overproportioNATE

Who we are instead. It's my favorite album title of all time, and it might have something to do with what the "theme" at camp is this year. We are going to be something in this life, good or bad, an example of what to be or not to be. Who you are going to be is all you can really control. We have a faith that says that God will be constant, and continually loving and forgiving. But what we do with that. How lazy we are in as much as we are concerned. That's as much as we've got. It's how we see Him, and this life. But it's also how we let Him affect us, how much we are willing to give. 2 Samuel 24:24 "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." What has it cost me today? Have I hurt for others today? You know, really felt for them. Have I turned from sin today? Have I loved with a cost today? Are we anything instead? Are we any different?

I feel that in so much of our writing, we're trying to prove a point. I hope that at least some of my writing doesn't come across that way. I am in no position to prove a point about much. I write to observe, to record, to encourage. I'm not all that concerned with being right all along. I hope that at the end, I find out that I was wrong about a lot of things, and a lot of people. I find it interesting that so many people live (myself included) live this life, feeling that being right the first time is so important. Because the chances of being right the first time aren't that great. It isn't something to look down on. And to celebrate a person for being right the first time is kind of a waste too. We aren't worth praise. We aren't worth glory. We should just try to do the best every day. That's all we can ever do.

I see the world a couple of ways. In one way, the world isn't as bad as it's been. God's message has been used to do some terrible things, to justify genocides. To claim that you're wiping out a people group for God, is so much "cleaner" than doing the same for yourself. It somehow justifies it, cleans your own slate. But in the other way, this world has little to offer anymore. It's hard to meld my mind with that of, say, Paul. Did he see things the same way. Obviously there were wrongs in the early church, people falling in love with the creation, rather than the creator. People in love with the "magic" of healing, and the signs and wonders, rather than the truly wonderful. But did Paul see nothing but bloody hands even among God's people. Paul had some reasons to be encouraged. He knew a lot of people that were trying. He had people to write to, people that were worth encouraging. There was some corruption almost anywhere, the letters t

I know that you're probably mad at me. I've come to expect that. You know that you'll never have all of me, you've come to resent that. You say "tomato", I say "video games", you're acting so solemn. You'll take the precious remote control from me. Do I sound like Gollum? (It's) not that I'm escaping, you charm me like the flame does moths, it's just that you'd prefer me docile, like a narcoleptic sloth. The wizard needs food badly, the Voltron can't be incomplete. The things I love, you hate so madly, I must not go down in defeat. -Wizard Needs Food Badly, FIF This song is an attempt to unexplain something deep and central about the male gender. We long for adventure. We want to provide, to give, to make your life better. We want to be your hero. Some of you might want that too, some of you might, but few, if any of you, want it like men want it. If we can't find that in life, and believe me, we'd love to, the

I always want to write about love. So whatever else you find me scribbling about, know that I'd rather be talking about love. Men are supposed to want respect right? I think that's true. I think that a lack of feeling respect, kind of blocks our love acceptors. In the end, respect leads to, is directly tied to love. Because no woman wants to be disrespected. A guy that disrespects a girl just doesn't last long. We call that guy a jerk and we move on. But guys can, and do, put up with disrespecting women, because they are pretty, or well, yeah pretty much just because of that. (Also, heads up, this is not always the case, either way. If you don't know that I am not speaking in relative terms, just stop reading anything I right. "Never" and "Always" should only really be used when speaking of God)

I fight tsunamis with an umbrella I deal the left hook like a Mother Theresa I’m facing down death like a fly on the windscreen you bring the warheads I’m bringing ice cream And I’ve got something more and I believe. -Five Iron Frenzy, I've Seen the Sun We do these things. We attempt these things. We need to stop acting like what we bring to the table is blatantly obvious to the world. We need to stop acting like the other side is wrong and they know it. They don't know. They don't know that they're wrong. But we bring this smallest little bit of truth, we bring the one thing we still believe to be sacred. We need to treat that thing with respect, that still small voice. The hills that we would actually die on. Because we've been fighting the wrong things for years. Don't devalue the bits of truth we have. Don't shy away from those things. Bring them, deliver those things, with all the power that Mother Theresa could exert into a punch. Don

Magic. It's this mystery. Can people be hypnotized? Can a rabbit really appear out of nowhere? We've always been in love with the impossible. The story of two young people meeting at an early age, being fast friends, and falling in love is just too bland for our tastes. We love the story of the man and woman who beat the odds. We call that magic too. It's in that story, in that impossibility, that we find beauty. As if "regular" love just isn't enough. Our own stories, need to be special, and unique, and different. And if they aren't, we certainly wish that they could have been. The magic of life isn't in those things. They make great stories, but they do not contain the "magic" of love, or even of life. The journey is important, and the people you meet, the lives you touch, the stories you make and tell. But they are not the whole of life. Just as the destination, as excellent and legendary as it may be, is not the whole of life.

Today you know Grandma. You know that I didn't hate you, that I didn't resent you. You know that I never tried to hurt the family, that all the stuff dad tried to sell you wasn't true. You know I loved you. That I missed you. Today you know that I was worth missing. Today you know that I tried. That I was more of a mediator than I could've been asked to be. You know that I gave when I didn't want to, that I thought of you, and him, more often than you knew. Today I miss you. I thought I was your favorite. But it honestly doesn't matter because you, grandma, you made me feel like I was. Thank you. I love you. I miss you more somehow, after this passing affliction, than I did in all these years prior. God Bless Grandma.

My take on silence. Like most things in life, silence is good... sometimes. And I don't need to discuss when it isn't. I'm sure we can all remember some terrible silences. But sometimes silence is the critical part of a conversation. To allow that bit of silence after being asked a question, it helps to communicate that yes, you are thinking before you speak. Silence is one of the few things in a conversation that have the potential to make it memorable. You could let slip some secret, that would certainly make for a memorable talk. Or maybe some amazingly appropriate quote, or some brand-new saying that is a stroke of genius. But outside of that, silence is one of the best ways to show that you want to be there. Yes, I might not have all the best words, or have the right advice, or have news, but I still want to be here, and with you. We shouldn't be afraid to let a little more silence into our talks.

I think every man comes face to face with the thought; "Is this all there is?" How we answer that question, tells us a lot about that man. It also says a lot about where he's going. If he's content, he may see the necessity of providing for his family, tying up his dreams for a later time. He might be a patient man. Or he could be wasting the most precious thing we have, time. He could be gambling a wager that is greater than he understands. But to answer no. That leads to either great change, or insurmountable trouble. The civil rights movement answered "no", the women's rights movement answered "no". But "no" was the answer of the men who went on the crusades, and the answer of the men and women who declared their manifest destiny, clearing land, and entire peoples. No is a dangerous answer. Because even if pursued with good intention, with the best goals in mind, he might fall short. He might be stopped. It could be a w