I thought of something earlier today that I needed to post about. But I have since forgotten. I’m not yet ready to post about the American gospel (which is no gospel indeed). I thought about posting about the two movies that I’ve recently seen (Little Miss Sunshine and Stranger than Fiction). They were pretty killer I thought and have surprisingly good messages. Arwen’s in town…holla…I taught Jones to say puma today. He was playing with a little plastic cheetah but cheetah was too hard of a word to say. So I taught him to say puma, and it stuck. It’s cute. He also says paprika, bagel, pickle, and balls (yes those balls).
Here’s a random thought…
Any pacifists out there? All you pacies tell me what’s the dealio yo. I like pacifism. I think it’s pretty wicked awesome. I want to be on it. But what if I like see a person getting raped? Like I’m walking down the street and I come across this horrible situation. Should I shower the rapist with love? Should I kill him with kindness? Or should I attempt to use a show of force to cause him to stop? Isn’t violence necessary at times to help innocent peoples? Or does pacifism require us to ask those victims to suffer for our beliefs? Violence begets violence…but…
I know I’m speaking in generalities but I think you get the point. Help me out here ’cause I know there are some good responses out there.
Peace out. Yo yo ma.

Oh, and I’m very serious about the violence/pacifism thing. I was intending to write a whole blog about it, but instead it just popped out here amidst my odd random blog. Please don’t disregard my question because of my joking nature. Thanks.

I was a part of the AIM program. AIM stands for Adventure In Missions. It’s a great school where post high schoolers study for 8 months and then go out and serve as missionaries for a year to two years all over the globe. I loved my time in Portugal, and I loved my time studying in Lubbock…yes, I did just put Lubbock and love in the same sentence. My love of that time had nothing to do with Lubbock and was in fact probably despite the city of Lubbock itself with all of it’s brown grass and brown buildings and brown sidewalks. Anyway, I digress. Here’s my beef. It’s always bothered me that very often the “missionaries” sent out by AIM do more harm than they do good. Often they get caught up in very sinful lifestyles while on the field. Often they are influenced more than they influence others. Often they do more damage than they do good. Don’t get me wrong, just like the parable that Jesus tells of the seeds, the outcome of those who were fruitful and faithful far outweighs the negatives of those who fell by the wayside. Nevertheless for a bunch of missionaries that started off so good, the sound of them falling is deafening. Why? That’s pretty terrible isn’t it? Well I ran across someone the other day who repeated something that someone else told them. It’s simple but I think it’s the major key. Here’s the problem: Life usually teaches us to base our faith/security/normalcy upon a system.
Thats it. Let me explain just a bit why I think it’s so important.
From the moment your born you are learning how to operate according to the rules. Language. Expression. You go to school and are given assignments. Even in college where you are supposedly taught to think for yourself the structure is created for you. In your job very often you are still simply doing what the system requires of you. That is the general way that we function. Don’t even get me started on church. In churches very often we were taught a system of beliefs rather than a relationship with a loving God. Our faith was based on the form that we were taught to practice…and all this is considered normal. And so…
These post high schoolers go to AIM where you are in a incredibly structured and strict system, even more so than college or high school. Many churches in the south have everything worked out (not all). There is no mystery, it’s all been exposed and laid out systematically so that you can then better understand. You are stuffed and stuffed with info and your sense of security/faith/normalcy that is found within a system is almost overloaded. You feel like you’ve got it all worked out. And then…
Well, then you go off to a mission field where everything gets turned upside down. EVERYTHING.
The language that you have always relied on is gone. Your relationships are gone. You structure is gone. Your instructors are gone. Your family is gone. You are no longer the pupil but the teacher…and you’re only 20 years old! I think the reason so many AIMers have spiritually fallen apart is because their faith was grounded in a way of life. And when they went to the mission field they were not prepared for the drastic change. And so they cracked. When system replaces relationship it spells trouble (not literally…’cause that would be amazing).
It breaks my heart to think of so many AIMers who either lost their faith or played a part in others doing the same. I’ve got no answers, just an observation. I am thankful to God for my friend Jonathan who went to Portugal with me. I am thankful for my coordinator in Portugal. Even though he was a poopie pants at times (don’t ask, but there is a story behind me calling him names) the one thing you could count on with their family was relationship. I was lucky to have a support system. And because of that I survived. But others, my friends did not.

It’s funny. So many of you out in Bloglandia run out of stuff to say. I don’t get it. I’ve got three blogs bubbling up in my head at any given moment. Two of those three are inevitably forgotten and fade away along with my first married apartment address. Don’t get me wrong, my ideas for blogs are rarely good…but I don’t really worry about quality. My focus is on entertaining myself primarily.
My problem isn’t with finding something to write about, rather I have an issue with finding time to write. Time is brutal sometimes.
Often I spend more time cleaning than I do playing with my son or talking with my wife. I totally dig busy work ’cause it makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something. And I love accomplishing things. I think the reason I multitask so much and so well is because it allows me to do relationship and tasks at the same time. I’m trying to “waste” more time playing with my son or talking to my wife. These days I don’t do much of either. But I do the dishes often.
Shame on me.
And you know the pathetic thing? My house is still a mess.
And do you want to know the worst part? She’s better than me.
Sorry, that was a shameless Anchorman plug…
Hey speaking of Anchorman, the other day I was taking an order at one of my tables. And while I was listening to them ask the same questions that every table asks ten times a night (what salad dressings do you have? What does Outback Style mean? What soup do you have tonight?) I was picking some food out of my teeth. While picking this food out of my teeth with my talented tongue, the following conversation happened in my noodle (new slang for “my head”):
“What is in my teeth?”
“Whatever it is it’s huge!”
“I will not rest until I get this out.”
“I haven’t eaten in a long time I really wonder what it could be.”
“Oh!…”
“I had ribs for lunch. That’s why I’m doing this.”
Remember all of that was happening in the back of my head while I masterfully practiced active listening with my table. “The nine or the twelve ounce? And how would you like that cooked?” Do you realize what this means?
My subconscious mind was quoting Anchorman! Thank you Jesus for this gift that you’ve given so freely. Thank you for Anchorman and how it makes me feel inside.

One time I got a red wrapper special. It was the greatest McDonalds moment of my life (not that this says much). Yes, in my younger days I did feast at McDonalds. One quarter pounder with cheese meal no onions please. But this one time they screwed something up. They forgot about my order somehow and then when they made it they made it wrong. I wasn’t upset, just hungry.
That’s when I heard the coolest thing. The overzealous, post high school, pimple ridden employee yelled with way too much vigor “I need a dime pound! Red wrapper special!”. And I kid you not, it came out in like ten seconds…and in a red wrapper. That’s why I love McDonalds…oh wait, no I don’t…but I do appreciate a good red wrapper special. I think that was the last time I ate at McDoodoos.

Mmmm, remember when they had 29cent hamburgers and 39cent cheeseburgers? Those were the bombiest (can I say bombiest? No? Sorry.) Oh, and speaking of cheap, any Hot ‘N Now fans out there? Holla

Read the lyrics to this popular song. I’ve attempted to cut out some of the lyrics because it’s a hugely long song. But you’ll still be able to get the general idea. It’s a beautiful song about love.

Take a look at my girlfriend
She’s the only one I got (ba ba da da)
Not much of a girlfriend
I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba
da da)

It’s been some time since we last spoke
This is gonna sound
like a bad joke
But momma I fell in love again
It’s safe to say I have a
new girlfriend

And I know it sounds so old
But cupid got me in a
chokehold
And I’m afraid I might give in
Towels on the mat my white flag
is wavin’

I mean she even cooks me pancakes
And Alka Seltzer when my
tummy aches
If that ain’t love then I don’t know what love is

We
even got a secret handshake
And she loves the music that my band makes
I
know I’m young but if I had to choose her or the sun
I’d be one nocturnal
son of a gun
I love it when she calls my phone
She even got her very own
ringtone
If that ain’t love then I don’t know what love is (ba ba da da)

It’s gonna be a long drive home but I know as soon as I arrive home
And I open the door take off my coat and throw my bag on the floor
She’ll be back into my arms once more for sure

Take a look at my
girlfriend
She’s the only one I got (ba ba da da)
Not much of a
girlfriend
I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da)

She’s got a smile that would make the most senile
Annoying old man
bite his tongue
I’m not done
She’s got eyes comparable to sunrise
And it doesn’t stop there
Man I swear
She’s got porcelain skin of
course she’s a ten
And now she’s even got her own song
But movin’ on
She’s got the cutest laugh I ever heard
And we can be on the phone for
three hours
Not sayin’ one word
And I would still cherish every moment
And when I start to build my future she’s the main component
Call it
dumb call it luck call it love or whatever you call it but
Everywhere I go I
keep her picture in my wallet like here

If that ain’t love I don’t know what love is…

I fear that their expectations of what love is is exceedingly too low. Who wants to take the initiative to tell these guys that they don’t know what love is?

PS Is this whole song supposed to be a joke? Is that the point of the song, that she’s not much of a girl friend? If it is supposed to be a joke, then well played ol’ boy. If it’s not…well…my initial thought stands.