Foregone Conclusions

you were too busy steering the conversation toward the lord
to hear the voice of the spirit begging you to shut the fuck up
you thought it must be the devil trying to make you go astray
besides it couldn't have been the lord because you don't believe he talks that way
too close to call yet
still so tightly wound around our foregone conclusions

These lyrics have been floating around my mind all week, and offending me the whole time... but in a good and challenging way. There's so much clutter in Christendom these days, especially with the recent inundation of "Emergent" and "counter-Emergent" literature. That's just the area I've experienced this clutter in (not to mention the thousands of Christian blogs floating around, which this is one of)... there's also been an overabundance of easy-Christianity for years, since Billy Graham brought conversion to the living room and local stadium.

This isn't to point fingers by any means... because just about all of us go to church to hear a 30 minute sermon spoken to us every singe week. Jesus's Sermon on the Mount takes about 20 minutes to read out loud all the way through, and that was the most influential sermon in history... why do we feel the need to say so much more than Jesus did? Didn't he say that his disciples would be known by their actions (or fruits)? When are we going to "walk the walk"?

Time Flies When You're Having Fun... Or Not

November is upon us, and for that matter is almost half over. I realized this the other day, and thought about how quickly 2008 has gone by. For that matter, I thought about how fast time has gone by since I graduated high school. There are a few people who I graduated with who I've either maintained contact with or have been able to follow through social-networking sites; and I must say, my graduating class of 6 people has churned out an interesting bunch.

One girl I graduated with chose to pursue modeling, rather than a college education (something I was somewhat disappointed with, considering she was an honors student). I must say she's had some success, though, and now owns a $2.6 million home in New Mexico, not at the cost of her dignity though, as her photos suggest that she has her foot firm in the doorway of the porn industry and has made no indication that she doesn't intend to fully step through. Sort of a Pyrrhic victory - she's incredibly financially successful and admired by many... but at what cost? She's valued strictly for her body, but she lacks both the character and available community that so make life worth living. I imagine that, if she would first admit it to herself, she would confide a deep sense of loneliness to anyone willing to listen.

Another girl I graduated with, who happens to go to APU with me, I found out a couple weeks ago is a recovering addict. We both felt a sense of pride as she showed me her first 30-day chip, which declared her sobriety, dangling from her key chain. A week after that conversation, her boyfriend proposed to her, and they're now engaged to be married. I can't help but sense the presence of redemption and hope when I think of how far she's come.

As for me, I'm getting ready to graduate college, and hopefully serve a group of people in Chicago who I would not hesitate to call "the least of these" - as they are ostracized among the homeless community.

That's where half of my graduating class of six is, only three and a half years later! I can't help but wonder where the other three are, and where they're headed...