Why do the Awesome Die Young?

Why does everybody who is freaken way ahead of their time, prophetic, and really out to change the world get killed (always mysteriously and never without conspiracy)?

MKL, Tupac, JFK, Malcolm X, Bobby Kennedy, etc. I am sure there are hundreds of others I am forgetting.

Anyways have some words of wisdom from one of these folks.

"Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly, process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, and quietly building new structures."

-John F. Kennedy Jr.

(Repost) Collusion

Many moons ago I posted this on my blog. I post it again here to remind myself that well... I suck. I tell myself every day not to let myself be controlled by things out of my control and better yet not to create or invite conflict. But I do it all the time.

Here is what I posted a long time ago:

Here is a new word for everyone to learn and put into practice...

Collusion:

A conflict where the parties are inviting the very things they're fighting against.

See the word conflict in its essence is "passive", it is something that happens to us. Conflict for example, may be in result of a simple misunderstanding.

On the other hand,

The conflicts that I have noticed in my life have overwhelmingly not been conflict at all, and instead I have invited the very thing that I find myself frustrated with, fighting against, or arguing at.

Step back from your life and see what you find of the conflicts in your life. Are they conflicts or really collusion?

Doesn't the solution for conflict totally change when we look at it in this light?

Gangs/Tupac Video... Prophetic?

I am taking a senior seminar on Peace, Violence, and Youth. It has been facinating and engaging so far but this week we were assigned to read the book A World of Gangs by John M. Hagedorn. This may be the most interesting and intriguing book I have read in my 3.25 years at Butler. Urban life is terribly interesting to me and the Hagedron does an awesome job of showing the history of gangs, the current state of gangs, and defining what exactly is a gang. He touches on everything from the Irish gang that created in the Chicago Dailey polotical machine to current African American gangs and how they are influenced by hip hop. If you have work in urban setting this would be an invaluable resource or at least you would find it really interesting.

Anyways it reminded me of this video I saw this summer of an interview with Tupac. It is amazing to me how well spoken, articulate, and wise he is on all matters having to do with well... Politics. If you are using the running definition of politics that is the study of who gets what, when, and where.

He is borderline prophetic.

The Jesus Prayer

I am in a "training and equipping" class at Common Ground Christian Church that I am really excited about. The guy who teaches and leads the class is like my hero. I want to be just like him when I grow up: long hair, simple, radical, faithful, and wise.

Anyways, here is a prayer that he shared with us that I thought was just really awesome. I am trying to memorize it and thought that blogging it might aid my efforts. I am sure there will be more to come from this class...

The Jesus Prayer

Father Almighty,

Make of Heaven and earth

Set up your Kingdom in our midst.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God:

Have mercy on me a sinner

Holy Spirit, breath of the living God

Renew me and the world.

Posture

Ever have those words that just ring your head all through out the day? week? or in my case the weekend?

This weekend was the Young Life Raceway Region Leader Summit that never fails at being an absolute blast. Full of random dance parties, singing Miley Cyrus, singing awesome worship, being around awesome awesome people, and trying to understand our relationship with God better so that we might be able to love kids better.

The weekend was all of that, the people were great, I learned a lot, and I was re-focused and re-motivated as a young life leader.

But back to that word. The word that haunted my thoughts all week was "posture". It is no secret (that if you know me) I struggle deeply with issues of pride, arrogance, and authority. God has been teaching me and humbling me a lot in that area over the summer and into the school year as well. Yet still, it is no doubt a constant struggle to stand before God humbled and to not constantly think that I am better than others.

I kept asking myself what is that posture I take before God in prayer but also all through out the day? Do I stand humbled knowing that his way is unimaginably better than the way I could choose?

Do I enter into hard conversations with friends in a posture of humility that I may actually be the wrong? OR do I walk in with a posture that says I am right and there is nothing you can do about it?

Yeah.

I think more times than not my posture is not the one of humility that I desire it to be.

so here is some lyrics from my new favorite band that I often come back to when having this conversation with myself...

Seal my heart and break my pride

I've nowhere to stand and now nowhere to hide

Align my heart, my body, my mind

To face what I've done and do my time

Itchy Feet

I have what Chris Mccandless (Into the Wild guy) calls "itchy feet". Better characterized as the urge to go, to run away, escape responsibility, to explore, a longing for adventure, and to escape from any form of authority.

I have been day dreaming about packing up my pack,grabbing my boots and sleeping bag and just taking off. Leaving no note but just disappearing...

I have it all planned out in my head:

First I would hitch hike all the way to Maine and hop on the Appalachian trail and hike all the way to Georgia. Four to six months after I was done with that I would hitch hike to Nevada and hike the Continental divide trail all the way trough colorado and wyoming to Canada. Six months later I would hitch hike all the way to vancouver and hike the West Coast trail (my ultimate dream trail right now). A few weeks later I would ho

p on the Pacific crest trail and hike all t

he way down the coast into Mexico.

So lets see... 5 + 6 + 1 + 3 = 15 months.

probably best that I keep dreaming.

dream about it, talk about it, DO it.

some pictures of the places I want to go and maps of the trails....

Morning Perspective

This summer I read "Life Together" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in hopes that I would gather a better vision for community. Although, I do not actually know if the book helped in the way I was hoping for it did drop on me many sweet nuggets of solid truth like what I will soon be sharing with you.

The sacraments in a sense "spiritualize" or make sacred ordinary events in our life (i.e. marriage, adulthood, etc.). Bonhoeffer in way, spiritualized the morning for me by changing my perspective and giving it theological significance.

Enough said. ..

"For Christians the beginning of the day should not be burdened and oppressed with besetting concerns for the day's work. At the threshold of the new day stands the Lord who made it. All the darkness and distraction of the dreams of night retreat before the clear light of Jesus Christ and his wakening Word. All unrest, all impurity, all care and anxiety flee before him. Therefore, at the beginning of the day let all distraction and empty talk be silenced and let the first thought and the first word belong to him to whom our while life belongs. 'Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light' (ephesians 5:14)."