This Is for the Days

Currently Hearing: We've Been Talking by Enemies

This is for the days when
everything feels
as if it’s kissing you with
an open mouth.
For the days when girls’
eyes seem brighter
and their faces take on
the perfect shape.
And watching the neighbor’s
son on his skateboard
is like looking at a film
from your past.
For the days that seem to
write their own
soundtrack – the grass
scratches your skin like
a needle on a record.
May we forever feel that
we are virgins,
and that these days are more
than numbers falling
off of a calendar
and onto the dusty floor.

Won't You Come Down, Heaven. Won't You Cut Through the Clouds...

Currently Hearing: Come Now Sleep by As Cities Burn
Currently Reading: Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell and The Problem of God by John Courtney Murray

I have been having some really incredible conversations lately with friends that have made me experience all sorts of emotions - anger, hurt, confusion, frustration, excitement - and the list goes on. It has, in many ways, made me see my own sin and impatience in dialogue for which I need to repent and grow, and has also reminded me of the importance of community in one's spiritual formation.

So much of our conversations, which have, for me, been largely sparked by a course I am taking this quarter in seminary entitled "Christian Worldview and Contemporary Challenges." I have been exposed to some books and articles written by Christians showing the seeming flaws in atheist/agnostic logic, and some books and articles written by atheists/agnostics showing the seeming flaws in Christian logic. I'm not exactly sure exactly how to articulate everything, especially considering I have been reading for about four hours now, and I can barely write my name.

One issue that has been particularly interesting to me for a while has been the idea of interpretation and one's view of Scripture. There are so many differing interpretations of Scripture in Christendom, and this is something that is praised for the freshness that is brought to the table and feared when it seems to step beyond the bounds of traditional interpretation. Is there a place to draw the line? Christianity has become so diverse that anything seems fair game. In addition, it can hardly be argued that one person is able to read the Bible as a pure document without bringing their own baggage to the text. The early church worked very hard to establish confessions for the sake of "gate-keeping," but the boards in the fence seem to be slowly being removed in order to make way for more and more who profess to believe in Jesus - a figure whose life, divinity, actions, and state after his death are topics of much debate among those who all claim to be a part of the Church.

I hope I don't sound like I am walking away from my faith. That is hardly true at all. Rather, I am mostly just pondering the state of God's people and thinking out loud. I also hope I don't sound like a fearful isolationist Christian that would rather hide in a group of like-minded fellows than ever think about the reality of the current situation of his faith. Again, that is hardly the case. Really, I suppose I'm just widening the circle of my community for some more of that good old fashioned faith-shaping.

This is one of my favorite poems by one of my favorite poets. It might be the only poem in my life that I have ever memorized.

Should the wide world roll away
Leaving black terror
Limitless night,
Nor God, nor man, nor place to stand
Would be to me essential
If thou and thy white arms were there
And the fall to doom a long way.

- Stephen Crane

1. Push Play 2. Pedal

Currently in the middle of making a playlist for solo dolo rides:

1. "Goodbye" by Toe
2. "Sad Girls Por Vida" by Pretty Girls Make Graves
3. "Boneless Voice" by Manacle
4. "Diamonds on the Face of Evil" by Ugly Casanova
5. "Why They" by Camron
6. "Stars" by Warpaint
7. "Elevens" by With Honor
8. "End of a Spark" by Tokyo Police Club
9. "Move Somethin'" by Reflection Eternal
10. "Given the Chance" by The Starting Line
11. "Going Camping" by The Cool Kids

More to come...

Every once in a while, I rediscover the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. I have recently been reading through a book titled Strength to Love, which is a collection of some of his sermons. Here is a brief section from the sermon "The Death of Evil upon the Seashore."

"Above all, we must be reminded anew that God is at work in his universe. He is not outside the world looking on with a sort of cold indifference. Here on all the roads of life, he is striving in our striving. Like an ever-loving Father, he is working through history for the salvation of his children. As we struggle to defeat the forces of evil, the God of the universe struggles with us. Evil dies on the seashore, not merely because of man's endless struggle against it, but because of God's power to defeat it."

The implications of a God that works in such a way against evil are unbelievable - this means I worship a God who works in the hearts of people, and that true change lies not in my ability to persuade or convince, but in the unrelenting pursuit of the Being from whom and for whom everything finds its existence.

Thanks be to God.