the good ol' days

today i have an overwhelming feeling of sadness... or maybe its loss... or a yearning for times past...
i miss andrews very much today.
i miss my friends that were there while i was there.
i miss all the girls i'd hang with... i miss the atmosphere... i miss the bed... i had a great bed at andrews... i think i liked it even better than the bed at home at that time...
i miss eating out at random moments with people... i miss sitting around the art building... writing papers while the art students were doing their thing...
i miss the smell... the long drives without traffic.... the corn fields... driving past vineyards when the smell is overpowering... i miss the smell of burning leaves in the fall... i miss not caring about much besides a few classes...
i miss inbetween class coffee breaks at the gas station with ava.... i miss driving to the lake and walking in the sand... jumping in the dunes... i miss singing at mosaic... totally losing myself (thats the only place i've ever been able to do that)...
i miss lazy sabbaths... hearing dwight's sermon series on poverty...
i miss breakfast at the caff with ava or dayleen... i miss running around the campus... i miss yoga classes and the incredible pain the following day... i miss a few of my teachers... i miss dr. stefanovic and dr. cesar a lot.... i miss so many things.. and as i sit here at work.. i cant think of much else... and what sucks is i know that i cant visit that again... if i go to andrews now its completely different... i dont know anyw\one besides my sister and a few of her friends that i've met...

tie dem strings

i imagine the mind like an empty dome. every time you learn something new a string grows from the top of the dome and dangles down to the bottom. the more you learn, the more strings you have flopping around in there...

knowing different things doesnt make a person intelligent though... maybe it makes them smart.. or a "know-it-all"... but not wise.

i view wisdom and intelligence as the ability to tie the loose ends of those strings that dangle from the dome... being able to connect one fact to another... one experience to another. the more intelligent you are, the more you're able to join the strings and the dome begins to look like a spider web... a spider web is good because that means that when you're confronted with an issue that directly deals with one of your strings, if that string is connected to other strings, you have a lot more information ready and at your finger tips to help you deal with your issue. if you only have the one string, dangling alone... then you don't have much to go by. you may have all the information you need in separate strings, but they arent tied together, you're not going to maximize on your ability to deal with stuff. So tying the strings is very important.

when i tie strings in my mind i get very excited.

did anyone understand that?

What a Line

A wise photographer recently said, "I don't deal with religion in America". Well, why not, you might ask... "because religion in America is bad" he says. He then said something I will never forget... "Bush is giving God a black eye".

Damn...... I'm speechless.....



*** This conversation was relayed to me by my sister... on her first day as a photo assistant she met quite a man... thats some deep shit.

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Taken in Vain

It frustrates me when i hear conservative Christians telling children and teenagers that they better not say "Oh my God" or exclaim "Jesus!" because when they do that they are taking Gods name in vain and breaking the third commandment.

I think this is a ridiculous way of thinking. How is saying OMG taking Gods name in vain? What does that mean anyway? God is more than a word, and the word is not what makes him holy or godly.

My view on the issue is different, a little more abstract. For those of us who call ourselves Christians - we carry Christs' name as a part of our identity. Gods identity is not to be taken lightly, and we can read what his character is throughout the bible.

When a person decides to call themselves a Christian, they have decided to take on the identity of Christ - God. Now, when this same "Christian" involves him/herself in "unchristian" activities, thoughts, and actions then they are taking the Lords name in vain. Or in other words, they're being a hypocrite... because they are participating in things which are not a part of Christ's character, and are in fact completely opposite his character.

I am not even going to begin to define what "christian" and "unchristian" activities and thoughts are. Thats up to each person to figure out and struggle with.

I'm not gonna lie... I know I've taken Christs name in vain many times... and I'm ashamed about it. But none of those times involve my saying "Oh my God!"