The lines have been drawn. The stakes have been raised. TVR is my mortal enemy, and the fight shall go to the death.

I’ve not written for over a week. My apologies for the long delay. I’ve been incredibly busy with work trying to get lots of things done and feeling the stress of deadlines coming up. It shouldn’t come down to the wire like this anymore (since this project is still doing things the old way in a lot of regards).

But, aside from that, I have had a lot of different thoughts going on in my head. I won’t really unpack them, but here is a list of them for you to peruse.

• Being a man is a weighty responsibility, one that too many men treat frivolously. There is great honor and respect that goes with being a man, but you cannot attain those unless you are willing to accept the responsibility.
• Going along with that: being a man does not mean that you are impervious. It does not mean that you are cold and isolated from the world. It means that you are engaging the world, showing others who you really are, and having a willingness to be vulnerable.
• If I had to pick between believing in God and not reaching out to those who need Christ because I want to remain distanced from the world, or not believing in God but caring for the poor and needy and advancing His Kingdom (without realizing I’m doing it), I would pick the latter. This is my reasoning: I would rather stand before my Creator and say, “I am sorry that I did not believe in You, but I did care for the least of these,” than have to stand before my Maker and say, “I believed in You Lord, but I did not care for the least of these”. If that makes you uncomfortable that I say that, remember that there will be those who go to Christ and say that they cast out demons in His name, and He’ll tell them, “I never knew you, away from me”. But He also says at another point, “if anyone loves me He will obey my commands”.
• Running when it is hot isn’t exactly a lot of fun. Sweating large amounts of fluid is also not a lot of fun. It needs to cool off.
• I enjoy my job.
• Romance is a strange beast. I don’t seem to make a lot of headway with it, but then again, that’s probably because I’m so busy. I can’t say that I exactly mind the single life though. It’s nice, it’s relaxing, and I am enjoying it. Ride the single rollercoaster as long as you can folks. Only get off when you’re good and ready. The next ride will be equally beneficial and wonderful, but hopping off early is a bad move.
• Bowling starts up again tonight. Let’s see how this goes.
• I am excited to go home this weekend, I need a break.

Too often we fail to see other people for who they really are. We don’t give them a fair chance, we ignore them, we categorize them, we box them up into neat little compartments so we can deal with them easily and efficiently. That’s not how we were made. We can’t keep functioning like this. We’ll implode in ourselves. So this is a reminder to treat others as people, not a number, not an item on your checklist, not a bump in your day.

Layers of cultural sediment cover me
Overgrown by the vines of society
Walls built up by the bricks of isolation
Made by the steady hands of the economic machine
Losing sight of individuals in the masses
Stereotypes and misunderstandings
First impressions cloaking reality beneath
Closed eyes and deaf ears cannot tell

Here is a looking glass, set down the world
And look into my heart for a moment
See who I am in the midst of the chaos
Take this looking glass and see
See me for me

I wonder to myself, several hours later,
What it was about you that cast that spell.
Was it your smile that glows like firelight
Or your hair that shines like gently polished gold?
Did your laugh contain some form of magic
That wove itself over my mind again and again?
Eyes like a sea of stars shining quietly in the night
Draw me deep into themselves with their power.
So I think quietly to myself
   …what spell did you cast?

I posted my first blog entry at metasources a little bit ago.  I’m definitely excited for this venture with Brandon (Rogers, for those of you that know as many Brandons as I do).  I think it is going to be a really good thing, and I am pumped to learn all sorts of new things.  I published my initial thoughts on intellectual propety, copyrights, etc. so give a look.  Let me know what your thoughts are on it.  This is a way for Brandon and I to learn new things together, but also for you guys to come along with us for the journey!

On a side note, I’ve been doing some site updates.  I finally got around to figuring out how to set up other pages.  That, I think, is pretty cool.  So I’ll be working on getting all of that working.  I put up an about page.  I’m hoping to add a home page in a little while.

I also started sifting through some old comments that I never approved (or even read) since I get a lot of spam email.  But I received a really great comment from my friend Peter Anderson.  It was a really encouraging comment, and I wish I had received it a while ago.  But I’m still glad I read it now.  Here is a snippet from it:

“Or do I need a more conscious connection with Him throughout the day? A constant awareness of His presence and His voice speaking over me and to me. What comfort that would bring to be so intimately aware of the heavenly Father! But is that sustainable? Is that real?” (me)

I would argue that yes, it is real and sustainable! Difficult, yes, and it certainly takes a long time to develop… and we’ll definitely falter at times in the pursuit of it. But that doesn’t mean that that sense of awareness, that discipline of living in continual prayer, can’t be developed.(Peter)

A simple statement, but I found it to be very encouraging.  When I go throughout my day feeling hurried and rushed and like there isn’t enough time to make for God, Peter reminded me that we can take little moments to slow down and talk with our heavenly Father.

There is a divine connection just waiting for us to tap into.  That intimate awareness is not something that is inherent to us, for we are fallen man.  But is something that we can work on, something that we can build.  We can praise our Father for how awesome He is, for how good He is.  We can humbly come before Him when we sin and ask for forgiveness, and know that He loves us.  We can approach His throne boldly, for He is on the throne of grace (thanks be to Jesus!).

All that it takes on our part is a little bit of effort to connect with our eternal God that is simply waiting for us to connect with Him.