wind

It's been pretty windy today. The kind of wind that comes with rain and clouds and causes people to go inside to escape the elements. I guess you could call it a good day to read. That is what I spent most of my afternoon doing, except not reading for fun but reading for the hope of doing well in class. I'm realizing that this semester will feature a lot of reading. So get the coffee ready, and find some good spots to read, cause that's going to be most of my semester.

It's interesting to me how easy it is to get back in the groove of things at school. It's good to do some of the normal, habitual things I got used to doing the past few years. You know, like walking the same path to class and eating lunch at a familiar table. But its also good to have new things thrust into my life so that it doesn't feel so comfortable that it gets monotonous. There are new leaves to be turned over, I guess. And i'm pretty excited about that. As long as some of the other leaves stay the same.

i've lost it

I have a confession to make. I've watched entirely too many episodes of Lost in the past few days. You know you've watched too much when you start to see reality through the Lost lens. For instance, if you find yourself staring pensively off into the distance at several points in the day, you know its gotten to you. Or if you start to talk in "Locke-isms", you know, where every tense moment can be dispelled by a "when i was a..." story that eventually leads to a breakthrough "oh my goodness it all makes perfect sense moment". Accompanied, of course, by that weathered, grizzled stare. One of the most certain signs you've watched too much of ANY tv show is that things start to become more "dramatic". I don't know about you, but each one of my days is not filled with approximately 4-5 cliffhanging moments that leave me with high blood pressure. Maybe that's why its so fun to get caught up in the stories, because i mean come on, how many real Michael's are there out there, who get explosively mad at least 3 times a day. The fact is, shows like that are just, well, shows. And they make you keep watching. So that you will find out more about that island. Dangit.

Some small things

Well today was a good day for several reasons. Most notably that it was a new day, different than yesterday and almost certainly never to be repeated again in the future. So that in and of itself makes it a good day. There were some things, though, that made the day brighter.

1) Eating lunch at corner bakery, having bread bowl chicken noodle soup and being able to slowly chew on the sourdough long after the soup was finished. bread bowl soup=greatness

2) Had a conversation, over aforementioned lunch, with a good friend. The kind of conversation that thoroughly made me ready to change the world. It was one of those conversations where the more we discussed things, the more excited I became about what we were talking about. it was just brilliant.

3) I found a new book or two at BN. and got an excellent cookie at the adjacent bakery. yes. some things in life can be that simple and that good.

4) I had a good laugh, i mean a GOOD laugh courtesy of disc 4 season 3 of the Office.

The weekend is here, and there is a new week on the horizon. What does tomorrow look like, you ask? Some excellent college basketball viewing, maybe some cooking, enjoyment of frosted mini-wheats, and more general hanging out.


I woke up as before
But the gold was gone
My wife was at the door
With her night robe on
My heart beat once or twice
And life flooded my veins
Everything had changed
My lungs had found their voice
And what was once routine
And what was once routine was now the perfect joy

~switchfoot

In The News

1. I read this intriguing article about African/European immigration on the NY Times website. If we in America think that we are the only people dealing with immigration, its just not that simple. The world, as one book famously says, is flattening. We're mixing and mingling with more diverse people than ever before. What an opportunity to spread the Good News. Sometimes we worry so much about going out and being missionaries that we dont see the mission field that is being brought to us...

2. My cowboys lost to the New York Giants in the NFL playoffs yesterday. I'm not very happy about it. But, March Madness is right around the corner, and Duke, Kentucky, and Texas should make for some fun watching (those are my favorite teams, btw...and I guess you could throw in 'bama, but they'd be 4th)

3. Jon Foreman, lead singer of Switchfoot, is currently releasing 4 EP's with the theme of each season. His first release, "Fall", is already on Itunes, and it's worth a listen. Take a look at the lyrics, too. There's a lot of desperation in these lyrics.

........

School has started back for most college kids, but samford's still rolling through jan term, so that means i'm still taking it easy until spring gets under way. Am I ready? yes, I think. Switchfoot's singing to me right now about how today will soon be Gone, which is a good reminder in a rip-roaring world.

Something I've been thinking about lately: How do you live out justice in life? I'm trying to wrestle these thoughts inside and figure out how Jesus interjects into our current popular fascination with "social justice". I'd like to write soon about what I think this question truly means. Hopefully I can get around to that, and get around to, more importantly, living its truth out in reality.

Young-bin is coming back to the states soon, YES! Paul has started a blog, but has yet to see the necessity to post. ha. Well, until I write again...keep the creativity flowing and keep thinking and writing.

Looking Forward

It's funny how different times of the year are slow, busy, and in between. Especially in the life of a college student, living in the world of semesters and breaks, both summer and winter. We easily transition from the slow, syrupy pace of summer to a full-throttle fall. Then we take breaks in the form of thanksgiving and christmas and new years, finding time in all the mess to rest and go back to a slower pace of life. And then its back for a spring that promises more time with friends, more time with the books, and more time wondering what to do with the upcoming summer.

In all of the gearing up and slowing down we realize that these college years are quite possibly some of the best years of our lives. Right now I'm finding myself in the yawning quiet of winter break. Christmas and New Years are memories now. Gone is the hurry and hustle of the holiday season. Now its back to normal for everyone. Except for the college kid on winter break, not taking a fast paced january class. And that would be me.

Most of my days during this protracted winter season are quiet. They slowly pile up and the weeks come and go with the speed of ripples going from one side of a pond to the other. It's the time of year when it's easier to sit down and talk to someone, avoiding the biting winds and bleak, grey skies outside. I'm finding myself doing a whole lot of nothing, which, in the grand scheme of things, can actually be quite the balm for a soul wound so tight from months of busyness.

Seasons come and seasons go, and before long, the spring semester will be announcing its arrival with loads of school, friends, and general college things. Before long, I wont be able to spend all evening watching college football and/or college basketball. Before long, instead of wondering what to do with a few hours I'll be wondering how to cram as much into those same few hours. It's almost as if the seasons of life for a college student are like a playground seesaw, going from one side to the other.

It's not the circumstances, or the seasons, though, that I'm really concerned with. College is awesome, some of the best years ever, but from what I hear, it doesn't last, and there are new seasons on the horizon. So I guess what I'm saying in all of this is that I'm learning what it means to be balanced. To have centrality throughout the various speeds of life, to have a stronger, deeper foundation, if you will. Life's not meant to be lived pedal-to-the-metal, but its also not meant to be lived in a perpetual state of yawning, either. There are amazing things to be done in this world, especially with the blessings that have been poured out to us. There are journeys to be taken, answers to be found, and lives to be impacted. But I don't want to get ahead of myself, running, as it were, before I really have the ball. Somewhere in between the hectic life that the world demands from us and the sedate, quiet life of the person who's been deflated of their passion for life is the realm of balance which our souls beg us to find.

And this whole idea of balance seems to me to be one of the most important discoveries for college students like me.