Can I handle the seasons of my life...

Maybe it is because time seems to have flown by so fast,
Because a thousand yesterdays came and went in the blink of an eye,
That is comes as such a shock to me every time I'm faced with how much things have changed.
People who were strangers have become my closest friends, my supports, my joy
While those I held so close let months go by without talking
And when contact is finally made can't seem to remember where it is that I've been living for the last six months.

I'm stepping over a deep canyon, from one piece of earth to another,
And I fear losing myself in the deep darkness that is between.
I feel the ground of the old life begin to crumble beneath me
Before I find sure footing on the other side.
Should I try and hold onto what I have left of the old
Or do I make the leap and hope that there is solid ground on the other side to catch me as I fall?

"When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take a step into the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen: There will be something for us to stand on or we will be taught how to fly"
-Patrick Overton

Take my world apart...

I am the only one to blame for this
Somehow it all adds up the same
Soaring on the wings of selfish pride
I flew too high and like Icarus I collide
With a world I try so hard to leave behind
To rid myself of all but love
to give and die

To turn away and not become
Another nail to pierce the skin of one who loves
more deeply than the oceans,
more abundant than the tear
Of a world embracing every heartache

Can I be the one to sacrifice
Or grip the spear and watch the blood and water flow

To love you - take my world apart
To need you - I am on my knees
To love you - take my world apart
To need you - broken on my knees

All said and done I stand alone
Amongst remains of a life I should not own
It takes all I am to believe
In the mercy that covers me

Did you really have to die for me?
All I am for all you are
Because what I need and what I believe are worlds apart

I look beyond the empty cross
forgetting what my life has cost
and wipe away the crimson stains
and dull the nails that still remain
More and more I need you now,
I owe you more each passing hour
the battle between grace and pride
I gave up not so long ago
So steal my heart and take the pain
and wash the feet and cleanse my pride
take the selfish, take the weak,
and all the things I cannot hide
take the beauty, take my tears
the sin-soaked heart and make it yours
take my world all apart
take it now, take it now
and serve the ones that I despise
speak the words I can't deny
watch the world I used to love
fall to dust and thrown away
I look beyond the empty cross
forgetting what my life has cost
so wipe away the crimson stains
and dull the nails that still remain
so steal my heart and take the pain
take the selfish, take the weak
and all the things I cannot hide
take the beauty, take my tears
take my world apart, take my world apart
I pray, I pray, I pray
take my world apart

There are so many things that i want to say, but i've forgotten how to let them out...

"I'm alright I guess
But there's so much wrong
But there's so much right"

Whats my age again?

I graduate university this Thursday
One week later I will turn 23
Looks like I'm an adult now
Is this what it feels like to be a grown up?

I feel immature
I feel inexperienced
I feel unaccomplished
I feel like I'm 17

When do we start feeling our age?

If there's only room for one in the world in which you live, your world is in need...

This afternoon I found this quote online from Stephen Baldwin, an actor who calls himself a born again Christian:
"You would do far more good if you preached the gospel of Jesus, rather than trying to get Third World debt relief, God will take care of that Third World country. Get back to your calling, Bono."

First of all, dissing Bono is a great way to piss off a lot of people really fast.
Second, have you read your bible lately?

"Every third year you must offer a special tithe of your crops. You must give these tithes to the Levites,
foreigners, orphans, and widows so that they will have enough to eat in your towns." -Deuteronomy 26:12

"`Cursed is anyone who is unjust to foreigners, orphans, and widows.'" -Deuteronomy 27:19

"Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in
their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us." -James 1:27

And what better way could we describe the wreckage left behind by AIDS and poverty in the Third World than "widows and orphans"?
Or how about:

"Then these righteous ones will reply, `Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and
give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did
we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' And the King will tell them, `I assure you, when you did
it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'" -Matthew 25:37-40

Would ending Third World debt not act as a way to feed the hungry?

And what about the founders of our faith:

"Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words" -St. Francis of Assisi

What a narrow view of the redeeming work that God wants to work through us to perform that Stephen is presenting!
God doesn't just want to hear an acknowledgement of His name, he wants to restore the creatures and the earth that He created to their original splendor and he gives US the honour of working along side Him in that restoration of beauty. Not only does He want to restor our hearts but our bodies (heaven is described as a place with no more sickness in Revelations... I'm thinking God meant AIDS too) and our environment. And ANY work that contributes to achieving this is a work for God, whether the individual doing it knows it or not.
Don't close your eyes to suffering and injustice saying God will talk care of it... God IS taking care of it, He's sending Bono, He's sending you, He's sending me....