To Be Encouraged

I recently watched the series finale of The Big C.  For those not in the know, The Big C is an original series on Showtime that follows the experience of a woman who learns of her stage four cancer.  The show tackles issues of family experience, relationships, faith, life, all with wonderfully written humor and stellar performances from an all-star cast.  Let's just say as a fan, I was in tears at how wonderfully the story was written.  Understanding the journey and excitement of life is really what everyone strives for.  We long for a "utopian-like" existence in order to feel a purpose for living.  We all want reconciliation, trust, and the feeling of being valued for who we are.  Sometimes it's in those dramatic life moments where we actually feel it and want to do something about it.  I live with my elderly Nana, who is the coolest person I know.  Like The Big C, I have moments with my Nana where we are conversing, sharing, laughing and just enjoying each other's company.  She's not my Nana in those moments.  This is a woman who has experienced life.  She was born during the depression, owned the first TV on the street, and asks me now what "Twitter" is.  This is a relationship that is from heaven, my proof that God exists.  This is what life is about.  She is not my biological grandmother, but she is the only one I've ever known.  Family makes us who we are, good or bad.  You can't  change it.  but the beauty in life is the experience of relationship, regardless of limitations, that makes us who we are.  We are created to be spiritual beings, striving to know that force that drives us for connection and a glimpse of what perfect love is supposed to be.  Random interactions in  public, acts of kindness, duties out of love, they all stem from that want to coexist in the world around us.  If everything were taken away tomorrow, where would you be?  what would have to look forward to?  From who, what and where would you seek solace?  I find it interesting how many of us think and truly believe we are fine on our own.  Our families fail us.  Some of us know that from day one.  We create friendships and connections with people to fill that void.  All this bouncing from one emotion to the next is exhausting. I just want to take a deep breath  and relax.  When I get caught up in the pressures of my everyday, and the expectations I, or those around me have put on me, it creates frustration.  I spend valuable energy on pleasing everyone around me and then feel anxious at the wee hours of the morning because I'm thinking of all the things I didn't do.  That's no way to live, chasing perfection.  I just think it's simpler than that.  There is a reason why we tear up at MCPCA commercials, or why we cry at the end of Fried Green Tomatos, it's a validation that yes, we are here, we need connection, and we are better for stiving to leave this world a better place than when we found it.  

"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." - Col. 2:2-3

No Church In The Wild

"Human beings in a mob
What's a mob to a king? What's a king to a God?
What's a God to a non-believer who don't believe in anything?
Will he make it out alive? Alright, alright, no church in the wild"-Kanye West

There is something interesting about the idea of a church in the wild.  Who or what is the wild?  The wicked?  The non-believers?  Secular culture?  Who don't believe in anything?  I love this song.  If you know Kanye West as an artist, he does proclaim to believe in Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, and uses his music to spread the message of love and hope.  I dig it.  And just like Kanye the same questions come up a lot for those contemplating a life purpose bigger than ones one ego.  What's a king to a God? God doesn't need a king.  He's God.  What's a God to a non-believer who don't believe in anything?  Well, useless I suppose.  So I guess we are left with no church in the wild.  A world left to it's own demise where nothing gets better and the good are forgotten.  That's what is seems.  A desolate day in day out routine to self sustain.  I fall into it everyday.  What is written between the lines of these verses is THE PROMISE of a church in the wild.  There is a calmness and peace that comes with a life focused not on the present, but on eternity.  Will he make it out alive?  No. Probably not, most humans will die.  And I don't think that's the point.  The journey is not the destination, but the moments that make up the ride.  Most memories are better preserved when they are based around love, friendship, and connection.  This is what we were created for.  So what is it we are not believing in?  Most humans long for this type of pure connection.  We look for it in our family and friends.  We want to be wanted, loved and accepted, yet we fail sometimes at execution.  I would rather believe in a God that can at least promise this type of love than none at all.   

Micomanage

Mi.cro.man.age: transitive verb: to manage especially with excessive control or attention to details. 

This word makes me cringe.  Most of us know the meaning of this when it comes to work.  Every action of everyday is accounted for.  Some more than others, but everyone at some point has felt the pressure of having to be perfect at any given moment.  More importantly, it gives those in power a false sense of control.  My life in a sense, is overly micromanaged.  From the moment I wake up till the moment I drift off to some alternate universe for a brief moment of time, I am working to a time table.  Gotta work.  Gotta see family.  Gotta do my taxes.  Gotta see a doctor.  Wouldn't it be great to take just one day and live your life totally differently?  Back to What About Bob because really, Dr. Marvin is a genius.  "Take a vacation from your problems."  It's that simple.  Or for us 80's kids, "Holiday.  Just some time to get away."  I really believe our souls were created for this type of freedom.  Not to ignore the responsibilities of life, but to better enjoy the fruits of our labor.  We work so hard for what?  For vacations?  For time deserved?  For better things?  Well, I've been micomanaged for years, all by people who don't know me, or think perhaps they do and think they know what's best, or by simple wanting to please those closest to me.  It's the truest example of burning the candle at both ends.  And nobody wins.  
I propose a new perspective.  Take the moments that matter, the ones you post, tweet and take pictures of, burn those memories in your brain.  Allow life to happen and react to it, remembering the joy of those moments so when the lights go up and all eyes on you, they caught you mid smile.