Leap Year

I've never written a post on a Leap Year, so here is the first ever post on a February 29th. A lot has been going on lately but I am extremely busy before my spring break so I won't be able to write about it for a while. Until then I hope everyone enjoys the extra day in the year to do whatever we would normally do on March 1st. Oh yeah, for those Bostonians out there, safe travels in the snow.

Yes We do Matter

One of the great uses of social media, I found a very interesting website. A friend posted a link to this site http://htwins.net/scale2/ which shows the scale of the universe. You can scroll through the window to either shrink or expand your viewpoint. One thing that astounds me is the immense complexity of our world. You can scroll from something as small as an atom to as big as the visible universe. Another interesting note is how small we really are when compared to everything else in the universe. Think about it, there are billions of stars, galaxies, and planets out there. Not to bring everyone down here, but we are really small considering everything out there. Some may point to that and say that man is insignificant and doesn’t matter, but I say that it just goes to show how miraculous God’s love really is. Think, God made a universe so big we can’t comprehend its size, and He cares so much about us to shower us with love, watch over us, and send His son to die for our sins. Doesn’t that just amaze you? I still can’t wrap my mind around that fact, that God loves us so much, despite how insignificant we are when compared to everything else out there, that He would make the ultimate sacrifice. This Lenten season, just try to focus on that. Yes it is hard to give something up for forty days, but think about all that Jesus did for us, how He sacrificed His life for ours when He really didn’t have to. God’s love is beyond our understanding, but I sure am glad that He loves us so much as He does.

Post # 500

Well here's post number 500 (maybe not a big number for blogs, but certainly for baseball)! It has been an incredible journey over the past four (coming up on five) years. I can't put to words how much joy I have received from writing this blog, and how I hope to continue for many years to come. It started out as a joke and ended up being one of God's greatest blessings in my life. Thanks to all the readers, please keep reading and spread the word.

Cool Story

Here's a short example of how God can lead us in incredible ways. I have no idea what I want to do with my life, all I know is that I enjoy writing. So last week I signed up for "The Crusader" Holy Cross' newspaper, as a sports columnist. I was expecting a small role at best, but when I sent in my article on the Red Sox I was offered my own column. I still have no idea what to do with my life, but I guess this is just one of those times when God puts the pieces in place.

Forgive, No Matter What

I was reading Luke 17 the other day, and while I’ve written posts about this topic I have never written them about this particular passage. This post is about forgiveness, now usually when I write about forgiveness I write about the passage where Jesus told Peter to forgive his brother 77 (or 70 times 7) times. This passage is different though. Luke 17: 3-4 says “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Who here hates it when someone does the same thing over and over again and always says they’re sorry but does it again? I’m sure many do, because I do. I hate it when that happens. Yet Jesus commands us to forgive those around us. Lately my forgiveness has been pushed to its limits; sometimes there are things that seem unforgiveable. But they have to be forgiven! What kind life is one lived not forgiving? I used to carry around all the pain and hurt in my life and live in the past. I’d dwell on things that happened, 5, 10, or even 15 years ago. But then I realized something very important: it doesn’t matter. What someone did to me 10 years ago or 10 minutes ago doesn’t matter anymore because that was the past and I live in the present. Sure I’ve been hurt, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because I find my security and strength in God, not in other people and certainly not in my pride. Forgiveness doesn’t mean saying “what you did was ok” instead it means saying “what you did was wrong, but I won’t hold it against you, live in the past, and let it rule over my life.” What happened in the past is in the past, the minute you start letting the past dictate who you are you let the devil win because you stop being everything that God wanted you to be. God has grand plans for all of us, and in order to fully realize those plans we have to drop our swords and shields, take a step of faith, and move on from the past. Forgiveness is tough, but a life without forgiveness much more difficult.

Get Connected

So this post is a bit late (more like a week), but I’ve had a busy week (as is always the case sat Holy Cross). A couple weeks ago my phone died on me. I lost the battery on a weekend away with my mock trial team on a tournament and I had no way of charging it. Within a few days the battery had been used up and I was without communication. It was pretty bad, it could have been worse but still, a college student without a phone is like…. Well a college student without a phone. I had very little way of communicating with my friends and was out of the loop so-to-speak. Fortunately my phone arrived in 5 agonizing days (it wasn’t that bad), and just as luckily I learned a great deal from losing my phone. For one, I learned that communication is key and that to foster said communication you’ve got to be connected. After realizing that I learned that it pertains a lot to our relationship with God. In order to have a relationship with God we’ve got to communicate with Him on a regular basis. That means reading the Bible, praying, going to church, and having a community of believers to fall back on. Without those things our relationship with God will fizzle out. Think about it this way, with friendships in order to grow close to someone you have to spend time with them and communicate. Otherwise you won’t be friends for very long. The best friendships are built on good communication; it is the same with our relationship with God. Look at the example of Jesus, I can’t count how many times in the Bible it said that He would go off to pray, because He knew that spending time with God was important. Instead of letting that broken connection stand, set time aside for God every day to foster that relationship and encourage growth. It’s not about finding time, it’s about making time.

Taking it to the Streets

The other night I was invited to go into Worcester with a friend to a youth group in a small Lutheran Church. It was a couple miles away from Holy Cross, but we got lost twice anyway. All jokes aside it was a great time. Going to this thing I thought I was doing something really good, I thought I was helping these kids out. Once I arrived though I realized something. This is much more for my benefit than for these kids. Sure they get the benefit of seeing a college kid who worked hard and got really far. But by meeting these kids I learned a lot. The single greatest moment I had was at the end when we waited for dinner. One of the kids sitting across from me had an AP U.S. History book and was doing his homework. I recognized it as the same book I used two years ago, and said that I took the same class. A huge smile lit up on his face as we talked about how difficult the class was for the both of us. A girl overhearing our conversation brought over an essay for the same class and asked me to read it over, and I did. It was this connection that was established between the three of us that made the night. I came from an entirely different background than these kids, and we both know it. Yet when that connection was forged—the pains of taking a difficult class—we were on the same level, we both realized there was very little in between us. That’s the thing I love about God, He teaches me so many amazing things. He shows me that my neighbor isn’t just the kid living down the hall from me, my neighbor is also a kid who’s had an entirely different life than mine. No matter how different we all may be, whether we be separated by income, race, religion, etc., we are all the same in God’s eyes. It’s not so much me trying to “get on their level” as much as it is me just talking to these kids that I meet, because we really aren’t that much different. 

Searching for That Last One

After today’s earlier post I was reminded of a time when in a small group a few members were not able to attend anymore due to conflicting schedules. I suggested we change the time a bit to accommodate them but the response was negative saying “why would we switch the time just for them?” Now I completely understand, why inconvenience a group for a few members who can no longer come. It doesn’t make economic sense. My question is this, did it make sense for the shepherd to leave 99 sheep in search of 1? I mean really, why risk losing the 99 he has to look for just one sheep. In economic terms it makes no sense, but in God’s eyes that one sheep means everything. In God’s eyes every lost sheep means the world to Him and He cannot rest until that last sheep is brought home. Sure we have enough members already, sure losing a couple doesn’t really matter, to us that is. But to God it means everything. Now it may have been complex to change the time of the Bible study, but it was completely worth it in God’s eyes. Instead of saying “why change it just for them.” I say let’s take the attitude of “let’s do everything we can to bring more people in.”

He Never Stops

The thing about the Bible that I really love is every time I read it I can a completely new look at each passage. Earlier this afternoon I was reading Luke 15, which has the parables of the lost sheep, coin, and the prodigal son. I used to wonder whether it was ever possible to get out of God’s grace; I would think about whether or not I could do something so as to be lost again. You see, before I became a believer I was lost, I was not in God’s grace and so I counted myself lost in the world. However, things changed dramatically when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior; I was found by God. I then worried that I would do something to “screw it up,” that I would trip up and God wouldn’t forgive me, that I would be once again lost. After reading Luke 15 I don’t think this is the case. When God loses one of His children He drops everything He is doing and runs out and pulls Him back. God finds us. Once we are found I don’t think it is possible to be lost again. Now, there is a distinction that must be made here. Someone could easily say “Oh what a relief, now I can do anything I want and not be ‘lost.’” I would argue that this stance is of one who has never been “found.” My knowledge is limited, but there is one thing I do know. I know that after getting a glimpse of life with God I would never go back to the way things were. Sure I may trip or stumble as I continue forward, but I will never stray so far as to be fully lost. I don’t think it is ever possible to be out of God’s grace and love. While that may be hard to believe, while it seems that based on our relationships with other people here on earth that love is something on condition it is not that way with God. God’s love is unconditional; it is the kind of love that causes Him to leave His whole flock and search for that one lost sheep no matter how long it may take. People may give up on you but God never will, it is never possible to be truly lost from His grace.

We are Worth so Much More

Proof that I have been paying attention in class: today in class we talked about Nietzsche. Nietzsche was a German philosopher well known for his stance against Christianity. His most controversial statement proclaiming, “God is dead.” So why am I writing about him? Well today in class we talked about his book The Birth of Tragedy in which he claims that beauty is the sole creator of happiness (he does this to refute Socrates who said that justice/virtue are the sole sources of happiness). Nietzsche is essentially claiming that people who are well off/beautiful/lucky are the ones who are happy, and that it’s tough luck for those who aren’t so fortunate. My question is this: how sad must that be. Imagine a life where all that matters is your looks, prosperity, and luck. Imagine how empty that must feel. Sure I try to keep appearance put together and I hope to get a well-paid job after graduating, but to me life is worth so much more than that. Life is worth so much more than my subjective opinions of the world around me. Where does this worth come from? It comes from God. It is from God that I find my self-worth, not those who surround me. I know that I matter because God tells me I do. I know that I am blessed because it is God who blesses me. I may never be as strong as a pro athlete, handsome as a big-name actor, or smart as a Nobel Prize winner but I do know one thing; I know that God loves me and sees in me His special creation and for that reason and that reason alone I am worth something. Sure I could look at the people around me and pass judgments on their appearance, abilities, or net worth. But I don’t, and it is because God loves us unconditionally that we are commanded to do the same. Much of what I have will gradually fade away, but the one possession I make claim to that will grow is my relationship with God. That is all that matters.