Just a Quick One

Blogging is one of those things that you do every now and then (or for a grade if you have Mrs. Matthews), but it takes a lot to come up with quality stuff for other people to slog through. Readers, those who don't blog anyway, can't fully appreciate what it takes for the blogger to create something meaningful to reach and give to the bloggee. This stuff is intense.

Anywho, this weekend is marvelously approaching. Slowly but surely we workers are reaching the end of our workweek tethers, about to embark to the Paradise City that is The Weekend. And for once it is going to be sunny...for Saturday anyway. Then the rain clouds will once again cover the city and bring back the dreary reminder that the weekend won't last forever and school/work is coming again to devour us all. But I personally hope severe weather doesn't visit us.

My heart and prayers go out to those in Tuscaloosa, Alabama who recently endured what is likely to be an F-4 tornado. More than a mile wide and leaving a swath of destruction in its wake across the state of Alabama and 6 other states. The death toll is rising, and I just pray for those down there. It's rough.

Well there we go. The bell for the end of first period is upon us and I must go. I leave you all with this...focus on the journey, don't just use your travels as a means of getting to an end, slow down...enjoy it, there's only one life with no do overs.

And so we go.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Today is Monday. The beginning of a new work/school week. The beginning of a horrendous two week battle with the state's accoutability test and the AP tests. Reviews are in full swing as the major testing occurences of the year arrive. After the next two weeks, we get a merciful two weeks off and then we're back to reviewing for end of the year finals. The end of the school year is a wonderful thing.


But today isn't just another Monday. Today is the Monday after Easter. Easter...the day of the Risen Lord. Now for those of you readers who waver in your belief, or don't believe at all, don't worry. This isn't going to be an opinion based blog post trying to convert as many readers as possible...this is simply one humble, God-fearing Christian high school junior's take on what yesterday was, what it meant and how to move forward.


Yesterday was Easter. Easter is the day of the Christian faith when Jesus Christ rose from the dead after being crucified and buried for 3 days. Defying all odds and breaking all expectations, Jesus came back from the dead. Can you imagine the feelings swirling around back then? The Romans: they didn't really know what was going on, and frankly they didn't care. The Romans didn't understand the Jews and their strange customs. Jerusalem was so far from Rome that they really basically ran themselves as far as things go. In fact, the Roman judge who presided over Jesus' case was going to let him go...he only crucified Jesus because that's what the Jews wanted. The Pharisees: they felt triumphant. They had just knocked off the biggest threat to their power. The Pharisees preached a different kind of life than did Jesus. The Pharisees adhered to Old Testament principles and that's what they taught their "flocks". But Jesus came along and He showed everyone a new way...a different path to God. The Pharisees were scared. They didn't want to lose their wealth and power that they had accumulated throughout the centuries. After the Crucifixion, the Pharisees were feeling very good. The Disciples: they were devastated. Jesus had handpick them three years previously and they had dropped everything to follow. They gave up their jobs, their livelihoods, their families...everything and followed him without question. Now, their Teacher was gone. What were they to do? They knew the Romans would be looking for them. What were they going to do?


That answer comes 3 days later, Jesus' tomb has been breached. The Disciples don't know what to make of it. Their Master had died and now his tomb was open and very obviously without a body inside. Could it be? Could Jesus have possibly conquered death? He had, in fact, done just that. His power was more than that of death, Jesus came back.


But what does this mean? Why go through all of that if you're not going to stay dead? Because it was for us. Jesus was killed, sacrificed actually, so that all of us following would have a direct line to God for forgiveness. We all fall short of the glory of God, we can never live up to his expectations. But because of Jesus, we can redeem ourselves. Jesus is singing the Jackson 5 song, I'll Be There. That's what he is telling us. He gave us another way out. Instead of miring in the harmful effects of sin, we can turn to him and have that burden lifted. It's a wonderful gift to be given.


So what can we do with this? Well that answer is up to you, individually. No one can tell you how to live your life. You have to choose. But why choose the hard way? Why not go with the different path and life outlined by Jesus? He lived to show us that another way is possible. Peace can happen. The world doesn't have to always live in the status quo, challenge the normal way of things. If something is wrong, why keep following it? Break out of the cycle of the world. Challenge yourself. Live out a different path and see how it changes your life.


And so we, all of us, go.

Journey

Journey is far more than a music group. Journey means something. Journey is the path you take through life. Journey is how you get to your destination, but it is so much more than just getting there. It's the people along your way, the things you do, places you go, friends you make. It is life. Our journey here is short, when speaking in grandiose geological terms. But our years on this planet take a long time. They can be full, or empty. They can live out to our expectations or they can fall short. It's all about how you choose to do what you do, and if you do what you choose to do. Our journey, our sojourn, through life has ups and downs. It's like a massive roller coaster with no end in the forseeable future and with no controls that we can see. But, like a coaster, we are relatively safe within the confines of the car and on the track. We know what's going to happen (or not happen), but once you leave the "track" or leave the "car" of life, you don't know what's coming. That's the excitement of the journey. So may your journey be long. May you fulfill yourself on your journey. May you find life, even in death. May you see that joy and sorrow are both necessary components on your journey. May you love strongly. May you see the world and all the wonders it holds for you. Enjoy your journey. And so we go.

The End Is Near

As the end of the year approaches, I find myself yearning even more for summer than I usually do. I don't know why, the future after high school scares me and this next year will signify the beginning of the end. But something about this year killed me a little inside. Something about this year was off for me. Truth is...junior year wasn't what I thought it was going to be. Granted I wasn't exactly sure what it was going to be in the beginning, but it definitely didn't turn out the way I thought it would. I'm not the same person I was 8 months ago. Something inside me is different from what it was before. It's been a year of ups and a year of downs, a cycle much like any other cycle in the world. You can't have the up without the down and for some reason everyone always thinks that the up swings will last forever and ever...I was one of those people. Life was great. It kept getting better, but it can't always be so. A wrench is thrown. It makes life interesting, shows you who you really are. When things don't go your way how you react says a lot about who you are. And now the end of this year is coming to an end. This cyclical year that seems to have, lately, more downs than ups is drawing to a close. Summer vacation is upon us, Senior year is upon us, college is right around the corner. And I'm ready, ready to bust out of this cycle and forge onward. And so we go.

Finally....The Moment Has Arrived

Me, Graham Duncan, avid Wildcat fan...I never thought this would happen. UK is in the Final Four for the first time in 13 years. Who would have thought that this group of players (who have nowhere near the talent of last year's squad) would do what last year could not? Let me be the first to say that I certainly didn't...along with all of Big Blue Nation. But let me also be the first to say that I will be one of the most avid supporters of this team in the country. This squad is simply amazing. They play on a 6 man rotation...their talent isn't quite what other teams have. But they have heart. They've proven that having the top recruiting class isn't everything. They've proven what can happen when you believe in yourself and in the rest of your team. Throughout the whole season there wasn't much for UK. Sure we only lost 9 games this whole season...but all of those were on the road and away from Rupp Arena. We couldn't stay tough in close games, there just wasn't a desire to win. They have that desire now. They stormed through the SEC tournament in spectacular fashion. They got a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and got placed in the same bracket as Ohio State and North Carolina...and guess who is in the Final Four? That's right UK is. This team is amazing. The way they have come together with each other is awesome. They have chemistry, they trust each other, they trust their coach, they have the backing of the best fan base in the country...they have Josh Harrellson. Anything I could say would just be repeating and rehashing what others have said, so I'm going to stop right there. But I want to add that I love this team. This basketball team is amazing I love watching them play and I absolutely cannot wait to see what they do in these last two games. Let's go UK! And so we go.

Life's Little Quirks

Life. This short time on Earth that we have. It throws us up, it throws us down, it gives us a ride then gives us away. We are slaves to life's whims...and life is sometimes very whimsical. It's those whimsical times that I look forward to.

Life loves to give us some times to laugh. It knows that it is way too hard on us, so it tries to lighten the mood every now and then. An inside joke between friends. That weird kid in the lunch room who sweats a ridiculous amount for no apparent reason. Unintentional slap stick comedic occurrences. Life loves to entertain us in between the trials and tribulations. These "quirks", if you will, make everything else worth it. For without the joy, the pain is unbearable.

"Life is pain...anyone who says differently is selling something." (Cary Elwes playing as Westly in The Princess Bride). This is more or less true, life is a series of sufferings and hard times. Life doesn't discriminate between rich and poor in its dealings with mortals. The tough times hit everyone...regardless of status.

But the quirks...the whimsical moments...the good times...the inside jokes...the weird people...everyone contributes to the whimsical-ness of life. It's a wonderfully quirky, and oppositely painful experience that we love.

And so we go.

It's Better to Have Loved and Lost...but I wish I had never Loved at all...

Have you ever had strong feelings of any sort? Anger. Hatred. Love. Emotions cloud the judgment and make you blind to everything. They create a picture that is shaped by the feelings and isn't always necessarily true. Love can make you ignore the faults of a person...even if the faults are really really bad. Anger can make you blind to the good side of a person. It's a two way street.

The teenage years are turbulent ones. Hormones are raging whether you're in the grips of puberty or not, feelings tend to get confused, and mistakes are made more often than avoided. Strong emotions are part of the roller coaster ride that is adolescent years. Love is a word overused and often misused. The strong feelings we have are confused. Love is used incorrectly and applied incorrectly as well. Love in particular has the most devastating effects on life.

Regardless of what you think about teens and love and relationships, we teens think we have love with our relationships. Do we misuse it? Absolutely. But it's part of the learning process. Through our "experiments" (I hesitate to use that term), we discover what we like in the opposite sex. We find for ourselves what we like, what we don't like, what we can live with, and what we can live without. If we didn't do this during these years we would only make our mistakes later and that would possibly be even more devastating.

Some say it's better to have loved and lost...I agree. Because when you lose what you loved it makes you appreciate what that person was to you. But the pain of losing that person who had owned your love for however long is hard to go through. Is the time that you spent with that person worth the pain of losing them without hope of getting them back? Sometimes its not. Which is why I wish I had never loved at all.

I have misused the word "love" more than I care to acknowledge. How can I help it? I don't know what love is anymore than the people who I said I loved did. We just don't know. We're eager to find out what love is because of what surrounds us. Our society pushes love and finding that person. It's pushed so much that the actual meaning of love has been lost. The media especially has clouded our views of what love is. I don't think anyone knows anymore. That is except for the people who have found it. The couple that is married for 80 years. That's love. Together through thick and thin? That's not an idea from a love song...it can happen. That's love. The first date that leads to engagement and the 80 year marriage...that's love. It's so hard to find that though.

I don't believe in love at first sight...for myself. Do I think that possibly there are instances where that happens? Sure, I don't want to say no because I don't know how all that works myself, but I acknowledge its possibility. Love is an experiment. It has no definition. Pain is involved yes, but love is also healing. It can pull you up when you're down. It is an amazing thing. I say that I wish I had never loved at all...but deep down I'm glad I have. I've learned some important things about myself through it all. Love is a good teacher like that. It's taught me that I need to leave it alone for a while. The pain of loss has finally bitten me too many times, it needs to be put to rest. Love...this is goodbye for now. I'll just have to resign myself to waiting for that person. Because I do believe that everyone has a perfect match somewhere. Call it wishful thinking on my part, but I honestly do believe that. I know that out there somewhere is the girl who really is the second half of me. That's one of the fun parts of this crazy journey we call life...the quest for your other half.

We exist simply to find companionship. That is the ultimate goal. I don't care what you say...single people aren't always happy. Humans yearn for the comfort of other people, especially that one person that fits perfectly with you. It's a rare match to make. But that's why the experimentation is important. It paves the way for the perfect person. They're out there...waiting for you.

Love. You have bitten me too many times. I've said it before...I need a break. The pain is hard to deal with, but I'll get through it. That's another lesson from love...how to take the loss and heartbreak and turn it into something good. Dealing with it. Moving on. That's life. That's love.


And so I go...