On a Common World View

Iran. Iraq. Saudi Arabia. Palestine. What do these four countries have in common? The obvious answer, of course, is that they are all in the Middle East, but there is another answer to that question that most Americans conjure, though they push it to the back of their minds. It’s more than an answer, it’s a mentality, a stereotypical worldview. It is a barrier, a brick wall that hinders many of us Anglo-Saxons when it comes to our global vision. And it’s dangerous, very dangerous.

Terrorism. When most of this nation thinks Middle East they also think terrorist.

Now it’s time to take a closer look, to think a little bit deeper about this perception we have. Reason with me. Let’s start with a good question: Why do we regard them as terrorist? “That’s easy!”, one may say. “It’s because of the destruction they caused in New York, in Washington D.C.!” Well, that is very true, but let’s take it to another level. Yes, they did cause destruction, yes, they took lives, but when people start pointing fingers in that direction I tend to think, “But hey! What about us?” and that is when the conversation gets heavy, because people don’t think about what we, the represented United States of America, have done. And it gets tricky because God-forbid we say anything contrary to the cause of the USA! But put that all aside for now and just think about how much destruction we have caused. Remember with me Vietnam, Korea, the Suez Canal, even our own Civil War. Yes, we go about and say that we dish out only what is deserved, that our cause has only been noble, but that is where we stumble...
Because they are thinking the same exact thing. Their cause is noble. As a Christian one could even argue that their cause may be more noble than ours! We fight for “justice” which is all well and good, but they are still fighting for God. They don’t believe in Him in quite the same way we do, but “Allah” is still translated “God”. Sure, one may think they are only doing it for the virgins promised them in paradise, but you know, we aspire to something similar. Our view of heaven is different, but we all want to end up in paradise, don’t we?
Then one may say, “But listen! Our religions aren’t the same! We are not like them!” and I beg to differ. True, our faiths are not the same, but where in either scripture (meaning the Koran and our Holy Scriptures) does it say that one person is at a more elevated state than another? To put it bluntly, where does it say that white Christians are any better than dark-skinned Muslims? There is no evidence on earth that constitutes the difference. We are all one whether we like it or not. No prejudice can truly come between our races. We all descend from the same line. Though we are not all brought together in the body of Christ Jesus or in the dedication to the prophet Muhammad we are all still brothers and sisters as a human race. We all bleed in the same color.
In conclusion, I would like remark that I, in this argument, am not trying to justify the death of those who suffered on that fatal day in our nation’s history, or on any memorable day similar, but that I am only trying to consider the overarching truth that says “We are all one”. So before the decision is made to go about labeling people groups as “terrorist” or before our religions are pinned up in comparison with theirs, and most definitely before judgement is passed in any way, just remember that that judgement is on your brother, your sister, your friend, your blood, and in the end, yourself.

Let’s Have a Word, Shall We?

I am officially a part of my college's newspaper! I will now be posting my articles here on my blog so be looking out for that!





Imagine a time in life where you had an epiphany, a realization. Not a realization like when you found yourself accidentally walking out of your house without pants on, or when you, on many occasions perhaps, realized that you dropped mayonnaise on yourself and there is no time to go change clothes. No. I’m talking about that real life, world-rocking, mind-altering awareness that sticks with you for the rest of your life. That thing inside of you that suddenly bursts forth with force and takes your mind captive. For a while you can think of nothing else. You are consumed by its passion and its intrigue. Are you catching my drift? These moments shape us. They make us new all over again. And one of these moments happened to me not long ago.
The reason this thought even came to me was because, in short, my faith means a lot to me. It is the cornerstone for everything I do, so when I learn something new about it, I get really excited. On the other hand, however, when I hear or sense something negative, something contrary to what should be true, I get frustrated and want to say something about it.
This is where my realization comes in. See, I opened my eyes one morning to find a generation of Christian young men and women walking around with eyes wide open and mouths sealed shut. I looked around and saw them all scurrying here and there fixing, building, giving, even teaching, but there was no sound! The only time I saw a mouth open was when the the Truth was being given out, but even that went sour within them. The only words to hear were the words of our lost brothers and sisters calling out for the same Truth that was making our belt buckles burst, but it was as if no one could hear them.
I see this picture and I desperately want it to change. We as Christians have lived on the message of “if I just live in a way that honors Christ people will notice” for too long. It is time for us to go beyond that! Our lives as a picture of Christ is a brilliant foundation for our declaration, but speaking out about the Gospel of Christ is the capstone of the example we give as believers and followers. In the Word, those who are lost are most frequently described as “blind”. If those who do not know Christ are supposedly “blind” then it would make more sense for us to speak for them to hear! Where are our voices? When the opportunity comes along to share the Truth with someone, one can almost see the words of our mouths retreating to hide behind the barrier we put up to keep ourselves from feeling vulnerable. It is now time to call on Christ to break those walls down and to supply you with the words that you have avoided for so long.
I challenge you now, brothers and sisters, to take off the mask you have formed from your Christian education, your reliability on a “action-only” doctrine, and your fear of rejection (for fear is the basis for all of our hesitancy), and let your voice go along side your deeds to declare that Jesus Christ is King. If our Father is on our side, who can stand in our way, right?

The Tree of a Time in Life

A tree branch
And we sat still
We couldnt move but
We hadnt will
Looking around we couldn't believe our eyes
In a trance we fell silent by ourselves

A break of quiet
And words come out
Soaring to other worlds
In Holy Form
Marching on to wage war against the foe
We almost float away in the breeze it renders

A big ordeal
And we clamber down
To face the music
And we trudge so willingly back to whence we came
Unhindered by the barrier, the barrier that is right in front of us
One we don't surpass before we part in a frenzy.

The End

Into the land the traveler went
Where the rain always pours and the wind wont relent
He pressed on to reach the unreachable end
O prolonged journey! Our lives it does bend!

Why was there no sign to let this poor man know
That there is no reward at the end of the road?
He must have been blinded by the snow and the sleet,
And just couldn't back down, couldn't accept a defeat.

So solemn he stood, weary and broken-hearted
He found that the end was the place that he started.

Sanctitatis by Future of Forestry

Vere Sanctus es
Domine Fons omnis sanctitatis
Domine

Sanctitatis by Future of Forestry

Your Lips Are Scarlet

A powerful song
Flows straight from your lips
But I cant make out all the words
Dont get me wrong
Yeah, I've come to grips
But what I saw was almost absurd

What can you say
When its already been said
Plain words can not possibly work
Ill go on my way
And Ill try not to dread
Those phrases that make my heart jerk

Your lips are scarlet
Your lips are scarlet
They move like the springtime
Even when there is no rhyme
To utter, not breath to be had
Your lips are scarlet

And you move
Like the rhythm
Of the wind and the rain
And there's silence
In the hard times
When there's nothing to gain

But there is one thing that is always the same
One t

Your lips are scarlet
Your lips are scarlet
They move like the springtime
Even when there is no rhyme
To utter, no breath to be had
Your lips are scarlet.

Your lips are scarlet.

It is a problem when one cannot do what one loves to do. When the singer can't sing, when the drummer can't drum, and most of all, when the writer can't seem to write. What happens to one's being when the desire is there but the ability, or better yet, the inspiration, is gone? And what is it that steals such a thing as inspiration? Maybe the single answer to this question will never be known but there are many answers that apply to a single person's situation. For one person it may be that something horrible happened to them. Something painful...traumatic enough to be able to yank out the life one once lived and twist it into something dark and empty. For another person it may be that they let their inspiration get out of hand and let it hurt them, or even worse, hurt someone else whom they loved. One can hardly see that happening, but it does. One must reign in their thoughts, feelings, etc and use them for their own true purpose. If one doesn't and lets their thoughts and feelings do exactly what they want then you potentially will end up causing a kind of "war of mind" which pillages and sometimes burns the sanctity of one's relationships and one's own ability to interact efficiently with one's own self. Some people call that "going nuts" or in some extreme cases "losing touch with reality".

But really the number one reason for a loss of inspiration is an infliction of unintentional blindness. Blindness not to physical objects or light but to one's own true self. It can be inflicted by many different things. It can happen when one thinks one has found something or someone that will make their life better but actually distracts or even intentionally removes inklings and ideas from one's soul. Sure, this removal can be caused by a person but usually its caused by other things. Your new big screen television. Your brand new convertible. You new and improved video camera. A sparkling 2.1 carat diamond(s). Your high tech computer. Even your new pair of 100 dollar shoes.
Or how about your collection of movies. Or music. Or video games.
Or your magazines. Seventeen. Vogue. US Weekly. Maxim.

Things. Things are the number one reason for blindness.

So...to continue to be inspired one must become aware.
See your surroundings and understand your situations. Look for yourself instead of getting lost in the emptiness of other people's fantasies. For one to truly be inspired, and in turn inspire others, one must, MUST, escape the vacuum of popular culture, break free from the vice of modern technology, and make oneself able to handle entering into our new and improved world without being trapped by it. If a person can do that then that person is freer than a lot of people on this crazy train named Earth.

And also don't forget, true freedom is found only in the one we call Father. He invented inspiration and creativity. He created everything. We owe it all to Him.