night walks

Looking over the previous blogs of this month, they seemed to touch on the "gloom and doom" of the realness of life. Life is just that, real. Here's some more realness for ya...

Last night I spent a better part of it in the luxuriousness of Rouss writing my life away. Rouss makes me wish I had applied to be in the Comm School. Sometimes.

Fast forward to me leaving to the go to the Castle. Was fixin' to get myself a Cyclops, needless to say is a tasty-heart attack waiting to happen. I leave the Castle a little past midnight, with my burger in hand, anticipating much tasty goodness.

As always when walking back from that neck of the woods, I cross by Dell Pond. I've always enjoyed walking by there, because it's cool to see it freeze over in the winter but primarily because the "Gang of Four" lives there.

The Gang of Four originally consisted of Theodore and Louisa. They made it their residence Valentine's Day of 2009. Not sure if they came on their own accord or they were placed there, but whatever the case these ducks were there that day.

Fast forward to September of 2009, two more birds live with Theodore and Louisa now. Another female duck and a goose (question mark?) live with them. Respectively Samantha and Gerry. I don't know what gender Gerry is.

So back to the me crossing the pond. I was on the phone and I hear a something coming up on me quick. Ready to fight, because I was not about to give up this burger, I see Theodore chasing Gerry across the bank of the pond. Gerry was running with wings spread ready to take flight. I next see Theo, Lou, and Gerry slowly walking on the sidewalk. Gerry has left a mess behind. You can pretty much guess what it was.

I was about to die from my fit of laughter. I'm laughing as I type this up. Did I just see this?

Stuff like this happens at the most needed times. Thanks to Him.

on the edge of reason

I got a phone call from an old friend telling me about a guy intentionally driving the wrong way trying to take his own life. In the process he took his and someone else's.

Situations like these call to mind the age old question of what led to this final act and the reminder of how precarious life is.

I feel my written words today alone cannot do my thoughts nor the gravity of the situation justice.

Psalm 18 is a faithful fallback.

crying stones

The Rascals weren't singing about my morning this morning.

Waking up with the lights still on (again), I realized yet again how much work I needed to get done. In the midst of working, I get a flood of random phone calls and messages about bad news and worries adding to the ever present worries of others and myself already on my mind. I am helpless to do anything, just more praying is all I can do.

I did however manage to parallel park my friend's car in 2 tries. At least something was accomplished this morning.

Anyway, class today was no help to my current state of mind. Just made me realize how much more stuff I don't know.

Fast forward to me reading the daily barrage of emails. One email blew me out of that cold, cold water. My dear friend from long ago was updating me on their life and ended the email with prayer for me.

All I could do was (and still am) praise Him. Amongst the plethora of good news and bad, He still manages to trump everything. The stones may cry but I am crying with them. Luke 19:40.

slow

Over the course of 4 years, I’ve noticed that I’ve been progressively working a lot slower than I would like and that of the people around me. As to why this is happening is up for speculation.

Maybe it’s because I’ve witnessed and heard too many horror stories of fast paced living. Living the rat race and leaving little to no time for sleeping, eating, or being with the fam. Maybe it’s because I’ve been directly and indirectly told time and time again by countless people to slow down. Slowing down and taking one’s time prolongs life and mental sanity? Perhaps. Maybe it’s because it’s my perfectionist and almost obsessive nature that I have to get every detail right. Working and reworking on anything so that it is almost immaculate. Maybe it’s apathy. I work on my time and no one else’s.

Whatever the case, slowness, a lot of times, has been criticized as pertaining to indecision and lack of efficiency. Both of which I've been guilty of one too many times.

Where am I going with this argument? I'm not even sure myself. Probably just me being slow again.

walking through the valley

Every year, I always talk about how I am wary of the month of April. This year is no less different.

Last Friday morning, I struggled to finish a last bit of homework before class. My train of thought was interrupted by the Chapel bells ringing. 9:39am and I heard one low pitch ring after another.

3 years ago that day was the whole VA Tech incident. Looking back at the whole situation made me ponder once again how we deal with tragedy and how we treat other people.

Can we prevent further incidents? How can we treat people so heartlessly? Why are we so selfish? Why are we so blind to the suffering of others?

More and more must we rely on Him, emulate Him, walk with Him. It is only He that can really comfort us in the midst of trouble.

Norcom & Co. shout outs

Probates are always a sight to see. Including the one that is about to be mentioned, it'd be the third one I've seen all my undergrad. The one last Sunday was for the new sorors of DST, which just so happens to have 3 of my friends on line. Shout out to No. 1 (SB), 17 (TL), and 22 (SD)!!! Now that they've been unmasked, maybe I can see them more often now. hahaha.

A shout out to my friend DL in the process of establishing a new CIO. More details TBA when all is done.

I'm so proud of all of y'all!

return to life

復活. Literally translated as "return/repeat life". I think the Chinese had it right when they translated Easter.

I always heard "Christ is risen" but never really understood the gravity of the meaning of it until about last Easter.

The phrase is in the present tense and I never thought twice about it. Yeah, I knew the basic reasons as to why this day is important. He rose from the dead to save us but that was in the past. He was raised (emphasis on -ed), right?

BUT, somewhere in the midst of struggling with the present tense I realized He is still saving souls today and He continues to still be risen. I knew all this before hand but I finally was connecting all the dots to the very fact "He IS risen". It blew my mind.

Keep spreading that Truth. We all need to return to life too.

the evil in my heart

I have witnessed and experienced the atrocities that man has committed. I am no less guilty.

An April Fool's prank that I took part in made me realize how evil I can be. Looking back I thought about how malicious, how manipulative, how maniacal I was to keep perpetuating this "joke" all in the name of my own fun. At another person's expense.

I cannot apologize enough to poor VH. She's such a good sport for not hating me or others forever for this joke. I couldn't help but think of Jonathan Edwards' sermon from way back when, because of this.

I am a sinner, but I know He's got me covered because He unbelievably loves this helpless fool writing these words.