I'm baack!

I have been so neglectful of my blog lately! Goal in 2011:: One post every 2 weeks.

It's a start at least :) I'd love to post each week, but let's not get too lofty.

Kristin and I took a very spontanous roadtrip to Lexington, KY just to get away for a day. While there we visited some really cool shops like Third Street Stuff, Lucia's, and Common Grounds. Kristin is always good at finding things of this nature. Anywho, the trip was extremely refreshing. In one of the used book stores we frequented, we found this little treasure:::



It's called Seasons of Hope. Printed in 1970.

I'd like to share one of my favorite excerpts:

“The answer is to rely on youth, not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to the obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans; they cannot be moved by those who cling to a present that is already dying, a who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger that come with even the most peaceful progress.

It is a revolutionary world which we live in, and this generation at home and around the world has had thrust upon it a greater burden of responsibility than any generation that has ever lived. Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills. Yet many of the world’s great movements of thought and action have flowed from the work of a single man.

A young monk began the protestant reformation. A young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth. A young woman reclaimed the territory of France, and it was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and the 32-year-old Thomas Jefferson who explained that all men are created equal.

These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.

Each time a man stands for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustices, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.

And crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

–Robert Kennedy

my favorite paradox

Every once in a while I like to listen to a speech or sermon from Martin Luther King, Jr. Why? Because I am never the same afterward.

Some things are expected: I always get chills, I always cry, and I also get incredibly inspired.

Reading about MLK is good, but listening to him...is great. Hearing his passion, sensing the what the atmosphere would be like...these things are intangible. You will understand them only if you hear.

Which leads me to my next challenge, please...click this link. The whole thing is 9 minutes [it
s half of the original] , but even if you only have 4 1/2 minutes, that's it--click it. Scroll over to the 5:27 mark...and prepare to be moved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOrCU0jdJrs

I love the whole last 4 1/2 minutes, but here is a part that really, really strums a cord:

If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school.

I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others.

I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.

I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question.

I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry.

And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked.

I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison.

I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that's all I want to say.

If I can help somebody as I pass along,

If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,

If I can show somebody he's traveling wrong,

Then my living will not be in vain.

If I can do my duty as a Christian ought,

If I can bring salvation to a world once wrought,

If I can spread the message as the master taught,

Then my living will not be in vain.

...and so MLK's message remains, anyone can be great, because anyone can serve. Each day is just a chance to change the world--for the better or for the worse. Every decision, every action, we make an impact...what is our impact?

Are we indifferent?

Do we spread this beautiful message of grace? this message of hope? this message of love?

because in my opinion...when we fully grasp that what we are given [Salvation--life to the full now..but also in Heaven]] is all because of one thing--our faith in Jesus...when we this gift, this incredible act of service, this great thing that requires nothing but faith. it doesn't require us to be good, to be holy, but just to believe....how can we not be moved to action? How can we not want to run out of our homes and just love and serve and love and serve when we've been shown the perfect example?

so the paradox of course, is that although we are not required to serve to earn this gift, when we get the gift, service just flows out naturally ;)

and THIS is is my favorite paradox in the world.....

Let's be great.
Let's serve.
Let's change the world.

Franciscan Benediction

"May God bless you with discomfort

At easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships,
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done,
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

Amen."

♫If you're out there, sing along with me♫

So I was listening to John Legend's "If You're out there" last night when I looked at this picture...

It was one of those moments, seriously. I got chills. And welled up with so much hope.

I highly suggest trying it out :) Just click the link, and play it--it's the last one on the list.

Here are the lyrics.