Life Happens

 "We're at the end of the universe and you're standing there blogging!"
- Doctor Who

I recently took this two-week break from social networks.  I logged out of my Facebook, I didn't pay attention to Twitter (unless you count the text messages I would get from Anderson Cooper), I didn't post a blog, and I just generally tried only to check my e-mail and do editorial work, then get offline.

It was wonderful.

Let me explain why it was wonderful.

Being away from things like Facebook and Twitter made me realize that life doesn't happen on the internet.  Life doesn't happen while you're half-heartedly Facebook chatting a friend you haven't actually seen in three months.  Life doesn't happen while you're listening to someone to see if they say something funny you can Tweet about. 

Life happens when you get out and actually live it.

I've been thinking about this concept of living life a lot lately.  I know it sounds really weird and kind of morbid, but sometimes I think we forget to live our lives.  We're like these zombies walking around, too busy staring at our social network applications on our phones to really pay attention to the people around us that are begging for our attention and love.

I was in my Benevolence lab a few days ago and we all got talking about this idea of Benevolence and social justice and how we need to join this fight.

As I was walking back to class, I had this thought of why are we so concerned about strikes and getting the Bad Guys and making them pay and fighting in wars?  This isn't love.  This is Religious Christianity at its worst.

And then I realized the simplest thing in the entire world, and yet it seemed to change everything for me. 

I love Jesus. And Jesus loves the world.  After all, He came to save it.  So I should love the world.
It was like I made this diagram in my head.  And everything seemed so simple and right.

If we were to focus on loving people the way Jesus loved them, then the other things would just fall into place.  If we loved people the way Jesus loved them, then we wouldn't want to go to war and kill each other because we would love each other.  If we loved people the way Jesus loved them, then we wouldn't have rapes or murders or drug deals gone sour or children being abused because we would all just be loving each other.

I know it sounds so simple and maybe a little silly, but I'm going to let this affect me like crazy.  I'm not going to worry about spending five hours a day feeding the homeless because I have to get service hours in.  I'm not going to worry about updating my Facebook status so that people will think I'm really cool.  I'm not going to worry about handing out tracks to people as they walk by.
I'm just going to love people as I go about my life loving Jesus.

The rest I figure will fall into place.

Communication In Society Speech - 27.02.11.

"As Moses descended from Mount Sinai... he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord.  When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him...whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out.  After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, and the Israelites would see that Moses' face was radiant.  Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord."  - Exerts from Exodus 34:29-35
This is one of my favourite passages in the entire Bible because of this connotation that Moses' face was radiant after spending time with God.  God's love and goodness and grace was so overpowering that it shown in Moses' face and it says that the Israelites were frightened. 
They were frightened because God was revealed in Moses' face.
Does God shine through in our faces when we spend time with Him?  As I come into society after a precious encounter with God, whether that be through a worship service in a church or a sweet time spent with God alone, can others see on my face that something is different?
Shouldn't our interactions with Jesus change and alter us so that others can see it?
When we come into our great God's presence with fear and trembling, we should come with an expectation that Jesus will rock our world and alter us, so much so that others will stop and stare, wondering what has made us shine.
All too often we come into our Father's presence and think, "Let's just get this over with," and miss the precious time to just be in our Creator's presence.  We miss Him and we leave no different than we went in.
Earlier in Exodus, Moses meets God through a burning bush and God tells Moses to remove his shoes.
"When the Lord saw that he [Moses] had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, 'Moses!' 'Here I am', he answered.  'Do not come closer.  Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground'... Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God."  - Exerts from Exodus 3:4-6
Maybe one reason we have lost this shine on our faces is because we have lost this respect  for being in our God's presence. 
There's a song by Nichole Nordeman called "Tremble".  In the chorus, she sings, "Let me not forget to tremble / Face down / on the ground / Do I dare to take the liberty to stare at You?" 
This attitude of reverence and awe of God is what we should have when we interact with the Lord and creator of all things.
When I enter into His presence and worship Him with awe and trembling, I feel His mercy, grace, and love being poured out on me as He washes over me.
And when I leave this place of awe, I leave knowing that I had a holy and wonderous interaction with the One Who created me.
And this makes my face shine as a reflection of my Jesus.

Communication In Society Speech - 23.01.11.

"Our desire is for Your Name and renown."  - Isaiah 26:8b
So often, especially in today's society, we worry about our own names and our own renown.  We focus on ourselves.
"Am I looking popular?" "Am I getting the recognition that I deserve?" "What can I do in life that will make me look good?" "How can I get people to focus on me?"
But it's not about us.  It's never been about us.
It's all about Jesus, because we would be as filthy rags without Jesus.
When God looks at us, He chooses not to see our filth and our sin, but instead sees Jesus inside of us.
Wouldn't we want the world to see us like this?
If we really want the world to see the best that we are, then we should want them to see Jesus, because Jesus is the best thing we have.
I am the first to admit that I like to be noticed for me and my accomplishments.  But the thing that I need to remember is that when I do something and receive recognition and renown for my name, I need to give credit where credit's due.  I would be nothing and would not have the strength to do anything without Jesus, and this is what I need to remember when I am praised.
"Lord, You will establish peace for us, for you have also done all our work for us.  Lord our God, other lords than You have ruled over us, but we remember Your Name alone." - Isaiah 26:12-13

No Narcissism Intended

I have wanted to have a blog for several years now, but I kept pushing it to the side, firstly because I didn't want to seem narcissistic or because I figured no one would care to read my ramblings in blog form, so why have one?
While I still don't have an answer for this, I am hoping to break through the narcissistic aspect of blogging and somehow find a way to make this not so much about me but about whoever happens to stumble upon my ramblings, if anyone.
I will try my hardest never to write unnecessarily about myself.  For all intended purposes, I plan on writing about books that I think the world's population needs to read and music that will grace the ears of the world and thoughts from people so much smarter than me that I want to share.
I would like to think of this blog as more of a vessel for me to share the brilliance of others that I have happened to come in contact with. 
With that said, go listen to this song. 
Now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArFdPjyzNzQ