Wow, so I've already murdered one of my new year resolutions:
Write more.
And, that wasn't just in the sense of writing my blog more. Honestly, I really meant it as write ANYthing more. Stories, letters, notes, poems, blogs, whatever. Just write. I used to really love it. I used to sit in school when I'd finished my work and write all kinds of stories. Never got very far, to be honest, but I loved the process of creating.
I had one story I'd made about these kids growing up on colonial Mars. They'd been shipped off to a military academy and the story picked up in the capstone battle simulation: a three week long mass-battle in a 10km terraforming arena. It was fantastic, by far some of the most fun I've ever had writing. I wrote about 75 pages, and that was hand-written! I let a friend borrow it over a weekend and that weekend their apartment burned down. Go figure.
Ever since then, I've had trouble getting more than 5 or so pages into a story. It's like I reach a point where it feels like there's no point in going on. But I want to change that. I've recently been goofing off with my sister and writing short-story type things, and it's re-kindled my love for writing. I'm wanting to pick up a story and write. I've got a lot of ideas, but unfortunately, many of them are very VERY close to others' ideas, so I want to be careful not to tread on. But recently I've hit upon an idea.
Perhaps writing about the OPPOSITE of another work would be an interesting place to start. For example, perhaps instead of writing about a dystopian future where mankind is opressed and beset by countless enemies, I might write about a utopian society where mankind are the masters of all and must learn how to wield that power responsibly.
I like that idea, and I think I may start writing again because of it. Which brings me to the thrust of this post:
Would you guys be interested in seeing excerpts of what I'm writing? I probably wouldn't post them frequently (but, you know, I post here SOOO much already :) ), but it might be a neat experience to share my creative mind and get constructive input AS I write instead of AFTER I write.
What do you think?
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Thursday, January 16, 2014
An amusing yet poignant story...
So, a few weeks ago, our pastor shared this story, and I've not forgotten it. Thought I'd share :)
A member of the local Baptist church comes into the atrium one Sunday, 15 minutes early, as usual, heads through the line for free coffee, as usual, says "good morning" to the greeter and deacons, as usual, and heads through the double doors to get their usual seat near the rear of the auditorium. Not so far back as to look like they need distance from the speaker, but not so far forward as to be too close, either.
Well, what shock and surprise truly comes to our devout Baptist friend then to see, of all things, a BUM sitting in their spot! He's dressed in, well, honestly the term rags might be a bit generous, and his hair looks as though it's not been washed in weeks. Oh, and the SMELL! This must be some poor whino who's stumbled in here expecting the afternoon soup kitchen.
Being, as I've said, a devout Baptist, our friend makes an effort to welcome the guest. "Nice to see you."
"Nice to see you as well. I'm glad you're here today. I've heard this message should be pretty good" says the stranger, flashing what must be intended as a kind smile.
"Ahh...." manages our friend. "Well, you see, I, um... don't mean to be rude but... Well, you see, I usually sit here."
The man puzzles for a moment and then seems to get what's going on. "Oh, you mean in this exact spot! I thought you mean in the room here! How silly!"
Our friend smiles and nods. "That's fine. No harm done."
The two look at each other awkwardly for a minute or so.
"Oh... you want me to move..." says the stranger.
Our friend nods.
The stranger motions them to lean close and, though it's fairly disgusting, and our friend decides not to mention it to his friends later, he complies.
"You see, I'm expecting someone today. There's a man coming in today, been homeless for almost ten years, who ran from God many years ago. I want to be here to talk with him."
Our friend adds 'crazy' to the list of descriptive adjectives they'll use to describe this man at prayer group.
"Oh, sorry," starts the stranger, "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Jesus."
Our friend just stares...
"You know, the Christ... Prince of Peace, Almighty God, Yahweh..."
*blink*blink*
"Well, Jesus, I'm sorry bu you've taken my place."
A sort of sadness seems to seep into the strangers face. With a look in his eyes that almost makes our friend weep, he simply says:
"Well, I've taken your place before, and you didn't seem to mind then..."
Wow, that gets me. like, really gets me. Ouch! Right in the conviction! How often do I do that?! How often do I get so set in my ways that I blatantly ignore the voice of God! Sometimes it's tradition. Sometimes it's schedule. Sometime's it's habit. Sometimes it's sin. Sometimes it's carelessness. But all too often, it happens. *shudder*
See, this hits me really hard because I'm weird. Well, some of you might think i'm weird, some of you may suffer the same affliction as me. When I hear/read a narrative, I see it. My imagination spins it into a visual. And man alive, what a potent visual this story begets.
To imagine looking into the eyes of God, the One who made me... the One who DIED for me!... and having the impertinence to insist on going my own way and ignoring His loving admonition to be better!
*sigh*
Such is the human condition I suppose. But whenever I think of this story (or even that last line), I silently purpose to myself to try harder to listen to Him. As I suppose we all should.
A member of the local Baptist church comes into the atrium one Sunday, 15 minutes early, as usual, heads through the line for free coffee, as usual, says "good morning" to the greeter and deacons, as usual, and heads through the double doors to get their usual seat near the rear of the auditorium. Not so far back as to look like they need distance from the speaker, but not so far forward as to be too close, either.
Well, what shock and surprise truly comes to our devout Baptist friend then to see, of all things, a BUM sitting in their spot! He's dressed in, well, honestly the term rags might be a bit generous, and his hair looks as though it's not been washed in weeks. Oh, and the SMELL! This must be some poor whino who's stumbled in here expecting the afternoon soup kitchen.
Being, as I've said, a devout Baptist, our friend makes an effort to welcome the guest. "Nice to see you."
"Nice to see you as well. I'm glad you're here today. I've heard this message should be pretty good" says the stranger, flashing what must be intended as a kind smile.
"Ahh...." manages our friend. "Well, you see, I, um... don't mean to be rude but... Well, you see, I usually sit here."
The man puzzles for a moment and then seems to get what's going on. "Oh, you mean in this exact spot! I thought you mean in the room here! How silly!"
Our friend smiles and nods. "That's fine. No harm done."
The two look at each other awkwardly for a minute or so.
"Oh... you want me to move..." says the stranger.
Our friend nods.
The stranger motions them to lean close and, though it's fairly disgusting, and our friend decides not to mention it to his friends later, he complies.
"You see, I'm expecting someone today. There's a man coming in today, been homeless for almost ten years, who ran from God many years ago. I want to be here to talk with him."
Our friend adds 'crazy' to the list of descriptive adjectives they'll use to describe this man at prayer group.
"Oh, sorry," starts the stranger, "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Jesus."
Our friend just stares...
"You know, the Christ... Prince of Peace, Almighty God, Yahweh..."
*blink*blink*
"Well, Jesus, I'm sorry bu you've taken my place."
A sort of sadness seems to seep into the strangers face. With a look in his eyes that almost makes our friend weep, he simply says:
"Well, I've taken your place before, and you didn't seem to mind then..."
Wow, that gets me. like, really gets me. Ouch! Right in the conviction! How often do I do that?! How often do I get so set in my ways that I blatantly ignore the voice of God! Sometimes it's tradition. Sometimes it's schedule. Sometime's it's habit. Sometimes it's sin. Sometimes it's carelessness. But all too often, it happens. *shudder*
See, this hits me really hard because I'm weird. Well, some of you might think i'm weird, some of you may suffer the same affliction as me. When I hear/read a narrative, I see it. My imagination spins it into a visual. And man alive, what a potent visual this story begets.
To imagine looking into the eyes of God, the One who made me... the One who DIED for me!... and having the impertinence to insist on going my own way and ignoring His loving admonition to be better!
*sigh*
Such is the human condition I suppose. But whenever I think of this story (or even that last line), I silently purpose to myself to try harder to listen to Him. As I suppose we all should.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
How "Cars" reminds me of Heaven...
Or rather, how 'Hector', our youngest's, reaction to Cars reminds me of heaven.
So, something I've always struggled to grasp is the idea of heaven. Some people talk about heaven as though it's one unending song-fest. And while I love singing a lot, it really doesn't sound that appealing on an eternal scale.
But recently, I've had an epiphany, courtesy of our youngest boy here, "Hector". See, a few weeks ago, he bought himself a copy of the Cars movie (the one with all the secret agent stuff). Since then, he's watched it probably more than a dozen times (I'm not exaggerating). And he still loves it! He laughs at all the jokes as though it was the first time hearing them! He oohs and aahs at all the right places! He even speaks almost half the lines with the characters!
And it hit me: this is just a movie, but to him, it's so much more. How much more so will heaven be! All of our needs will be met, be they physical, emotional, or spiritual. In the glow of that toal fullfillment, we could probably just sit for eternity and be totally fine, but we won't. Christ will create a new heaven and earth for us to enjoy!
This post is a little short, but after so long absent, I wanted to break back in with something quick and simple. Hopefully I'll be writing a little more regularly :)
So, something I've always struggled to grasp is the idea of heaven. Some people talk about heaven as though it's one unending song-fest. And while I love singing a lot, it really doesn't sound that appealing on an eternal scale.
But recently, I've had an epiphany, courtesy of our youngest boy here, "Hector". See, a few weeks ago, he bought himself a copy of the Cars movie (the one with all the secret agent stuff). Since then, he's watched it probably more than a dozen times (I'm not exaggerating). And he still loves it! He laughs at all the jokes as though it was the first time hearing them! He oohs and aahs at all the right places! He even speaks almost half the lines with the characters!
And it hit me: this is just a movie, but to him, it's so much more. How much more so will heaven be! All of our needs will be met, be they physical, emotional, or spiritual. In the glow of that toal fullfillment, we could probably just sit for eternity and be totally fine, but we won't. Christ will create a new heaven and earth for us to enjoy!
This post is a little short, but after so long absent, I wanted to break back in with something quick and simple. Hopefully I'll be writing a little more regularly :)
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