Spontaneous Song

Ya ever just want to do something NUTS? Just "throw off the bowlines and sail away from the safe harbor"? I do. And I'm completely convinced that we all have that longing at the core of our very being. We were made for it.

On Friday night after working at Sozo, my friend Tanner picked me up and we headed to his Angus farm in Bridgeport, WV. I decided to ride in the bed of his truck on the way there, highway and all--the sky was cloudy and purple, the air was crisp and cool and perfect. It was kind of an awesome (but scary) reminder of how short life can be. One wrong turn by mah boy Tanner, and I'd have been a goner! It got me thinking: what is my life? Am I living and loving the way I'd want to be if it were my last day on earth? Now, I don't know how healthy it is to be thinking that way every waking moment, but it'll definitely give you a good kick in the butt. Ya see, our disease in America is comfort. We are truly blind, most of the time, to the reality that it will end, and it could be today. So, what IS it all about? Have you seen it? Have you experienced it?

Later that night, rainy though it was, we drove to Oral Lake, got a canoe and rowed to the "double decker" in the middle of the water (once again considering the brevity of life, because the "Lady of the lake" sounded totally probable at the time). There we camped. We dove into the water (clear, freezing, lovely) first thing in the morning, and swam for a while. Everything looked so beautiful in the light, where it had previously been kinda haunting. I mean, come on...a lake in the middle of the boonies at 2 am? Get REAL! Anyway, the leaves sure are a-changin', and the rolling hills of the Moores' farm looked like they came straight out of Heaven itself. It was great to get away from the hustlin' world of fume-filled Morgantown for a day.

And it was crazy! I love to be daring...but I realized that nothing like riding in the bed of a pick-up truck or diving into the lake at the crack of dawn even begins to compare with the sweet risks we're meant to take. "Do what you fear," writes Elisabeth Elliot. This lady is onto something. What kinds of risks (that hold the weight of eternity) does Christ urge us to take?

--sell your possessions and give to the poor (in fact, don't be attached to any possessions).
--love your enemies.
--love others AS yourself. As much as yourself. Strive to meet their needs as much as you strive to meet your own.
--do not fear, and do not worry.
--be fearless in going totally against the grain of your friends', family's, and society's ideas of what is important...do not conform, but be transformed.
--throw off your old self, and be constantly renewed.
--rejoice in suffering.
--do justice, love mercy, walk humbly.
--be transparent, allow weaknesses to show through.
--have faith in what you cannot see.


What is your deepest desire in life?


"Instead of taking possession of men's freedom, you increased it, and burdened the spiritual kingdom of mankind with its sufferings forever. You desired man's free love, that he should follow you freely, enticed and taken captive by you."
--Dostoevsky

"Make your choice, adventurous Stranger;
strike the bell and bide the danger,
or wonder, till it drives you mad,
what would have followed if you had."
--C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew