A Warning to All Who Tread...

Since it's Halloween, I figured this would be the appropriate time for something scary.

Ready for the scariness?

You sure you can handle it?

Okay, here it goes...

I've noticed that a few of you have been excessively negligent in updating your own blogs. So, I have no choice but to instigate a rule stating that anyone who fails to update his/her blog over a three-month period will be dropped from my link listing at the right.

AAAAAAAHHH! I know, I know, it's terrifying. Luckily, there's an easy way to avoid such terror and fright. Update your blog...and do it often! At least once a month. :)

The Heart

Why does the heart linger? It cannot be prodded or goaded or urged. And, so, it remains. It cannot be moved; it can only move…and only when it’s ready.

I was standing on the dock, poised to embark, yet the heart mourned and wept. It wept for Home. Home, which was comfort and peace and joy. Home, which was love. But it wasn’t Love. And that’s why I stood at the dock. Like an orphaned child, the heart couldn’t be left. But it couldn’t be coaxed either. I had to choose.

The choice had to be swift, lest the pleadings of the heart erode my resistance. In the moment, it was simple, really. Just two steps onto the deck. And, as quickly as it happened, I was asea. Easy to perform. Hard to endure.

Before long, I began to mourn. To mourn the heart. I found that confusing, since I needed the heart to mourn, yet the heart I did not have. How cruel that a cosmic impossibility would be overturned for the sake of my own suffering.

Drenched in suffering, I did all I knew to do. I beckoned the heart, though the fog had since obscured the dock. I begged for it to meet me on this journey, on this voyage of promise. I shouted until my voice left me. Perhaps the voice found its way to the heart.

And now I don’t know. Does the heart still stand on the dock? Is it withering in its solitude? Those two steps…way back on the dock. They were easy to perform, but they are hard to endure.

Why does the heart linger? It cannot be prodded or goaded or urged. And, so, it remains. It cannot be moved; it can only move…and only when it’s ready.

Are you ready?

In the Midst of Turmoil

I can't believe I'm already posting again. I never get around to posting two days in a row. Well, this one's for a good cause.

My sister is currently involved with a really great philanthropy at Ole Miss, and I wanted to pass along the information for anyone who wanted to join in. :)

Victory Boxes are small boxes filled with school supplies, toiletries, and toys that soldiers hand out to children they meet in Iraq and Afghanistan. It costs $18 to fill ($8) and ship ($10) one Victory Box to its final destination. Therefore, it's very accessible for most of us to give a little and make a big impact in a child's life.

Personally, I have a big range of emotions regarding the War, but there's no denying that the children of Iraq and Afghanistan didn't choose to grow up in a warzone. Anything that can be done, no matter how small, to make a positive difference in their lives seems well worth it.

If any of you would like to give, you can send donations to the following address:

Victory Boxes
c/o Phi Mu
P.O. Box 8198
University, MS 38677

Giving Christians a Bad Name Since...Well, the Dawn of Christianity!

You know, the Christian church has certainly survived in spite of itself...

I'm currently (albeit slowly) reading a massive book by Dr. Ed Murphy: The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare. I'll be the first to admit that spiritual warfare isn't a topic that I know much about, but obviously Dr. Murphy has a lot to say about it; I'm interested to see what comes of it.

The plus of committing to read such a large text (about 550 pages, which is pretty big for me...all you Harry Potter readers can just be quiet) is that there are plenty of opportunities for Dr. Murphy to provide insight about many aspects of Christianity and the Church. As an example...

"[C]orrect biblical interpretation is that interpretation which is most consistent with experience. Theology which is contradicted by experience, or at the least brought into question, is theology that needs to be reexamined. To declare that theology must be maintained even if it is challenged by on-going experience is legalism, pharisaism, dogmatism, and evidence of subtle arrogance. To continue with theology that hurts already hurting people is sin. We cannot sacrifice people on the altar of theological presuppositions."

Why doesn't the Church-at-large seem to get this?

To quote The Black-Eyed Peas, "Where is the love?"