Beautiful Connections

I am sitting in the corner of a building full of students studying their hearts out in preparation for finals.

As I attempt to do homework that is taxing and very difficult, I am trying to make the best of my situation by listening to really good music.

A girl just walked past me, and (possibly since I am doing my best to focus on anything but the work I need to do) I noticed that she was walking to the exact beat of the music entering my mind through my hot pink earbuds.

I had to chuckle to myself, and started to wonder how ofter that happens.

Is it possible that this kind of thing happens all the time?

And that in reality there are thousands of kindred spirits all over our world dancing to the beat of the same drum?

A Prayer From Mother Theresa

Dear Jesus,
Help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.
Flood our souls with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly,
that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.
Shine through us,
and be so in us,
that every soul we come in contract with
may feel your presence in our soul.
Let them look up and see no longer us,
but only Jesus!
Stay with us,
and then we shall begin to shine as you shine;
so to shine as to be a light to others;
the light O Jesus, will be all from you,
none of it will be ours;
it will be you, shining on others through us.
Let us thus praise you in the way you love best,
by shining on those around us.
Let us preach you without preaching,
not by words but by example,
by the catching force,
the sympathetic influence of what we do,
the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you.
Amen.

Afterthoughts of Easter

Yesterday, thousands of people gathered into their churches (whether they attend regularly or not) and remembered the day two thousand years ago when our Lord Jesus Christ rose up out of the grave, conquering Satan and holding the keys of death and hell in His hand.

Why is this so important?

Without Him beating resurrecting, we have no hope of a tomorrow. We will not escape an eternal death if He was not the maverick of eternal life.

Since He has come back from the dead, He gives us the opportunity  to have new life. If we continue in our old lives, unchanged by Him, we all know what will happen eventually: we die and our souls live in punishment for our sins. But: if we take His hand, He will lift us up and put His conquering life in us.

This gift is for everyone, not just the Anglo-Saxon white male; His grace is available for all mankind.

What will you do with His ever outreaching hands?

Potential Greatness

I recently happened upon a quote from John Stuart Mill, a British philosopher and worker in not only the Utilitarian movement, but the feminist as well. He once said, "A pupil from whom nothing is ever demanded which he cannot do, never does all he can."

He was largely self-taught as a child, but was still pushed by his father to constantly excel, reading contemporary college level books from the time he was eight years old.

If we push ourselves to go beyond our breaking points, where will we find ourselves?

What are the chances that we really will fail?

Why is it that we are afraid of giving our all into something?

Are we really afraid of failure? or simply of discovering all that we are truly capable of doing?

A Poem Written by a Precious Friend

The Someone Elses

While I rolled over in my bed,

Tucked into the warmth of my covers,

Not wanting to get up,

Someone else froze to death.

While I ate my breakfast,

Well-rounded with eggs and toast and peaches,

Someone else starved to death.

While I walked to class with my friends,

Under a blue sky,

Feeling loved,

Someone else jumped off a building in the rain.

While I dozed through my Geology lecture

On volcanoes and magma,

Someone else experienced their destructive power.

While I ate lunch,

Again surrounded by friends,

Discussing our futures,

Someone elses future became their present and past.

And while I sit here,

Writing on recycled notebook paper

With a cheap, disposable pen,

Sitting beneath electric lights

In a chair/desk combo I would consider uncomfortable,

Someone else writes more meaningful words in the dirt.

By Andrea Rivard

The End of 'Adam's Curse'

A poem by William Butler Yeats:

"I had a thought for no one's but your ears:
That you were beautiful, and that I strove
To love you in the old high way of love;
That it had all seemed happy, and yet we'd grown
As weary-hearted as that hollow moon."

This is the culmination of a talk between two lovers, and their thoughts about the world around them.

If only we daily thought like this toward our fellow man, what would we do to help someone else prosper in their way?

This "old high way of love" he speaks of is not at all what our perception of love is today, but is a deeper, real love that is not defined by feeling or emotion, but is a choice.

Will we make the choice to love someone, not because of what they have done for us nor what they look like, but rather who they are as a created being?

Jim Elliot

Possibly one of the most well known Missionary couple in Christian circles are Jim and Elizabeth Elliot.

These two people show a perfect example of how beautiful it is to give up one's life in order to share truth with the unreached people in our world.

Throughout his life, Jim fought to give his life entirely over to the use of his creator. He often spoke to his family about things that held him back from this complete surrender.

Quoted in Elizabeth Elliot's Shadow of the Almighty, The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot, Jim says, "I think the devil has made it his business to monopolize on three elements: noise, hurry, and crowds." (p. 85)

Jim knew that God speaks to man in the stillness, not the wind, not the storms, but in silence.

What are you doing today in order to find that peace and quiet?

Outside the Box: A poem to feed your thoughts

Outside the Box

Being inside the box
was comfortable
–warm and cosy.
We curled up
with cushions of routine,
wadded with words,
blanketed by books,
swaddled in certainties.
A bit stuffy perhaps,
and we sometimes felt cramped,
but never mind,
we were so used to it
that it felt normal –
and, as I said,
comfortable.

Out here we are exposed,
and cold winds blow.
We need to hold on tight,
keep our eyes open
for sudden snow squalls,
hidden crevasses.
It’s a precarious existence now –
but here we can move and breathe,
see clear to the far horizon.

And if we come to a cliff,
we know we can step off it
into empty air,
trusting it to bear us up.
We have no fear
of
falling.

By: Alan Maley. Nagoya. Nov. 2010

The Kite Runner

I have just finished up reading, for at least the third time, Khaled Hosseini's novel 'The Kite Runner.'

While it is a "haunting" book, just as the New York Times Book Review stated, I cannot stop myself from returning to its pages.

To think that tragedy such as what is compiled therein is reality in countless peoples' lives cuts to the heart like razor blades.

That is why the world needs to change.

No more apathetic oblivious people racing through the streets.

The world is crying, and you hold a tissue and chicken noodle soup in your hand.

You hold the key to their redemption.

Humanitarian Aid

First Official Blog Post on Humanitarian Aid.

Day after day I look around my world and what is it that I see?

People hurting people.

William Blake wanted all men to envision "the Universal Brotherhood of Eden" a place where all people can feel at home.

Where is that present in our world today? Precious little space.

How sad it is that so many people are hurting and in need, starving for more than just food, but to be held in the arms of someone who loves and cares for them personally.

But how much sadder is it that there are over-privileged, yet blind people who refuse to reach out and help their neighbor?

One of my favorite children's book is 'Miss Rumphius,' a beautifully illustrated picture book by Barbara Cooney. In the story, little Alice is told by her grandfather that she, "must do something to make the world more beautiful." Throughout her life, she strives to accomplish this goal, finally discovering her own path.

While yes, it is a story for children at bedtime, the purpose goes much deeper than that. In truth it is an aspiration for everyone. My goal is that of bringing a better life to people, for what is more beautiful than the smile of a person whose soul has been satisfied?