie Theater Shooting. July. 12 Killed.
Elizabeth Malloy Killed in Drunk Driving. January.1 Killed.
Sampson County Teen Shot by Father. December. 2 Killed.
Kansas City Chiefs Player Shooting. December. 2 Killed.
Dallas Cowboys Drunk Driving Crash. December. 2 Killed.
When faced with the incomprehensible, where do you start? Time and time again, we’ve been wrecked by the news of another drunk driver claiming the live of someone around them, by the news of yet another shooting, or stabbing, or murder-suicide. And again today, our country reels from the news of 26 dead, 20 of them children. And, again, as we do every time, we begin to ask ourselves why, even when we know the answer.
I was on the phone with a customer who had tickets today for a Nutcracker performance in Alabama. The customer was clearly not from the US, she sounded like she was from eastern Europe, maybe Russia, and towards the end of the call, she asked me if the performance was to be cancelled due to the countries mourning. She said, she didn’t know how things went here in America. The more I’ve thought about this question, the more I’ve realized how things are here in America.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE this country. I’m proud to be an American, but, today, more than any other day, I’ve come to the conclusion that WE, as Americans played a part in the cause of this tragedy. Just think about that.
Today’s tragedy, these past, seemingly constant tragedies weren't caused by the unstable. Yes, they may be off their rockers a bit, but there's a deeper root, an underlying problem.
Our Culture, our people, our values, or likes have done this to us. We have done this to ourselves.
Our “stars”, or “celebrities” fool around, they sing about shooting it up, F the Police, their hoes, their swag, their drugs, their violence. We have developed a system, through valuing it and teaching it to our young that Violence, Killing, Revenge, Sleeping around, Adultery, Theft, Cheating is acceptable. Then, when an NFL player kills his girl friend in front of his mom, and kills himself in front of his coaches, its not so funny or popular any more. When a Millbrook teenager is thrown out of a vehicle to die because teen drinking and partying is encouraged, we wonder, why, who could have done this. When an NFL player kills his best friend because he’s too drunk to drive, we think, how sad. When numerous people shoot up religious institutions, movie theaters, street corners, and SCHOOLS, we wonder what has happened to our country. WE HAVE HAPPENED TO OUR COUNTRY. WE HAVE DONE THIS TO OURSELVES.
America, PLEASE. We have to STOP. We have to stop valuing music that glorifies teen drinking, music that glorifies sleeping around, violence, and a culture that says kill them if they wrong you. We have to stop valuing celebrities who bounce in and out of prison for killing people, countless felonies, drunk driving and possession. We have to stop making moves that promote unnecessary violence, and retaliation. We are causing this. We are. We play into this system that glorifies darkness, and wonder why when the night has come.
The only hope for us is that WE CANNOT FIX IT. That is our only hope. We cannot fix this death, this disease, this darkness. But there is a light, that burns BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN that is coming. Emmanuel, God WITH US. He has been born, he lived, he died, and then he conquered death, so that he could bring us, the dead, the diseased, the murderous, the sinning back to him in redemption. He has come for US.
So then, where do you start when faced with the incomprehensible? Start and End with Jesus, the only hope for our broken world. He has done it all. He is redeeming us to himself. He is Hope. He is light. He is LIFE.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Who are you?
While I think the question “Who are you?” is a relatively easy question to answer, I’ve found that it’s a question with many different answers, and often times, those answers change over time, which, if you really think about it shows how complex the question really is.
If you’ve read any of my blogs, or if you know me personally, you most likely know my life is a little weird, and often hectic at times (and by often I mean always). Over the past few months, I’ve discovered more and more about myself, and through that process, I’ve often times become more confused and more unclear about who I am.
I am a man. I am a friend. I am a NC State Fan. I am a lover of hockey. I am a roommate. I am a son. I am a lover of the light. I am a brother. I am a hard worker. I am a Youth Leader. I am in incredible pain with a bad back. I am a fan of video and audio. I am a blogger. I am a lover of Chick-fil-a. I am a bow tie aficionado. I am brokenhearted. I am hurting. I am weird. I am joyful. I am too busy. I am too tired. I am overworked. I am a winner of musical chairs at a Canes game. I am burnt out. I am insane. I am a neat freak (sometimes). I am too quick to say yes to everything. I am a contestant and Honorable Mention winner on AFV. I am easily taken advantage of. I am wearing my heart on my sleeve. I am down, but not out. I am, I am, I am. I am too many things. I am hurting, I am overworked, I am confused.
What I am, no matter how often I forget it, what I am no matter how often I don’t live into it, what I am, no matter what the world tells me I am, no matter what my peers tell me I am, no matter what my friends tell me I am, no matter what a girl tells me I am, no matter what you tell me I am is I AM GOOD ENOUGH. Not because I say so, not because you say so, but because the blood that poured out on the hilltop says so, because the ground shook, because the veil was torn, because the word was made flesh, because the promises were fulfilled because Christ died, because he defeated death. Because I AM a child of the KING. Who are you?