Christianity

If you look at the core of Christianity, who would WANT to refute it? Love everyone, yourself included. Treat all people with honor, dignity, and respect. Develop patience, humility, and self-control. Give generously, serve willingly, and live to be a blessing to others so that you can enjoy your life to the full. Unfortunately, throughout history, Christians have sucked at doing these things. But they are the foundation of the Christian faith, what we strive to attain. If Christians would start loving other people the way they’re supposed to instead of walking around judging and condemning everyone, I think there would be a lot fewer people knocking Christianity.

Happy

I’ve struggled with severe depression since I was eight years old, so maybe I’m not the best person to talk about how to be happy. But people who are naturally happy don’t know what it takes to be happy because they just already are. It’s expected, assumed, taken for granted. I’ve had to work to be happy. I’ve had to work hard at it. Happiness does not come naturally to me at all.
The same holds true for healthiness. I’ve been sickly all my life. I have terrible environmental allergies that make me feel like I’m sick even when I’m not. My head is always stuffy, my sinuses clogged, my ears itch like crazy, and I’m continually fatigued.
I also have gas. Flatulence may be a funny topic for most, but for me it equals pain. I get tremendous cramping in my chest, abdomen and shoulders. Plus, it can be extremely embarrassing when you let out a massive toot, especially in the presence of mixed company.
A laundry list of hypochondriac tendencies and actual abnormalities plague me. My spine is continually out of alignment. My back, neck, and shoulders crack incessantly, as do the rest of my joints, except the elbows. For some reason, I’ve never had trouble with needing to pop my elbows.
But everyday I’m grateful that my discomforts aren’t more severe. I could have a life-threatening food allergy or rheumatoid arthritis. I’m totally thankful that I’m not allergic to peanuts especially. I love peanuts and peanut butter and other foods that are manufactured with the same equipment as peanuts. I would probably not know what I was missing if I were to have the allergy from early childhood. But I’ve met people with peanut allergies before, and I don’t envy them. The extreme measures they go through to ensure they don’t ingest peanuts I wouldn’t want to have to deal with.
We each have our own cross to bear.

Purpose

Until I somehow improve my regularity of writing and implement my functional goal of writing into my daily routine, most of my posts will more than likely be along the themes of purpose and priorities. Again, I find myself continually distracted by work and family. However, my calling is to take precedence over all other aspects of my life. If I keep my primary purpose as my first focus, then everything else will fit within the parameters of the time I have left for them. When I obsess about everything I need to do, it stresses me out and I get less done in more time than I could get done in less time if I would simply calm down, relax, and keep my priorities in proper perspective.

Running

I’ve tried to run from everyone. I was sure there must be something better just around the bend. But each time I’d come close to joy, there’d be another problem with which I must contend. For every negative circumstance, it seemed easier to simply blame somebody else. But eventually I’d get stripped away and have to admit the involvement I had myself. The time would come for me to have to take a deep look in the mirror. I knew I wasn’t strong enough, but there was no way to get around facing my fear. I might be able to successfully run away from reality, but the one thing I can’t run away from is me.

Home

I long for a place called home. It’s a place that I once knew. It’s not a particular location, but a place I belong to, a place where I can sing and dance and lose all sense of care, a place where my contributions, I can feel free to share. Arms open wide to great me and embrace me as their own. Oh what I wouldn’t give to find this place I once have known.
So take me back to the place I long for suspended someplace in time. Take me back to the freedom and expression of my mind. Where there’re no limitations or accomplishments to boast. Take me back to where I belong, the place I miss the most.
The smiles on friendly faces, the unconditional love, the hearts prepared to receive me, are what I’m dreaming of. A family of strangers, exchange a friendly kiss. The bonding of united souls is what I dearly miss. They say home’s where the heart is. My heart is torn in two. Half resides within me. The other is with you.

Beauty

Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is an intrinsic quality possessed by all of creation. Attraction, preference, and appreciation are relative. But beauty transcends relevance and relation. Beauty is truth in its purest form.

Encounters

There has to be more to life than reading and writing. I guess as a graduate student you can expect little else temporarily, until your term of servitude is complete. But I can see myself spending the rest of my life this way; making time to exercise each day, planning and consuming meals, yet still spending most of my time with the written word. Words are my true companions and ideas my dearest friends. Though I do hope I never lose touch completely with the people I enjoy. Of course, that’s what facebook is for, right? However, comments, likes and status updates are hardly a replacement for spending time cultivating relationships. Face to face encounters, where you can look another person in the eye and sense the invisible aura surrounding them, might seem a bit over-rated among the regularity of daily encounters. But once one has spent considerable time in deprivation, the desire for such an experience can creep up unexpectedly and overtake the most contented of souls.