Passion 激情

On sunny days it is so much easier to be optimistic about life and to have faith that everything will be okay.

So many of my thoughts are based on my feelings and my surrounding environment and the affect it has on me. What I would like to be able to do is, control myself to a point that my feelings are based on my convictions and my knowledge instead. I like to speak in generalizations so nothing too personal about myself is shared with those around me. But maybe it's time for the honest truth.

I know this truth of the Gospel. It' not just a bunch of true facts or good stories to make you feel happy. It's not a label to give yourself so you fit in. It's not a lifestyle the you lead or an attitude you display. It's not a tradition and it's not a fad. It's actually all of those things in some way, but so much more.

How about this... It's a life-altering, mind-blowing God. Remember in ancient times there was such a fear of the gods. In so many religions there is an inherent fear of the gods. Don't you think there should still be some fear left in us? I mean, if we could actually comprehend who God is, I feel like we would honestly fear Him, at least more than we do. God actually calls us to fear Him, although there might be some context in that word that I am missing.

He also created us out of... dirt. I have never really created anything I have been really proud of. Once I sewed a whole medieval dress together, but I had a pattern and my mom helped me...so yeah. But He created us and then we screwed up big time... and THEN He sent His son to die for us. I don't think I would have done that for my medieval dress. He loves us so much that He blesses us everyday, just because of who He is.

So we know He has power beyond anything we can imagine and He calls us to fear Him. We know He is the truth, the only truth and He is in full, truth. We know that His love is completely uncomprehendable and unstoppable.

With that bit of knowledge in my hands... why I am so wishy-washy? Why am I so whiny? Why am I so self-centered? I could go on, because I am in my head, but instead I'll leave it at that. Let's make it a point today to focus on truth, not on speculation or gossip, but on life's purpose.

Amen?

C is for Cake

It's a piece of cake to have your cake and eat it too when it comes to cakes that really take the cake.

Too many metaphors? You got the picture.

So since it has been so long since I posted to my photo alphabetical blog, I decided to throw up a bunch of random "stolen" photos of cake ideas that either impressed me or repulsed me, since I haven't done much photography of my own lately. :( You can decide which is which.

These photos are a whole range of nonsense, but I hope you enjoy.

Thoughts

How many times a year do I ask myself, "What is the point?" How many times a week?!

What is the point of doing my hair every morning? What is the point of watching a new movie with friends? What is the point of singing a song or even laughing?

No, this isn't the beginning of some unbearably sappy love story or devotional or anything like that. It is real life and everything we do, think, and believe.

Truth. Independence. Belief. Love.

These words we may or may not take lightly. Words that we may or may not truly understand. Do we being to comprehend them or even contemplate them? Sometimes I think not.

Every time I think I know the truth about something, I am either surprised or upset. After finally consuming X amount of hours collecting my thoughts on a topic, I believe I understand the truth on a topic. In this sense I am speaking of truth, not of infinite and encompassing truth, but of the kind of truth that everyone reaches in their mind, but yet everyone's is different. So by definition it is not truth... but it feels like it, for at least a few fleeting moments until it is crushed by some new evidence in support of another person's truth. So I have gone on about a type of information that is not actually truth at all. So what is truth?!

Truth is something right. It's something unquestionably right. Something that is either proven without a shadow of a doubt or something that you believe in so strongly that no question or proof seemingly to the contrary could shake it. This is not Merriam Webster's definition or Wiki Pedia's definition but rather my explanation of my own understanding of truth. So, truth to me... no this point deserves a paragraph of it's own.

Truth is the Bible, my Lord and Savior, and the Creator of all.

So before I go on to try and discuss those other three words, independence, belief and love, I need to reflect on why I am writing tonight.

That picture at the top... go ahead and scroll back up to it, you won't loose your place, you were right HERE... is a picture I took some time ago, when I first got my new camera and I was obsessed with finding new angles and edgy ways to portray unexpected subjects. That picture is a handle of a grill in a park. What's the point of the picture? Is it really the handle of the grill? What about the proud father watching his son and daughter play on the swings. Oh, that's right, you can't see that. At least you can't see it clearly. We are too busy focusing on a detail like the handle of the grill that they aren't even using. Now back to my previous thought... that somehow I was flowing to from all this.

So many things can draw my attention in life. Independence is a big attention sucker for me right now. I want to prove so badly that I can do things on my own, think on my own, handle big issues on my own, pay for things on my own, live on my own, decide on my own... and the list goes on.

Sometimes people talk about things they believe in. Some people believe in change or love. I only group those things together because they are both inanimate objects. To believe in anything, I would say, means to put faith in it; to trust it has some inherent truth. What has change or love done to prove that it is worthy of those things? I don't need to come up with a laundry list of examples of how both change and love have had positive and negative outcomes throughout history. If you need examples later, let me know. Sometimes people may say they believe in political leaders or teammates. But wouldn't it make more sense to believe in something that hasn't proven time and time again to let you down?

Love. I don't know how far down this road I am willing to go tonight. I have struggled with this word since I was a kid. What does it mean?! How can one small word have so many uses? "I love you." "I'm in love with you." "I fell in love." "I would love some fries with that Big Mac." See my point? How can we tell anymore what we love, what we like, what we are attracted to, what we need, etc.

But once again I ask, what is the point? Were we really put on earth to find truth, express independence, believe in nothing, and love everything? I realize I am making a colossal assumption that we are in agreement that there is an actual point in purposefully putting us on earth. But with that assumption out in the open, let me tell you what I have come to know.

I know that the Bible is the TRUTH of God. I know that I am completely DEPENDANT on God's grace and mercy for all of my independent details. I know that I BELIEVE in Christ's saving blood.

So the point of all these little details of life that become such a big deal every second of my day can be nothing other than LOVE for my God and Savior.