In View of Katrina's First Anniversary

Over my spring break from college, I traveled to the hardest hit area of Hurricane Katrina, Pass Christian Mississippi. My Campus Crusade For Christ group and our sister group from another university teamed up and paid our own ways to help the victims after seven months. I would love to share the details of my trip and my return to the area this summer with anyone interested. However, this post is from a piece I wrote on the late night flight home after spending a week there, suffering from lack of sleep, muscle soreness, bug bites, too much caffiene on an empty stomach, and heartache from saying goodbye. And so, flowing from the depths of my heart on April 1, 2006 to you:

***

What can prevail against the wind and rain of the strongest hurricane? What can withstand the force of a widespread flood? What can persevere through intense internal heartache? Love. This word encompasses much more than emotion, but includes all that is in the world. This one word gets us through life and death, joy and pain, inner and outer devastation.

Hurricane Katrina uprooted both trees and lives. Its category five winds destroyed the past historical landmarks, the present livelihoods of residents, and the future prospects of thousands upon thousands. This chaos burdened the hearts of the nation, and more so, completely drowned the hope of the victims. And so, one must ask, how did they survive not only the physical loss, but also the emotional depression? Love.

They lavished love upon one another, received love from the volunteers who abounded with love, and bounced that same love back onto those who gave it to them. This love was communicated not only through verbal blessings and thank you’s, but also through the actions of roofing, dry walling, and instillation. Above all other aspects of love rises one supreme love, a love that gives itself to all whether they accept it or not. This love is God.

God provided for every aspect of my trip to Pass Christian, Mississippi. He gave the money, the time, and the love. He taught me lessons before I left and prepared me for the struggles that I faced while I was there. I fought with inner pain over my trip, but on the last day, God provided. He calmed my heart, told me how much he loved me, and showed me how much others loved me. On my flight home, three different people paid for three different meals for my entire team of 13 people. I never asked them to; they simply felt pressed by God to show us that they loved us and appreciated our work. I was utterly overwhelmed.

God loves each of you to such a great extent, whether you like it or not. I know that he exists, but does not “work in mysterious ways.” He is shouting at the top of his lungs at you. You can see it in the glory of the California landscape after a rain, in the random flowers sprouting amidst the rubble of a wind blown home, and in the faces of those touched by his love overtly and through other people.

And so I encourage you, “Love one another.” Don’t hesitate to give the word. Don’t fear saying thank you to those who touch you. Remember to remember those who care for not only you, but humanity. Say thank you to our troops; say thank you to our doctors and nurses; say thank you to our parents; say thank you to God. Because I assure you, the blessing will impact much deeper and greater than you can imagine.

---
Leave a comment...

Vessel of Vanity

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is worthy to be praised.” – Proverbs 31:30

A compliment to a person can bounce back as an inadvertent compliment to the giver, or so Mike stated in his own words last Friday night, or rather Saturday morning. Though we teased him about his “vanity” through the “vessel” of another; to his defense, he had been tired the whole night. In truth, I can’t even remember what spurred the comment, but as I sat down to write this piece as commissioned by AJ, originally planned to be satirical or humorous, I remembered a passage from Proverbs, a book of the Bible, touching on this subject.

The final chapter and words of Proverbs devote their finale to “The Wife of Noble Character.” The section begins by commenting on the rarity and value of a wife of noble character. King Lemuel, the author of the section, likens her value to a sum greater than rubies. The progression of description weaves its way through her accomplishments which include charity, security, excellent workmanship, and wisdom. Not only is her family well provided for, but it is well respected throughout the city. Verse 23 says right in the middle of the list, “Her husband is respected at the city gate.” A complimented woman can most definitely be the compliment of a man.

Beauty also exists in the inverse; a complimented man can also be the compliment of a woman. This area of discussion expands through the ages, across cultures, and between religions, too much for one blog. So much stems from a simple joke late one night; one display of the exquisiteness of discourse.

---

Leave a comment...

Descriptions of the Evening – August 22, 2006

I’m running out of time…

How does one describe the color of the sky at the brink of night? The shimmery blue of the daylight remains but has darkened to a gradient of navy progressing ever darker to the east.

A translucent light emanates from the west as the fading sunlight highlights one side of the airy gray clouds, a true silver lining. The clouds still stand out against the deepening night, renewing memories of the day. Their shadows no longer cast their shade upon the earth as the night has stolen their job. Only their high beauty remains.

Slight sparkles of starlight brighten with the passing minutes. Several issue wishes from the earth of the first evening star. Minds and hearts focus skyward, not only physically, but also mentally on dreams and aspirations.

Within a few minutes, night has completed its swift invasion from the Trojan horse of the bright colors painting the sky from the sunset. Even in the obese amount of artificial light of California, more and more stars appear. They dot the heavens, watching over the earth.

The moon hides tonight as the navy continues to deepen … deepen… deepen… and the world is covered.

---

Leave a comment...

The Hit-and-Run Panda

“A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air. ‘Why?’ asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. ‘I’m a panda,’ he says at the door. ‘Look it up.’ The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation. ‘Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.’”

Have you ever been confused about where a comma is to be properly placed? Then Eats, Shoots and Leaves will help.

Have you ever gotten so frustrated with the incorrect usage of punctuation which runs rampant in our society that you have desired to join an underground militia set on preserving the apostrophe by armed force? Then Lynn Truss is the author for you.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by British author Lynne Truss swept the British bestseller list and my perception of punctuation along with it. Formerly, I hated punctuation, but with my renewing interest in the English language and the help of this book, I kindled a passion for linguistic expression through punctuation. Imagine that, using non-verbal, non-lexical symbols to convey meaning!

Truss’ fervor, perhaps zealotry, for re-educating native English speakers thrives throughout the entirety of the book, which forces bursts of laughter at random intervals. I literally “laughed out loud” while reading this book.

For a taste of her humor, Truss dedicates the book “To the memory of the striking Bolshevik printers of St. Petersburg who, in 1905, demanded to be paid the same rate for punctuation marks as for letters, and thereby directly precipitated the first Russian Revolution.”

More than humor sets this book apart. Truss first tackles the daunting task of determining positions of apostrophes (for which, there exists a special organization named the “Apostrophe Protection Society”), continues to commas, prances on to the poetic nature of colons and semicolons, differentiates between dashes and hyphens, and vociferates on the variety of other punctuation marks.

After reading this book, if anyone tells you that punctuation plays a minor role to the chosen words of a sentence or passage, you will roar back at their ignorance. Truss quotes Eric Partridge from his book You Have a Point There, that “using colons in your writing is the equivalent of playing the piano with crossed hands.” She disagrees with him, but in my view, his words can be twisted for our own use.

I retort: many piano pieces call for the right of left hand to cross over the other for a brief time. This gives the piece a higher level of difficulty, but also increases the skill required to play it and the artistic presentation produced. Thus, appropriately placed colons, and semicolons alike, display a writer’s skill to the world and place an “air” of sophistication on the sentence.

Even if you have no desire to master the English language, read this book; you will pick up a solid grasp of the basics while getting a good laugh. For the lovers of the English language, read this book; your love will grow and flourish to accent your writing with small, but hearty embellishments. Overall, the panda wins.

In a related topic, check out an article about blogging and punctuation by Jennifer Garrett titled, Eats, Blogs and Leaves .

---

Leave a comment...

Where I got the Dixie from, I don't know!

Your Linguistic Profile:

70% General American English

10% Dixie

10% Yankee

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Check it out for yourself!

(I also have a new post published below)

Mortality

English majors are wacky. The nutty professor should have taught Comparative Literature instead of Chemistry. Case and point, one of the English Department’s professors at my university stated that he honestly believes that he will not die. Yes, he believes that since he believes that he is immortal, he is.

Personally, I think he never matured from adolescence. So often, teenagers act as if nothing can harm them; invincibility grips their perception of life. This belief follows well into the twenties as America’s average age for the point of adulthood skyrockets.

Slowly through the years, as abstract reasoning develops, the young adolescent does begin to grasp the idea of time ticking slowly by to a certain point in which their existence will cease. For some, and possibly many, this idea steadily developed; for others, one instance brought it all into focus. Through the past couple of years, the realization of my own mortality has hit me in several sudden thuds, which knock the wind out of my lungs and mind and alert me to the seriousness of life.

My first encounter with the massive concept of mortality crashed into me after receiving my first license - even before my first accident. In September of my junior year of high school, I ecstatically opened a letter from the DMV and read through the rules, instructions, and preconditions regarding my new license. Along with my card, came a small addition: the option of the donor sticker. Would I like to be an organ donor? One small pink dot issued a torrent of questions, all of which regarded a period after life. In my time of decisions regarding college, career, and future, I faced an ever morbid decision. What happens to my body after death?

I knew that after death, my soul would live on, but the body would return to dust whence it came. Why then, would it matter if my organs rotted along with it? Yet the eeriness of parts of myself living in other people almost freaked me out. However, after talking wholeheartedly with my parents, I decided to stamp my identification with a pink seal of life in death.

The second engagement with my mortality collided with me when a raised black F250 did not. My best friend and I had gone to the mall and were returning at night. As we passed through an intersection about a half mile away from our houses, the truck ran a red light and turned left into my passenger side at a good 40 miles per hour. By the grace of God, and I use that phrase literally, my reflexes reacted with precision and speed to avert a fatal crash. Moreover, in the sudden jolt and acceleration, my car, an SUV, remained upright despite the very high roll-over risk of cars its size.

In this instance, not my own life, but the life of my dearest friend occupied my mind. I could possibly have survived, but she would most likely have been killed instantly from the direct impact on her side. This comprehension brought the possibility of death back into my mind. In one instant, I could not only lose my life, but also the lives of my dearest loved ones.

Most recently, the issue of death flipped from the focus of being left behind to that of those I will one day leave behind. Apparently, my credit union offers free life insurance to a certain amount. I received a very random letter in the mail the other day informing me of this service. The depths of my mind produced similar questions once again. Who should benefit after my death? Naturally, I chose a family member, but I faced once more the recognition that I will die one day. Essentially, I have a price placed upon my death. But more than an insurance check is produced with my passing; also grief to my family, but life to some unknown people somewhere in the nation.

These questions do not plague me though, for I found truth and eternal life of a different kind than that of the English professor; life of the spirit. But you, have you considered your mortality? Has the concept of death hit you upside the head yet? Moreover, do you know what will happen, not to your body, but to YOU after your death? I suggest you begin searching.

---

Leave a comment...

Questions of the Leap

Shall I stand on the precipice for eternity or take the leap to the other horizon?

Will I bound to something new or remain in the comfort of my predictable side?

But is it truly comfort or a truth of pain covered by the allusion of security?

Nothing pursues me on my side, but is this security or loneliness?

Does my destiny lie on the other side or in my place here?

What if another chasm awaits my travel past the other rim?

Shall I walk in partience along the edge for a crossing or leap across in faith?

Is it unwise to take the risk or is there wisdom in the taking?

---

Leave a comment...

Reflections of the Horizon - March 7, 2006

One of my motives for beginning this blog is to showcase some of my work and collect comments upon the style and content from a variety of sources. As so, I will periodically post a few of my works from previous times. I wrote the piece below earlier this year.

***

I invite the ominous horizon to drift toward my golden sunshine. The clouds of deep blue grey proceed in ranks upon the freely swirling atmosphere overtop my head.

Yet suddenly, a shadow envelops my position as the first advancement of the darkness arrives, and that shadow engulfs also my torn heart. The euphoria from the warmth of the sunlight fades and the chill ices my body and send shivers into my exposed heart. I begin to fear this awful majesty that I had just previously welcomed.

The landscape dulls from the glowing joy it once emanated. The sounds of darkness enhance as the breeze, which once played with my hair, increases and begins to tear it from my head. Only the tall palms can now catch the fading glory of the sun as they rise above the terrestrial gloom and stand in contrast to the approaching storm.

My heart is torn as it yearns for both the past bliss of ignorance yet desires the progression that the storm might bring. I stand in simple wait for the culmination of the ensuing chaos and fear the result of my anticipation. Will the torrential rain issue destruction or initiate new growth and life?

-I pray the latter.

---

Leave a comment...

A New Frontier

Interestingly enough, my excursion into the new frontier of blogging began on paper with a black pilot G-2 0.7 mm pen. I believe this will turn into a tale of self-exploration more than the sharing of my life, as a true literary masterpice should.

I am a very open person and enjoy sharing my life with others. I do not necessarily believe that the phrase "I can read you like a book" only possesses a negative connotation. Does not one read certain books to enjoy the story, to escape to a distant land, or to further find one's self in the text of the pages?

I have a friend who stated that his true friends are books. A very interesting comment that I wish I had had the sense to ask him to elaborate upon further. He then told me that if I wanted to understand him, I would have to read a book of his. I took the challenge and did in fact learn a great deal about his motivations, thoughts, and view of others. I also rediscovered my joy in disecting the intricacies of philosophy from literature.

To bring this analogy back around, just as books influence our lives from the mother's knee and on, so also we influence the lives of others. We form our own opinions based upon our reactions to the opinions of others. I look forward to you learning about me. I look forward to learning about you. I look forward to learning about myself from you.

---

Leave a comment...