Saturday, February 28, 2009

Email

So today I was really thinking about doing things and taking action because I believe In God and believe that he's telling me to do such things (which sounds really vague...) One of the things God has been talking to me about lately is serving other people and putting their needs and interests before myself. I get so sick of the realization of how self-absorbed I can be. Sometimes when I'm writing I count up how many sentences start with I and I get really frustrated. But that's not my point! Anyway, as I was at one store I walked to my car and thought, what if I parked as far away from the store as possible, so that the other drivers could have a better choice of parking spots. At first this sounded kind of idiotic to me, but then as I thought about it more, it began to seem like a good way to put other people first. I mean how often do we get excited when we see a parking spot that is super close to the store? Always, especially when it's raining or really hot. So why should I get that parking spot before anyone else. Does that sound really nitpicky and ridiculous? I don't know....it's the little things I guess. It's good to have little things to work on and triumph over. Makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something.

I have a question for you. You said earlier that you have a hard time realizing that Christ is the son of God. Why is that? I was reading a book the other day (Blue Like Jazz-Donald Miller) and he was describing a couple of situations where some people he knew were about to accept Christ but were going through a period of trying to figure out if they really believed that Christ was God's son. When I read about those struggles, about those people truly grappling with the idea that Christ was the son of God I felt a little left out, because I've never thought about it before. I don't know for sure, but I imagine it's because I've heard it all my life: Jesus is God's son, Jesus is God's son, etc. I hear that this is a crazy thing for Jesus to have said, that He was God's son....but it is just all very normal to me, kind of like waking up and being able to walk-you don't think about it, it just is.

Have you ever thought about how stunning it would be to completely give your life over to one belief? :D Obviously that's what we say we do with God. Why is Christian spirituality so difficult? I just looked over at some movies in my room and saw Braveheart which made me think about being totally sold out to just one belief and giving up everything else, safety, security, comfort for the sake of it. I know I'm repeated about a million different people. Every time I think about being totally sold out to God I feel like I'm standing on this huge cliff and I've just been told to fly. Adrenaline rushes in and there's the crazy feeling you get right before you do something that you know isn't really all that rational or smart or that you know might get you hurt. It's just a decision away, flying with God. If you ask me this whole walking with God business is very mundane. It should be motorcycling with God, flying with God, white water rafting with God....something that if you get off track and aren't in the hands of a master you would be in a really really dangerous situation, much more dangerous than if you had stayed with him. I like those metaphor better.

That was a bit of a tangent! Great!

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