We're Here

After 2 SOLID days of driving (and a tonne of pretzles) we have made it to VA. We're meeting up with Jessie this morning and starting our first day of riding. On the plate:
today: Mile 0-75

I wish i could post pictures to show ya'll how pretty it is out here. The weather's looking to be pretty nice for the first couple of days. It's iffy if we're going to get a campsite tonight (memorial day weekend), but I'll post next chance I get!
-mike

I did it!

For those of you who do not know, I plan on setting out in less than a week on one of my life goals: cycling the blue ridge parkway. I'll be headed out with Matt D, Jessie F, and Brittany T. It's going to be a blast, I've been training for the trip this winter and into the summer, and yesterday I hit the milestone i was aiming for in my preparation:

I biked from Boulder to Estes Park and back! The trip was beautiful, the weather was perfect. Its about 83 miles round trip, and involved over 3000 feet of elevation gain. No major snags were involved in the ride, except 1 flat tire which was an easy fix.

In other news, last week was loads of fun, with another year of school over we had tonnes of friends from Clemson come to visit including Kelly Young, Kelly Simpson, Aileen, Shannon, Jenny, Chris, Jad, Stephanie, and some more that i'm forgetting (no hurt feelings please!)

We did some beautiful hiking up in Estes park, and around boulder. This week the plan is to ROCK OUT some work in the lab so i will have some data to look at on our road trip. I'm going to try and keep this thing updated throughout the trip, and more frequently, so keep checking back!

A thorn in my flesh and a plank in my eye

I think we all tend to think pretty highly of ourselves. If you don't, then you're lying. I was reading an article online that says in on survey, a large number of high-school seniors were asked how they get along with others. Less than 1% ranked themselves below average and 60% ranked them selves in the top 10%.
How and why is it that we become so good with covering our many inequities with our few assets? It is written "the weak will become strong" and I don't think thats just a metaphor. Knowing where you are below averages gives you a better view of your abilities and where you need improvement.
Sometimes I feel like some of the best way's to see our shortcomings is find what shortcomings stand out most to us in others. I don't think my roommates (who I love) read my blog, which is fine because it gives me a chance to pull examples from my own life. I have this one roommate and he bugs the mess out of me with his persistence to be right all of the time. If I step back, I realize a lot of the time he is right, and the reason it bugs me so much is it because it points out when I am wrong. One more example: I have a friend who is incredibly spendthrifty. He buys expensive things at impulse, a lot. I immediately find myself thinking highly of my self when I compare myself to him because I live on a budget. This is kind of funny because what it means is money is my idol, not his. I think about my money way too much, and even though I budget it, I still spend it on stuff that I don't need... I just have places in the budget for it.
Last time I checked, there were 6.5 billion people on the earth, and if I'm say I'm doing better than average, thats 3.25 billion people who probably disagree with me. It's a humbling thought, or it should be.
Peace.
mike

Love your neighbor?

What Does it mean to "Love our Neighbors"? I feel like in today's society we shut ourselves down to the idea of the other. Especially strangers. I've never been much of a city person, but it seems like the more people you're around, the more you put on the blinders and completely ignore your neighbors. Why? Because to notice people will slow you down, make you feel guilty, and if you started caring for your neighbors, you'd never get to your destination at all!

Here's how it looks for me: Each morning i hop on my bike and ride in to work. I pass people at the bus-stops along the way. They look bored and lonely with their iPods in and their glazed stares awaiting the bus, but I've got no time for that. Plus, it'd be weird just to stop and talk to them, and what in the world would I talk about? The weather? Then, as I cross the major road between my neighborhood and campus, I usually pass one or two homeless people with their cardboard signs explaining their troubles and asking for help. "Lazy homeless people" I think, "why don't they get a job." Plus, I usually figure if I gave them money, they'd just use it at the liqueur store at that intersection. Then the real onslaught of neighbors begins once i'm on campus. I fly past a broken world just trying not to hit any of them. Some of them are in failing relationships, are struggling in school, are struggling with addictions, or just don't know True Joy.

I wonder what Jesus must have felt as he walked the earth 2000 years ago. Did his heart break for every sad soul he laid eyes on? If he truly Loved people, and knew each and every heart, it seems that the sadness would be nearly unbearable for anybody but God. Are our hearts so hard that we've trained ourselves to ignore everyday tragedy?

I think the clearest struggle for me is Giving to the needy. As a Christian, I am called to do so. Indeed, I'm also called not to judge others (mt 7), but at the same time to be wise with what I have been given (Mt 25:14-30). Normally, I use the homeless man's sin (or even the possibility that he is a sinner) as an excuse not to love him at all. This clearly shows two shortcomings (which are really, one and the same) I have as a christian: 1) My pride in myself and 2) My lack of faith in Christ. Lack in faith that He can use my gift or gesture for good. Faith that my abstinence from certain sinful acts makes me more worthy of His blessings.

I don't know if I have a summary or a conclusion for this entry, just something i wanted to get down on paper. (or i guess, down as a string of 1's and 0's floating around somewhere in a box in California)

Thanks for reading,
peace
mike

I take that back...

So, 2 blog posts ago i promised to post bi-weekly about a subject. As it turns out: I'm just not that organized. After reading some other blogs, and talking to my roommate, William, I decided that a) thats not the point of blogs and b) who cares?

So I'm scratching that and This blog is just going to be about what ever I feel like.

I think this blog will be about why I love my church! So, right when I started attending All Souls, the pastor sat me down to talk about my passions and skills. I feel like in most churches where I come from, this is where the conversation would have ended. But the pastor got really pumped when I told him about myself, challenged me to make something happen, and gave me funding to start action. A couple of months later Boulder297 is now officially up and running! We had our first project this past weekend, and i'm really excited to see where it goes!

Also, its getting warm enough to mountain bike again, which has me super stoaked. Having a winter was nice, but i'm ready to put on shorts!

well, that's a breif update, better than none at all!
Peace and love,
mike

Prayer

Prayer is extremely important. The bible calls us to "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." -Eph 6:18. If you're anything like me, prayer is hard. Real hard. I don't know what to pray for, I don't have time to pray, when I do pray, my mind wanders all over the place, I don't know what to say to the Almighty, and it seems like I'm constantly just asking for stuff for myself.

Brennan Manning wrote a passage about prayer in his book, Ragamuffin Gospel, which I found extremely helpful. He describes when a small child draws a picture. Many times the colors don't make since. The sky is purple and the grass is blue. Us "grownups" don't reject the picture because the colors are wrong, instead we rejoice in the fact that the child is trying to express their creativity.

A little child cannot do a bad coloring, nor can a child of God do bad prayer.

So even if you don't know what to pray, its important to try! Whats cool is if we try earnestly, God will help us:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. -Ro 8:26

I was listening to a sermon by Pastor Mark Driscol, and he states that how you pray shows a lot about how you view God. Either you have a very high view of yourself and a low view of God or a very low view of yourself and a very high view of God. The former is paganism, and is exhibited by prayers trying to manipulate God. The latter of the two is repentance, and is exhibited by prayers that worship God and are honest about our nature.

Something else that I wonder about sometimes is about the posture of prayer. If you struggle falling asleep, or your mind wandering when you pray, maybe its simply your physical position when you pray. Once I prayed while stretching and it was some of the most focused prayer i ever had. I also know if i pray laying down in bed, i'm lucky to make it to amen. Sometimes I find that praying with my eyes wide open, or out loud helps me.

Give to me, O Lord My God,
understanding of You,
diligence in seeking You,
wisdom in finding You,
discourse ever pleasing to You,
perseverance in waiting for You,
and confidence in finally embracing You
Amen
-St. Thomas Aquinas

A final tool that has been incredibly helpful to me is reading the prayers of men wiser than myself, including those in the bible (throughout the new and old testament), and those of great men of the church (such as Thomas Aquinas).

So pray on brothers,
-love
mike

The dissemination of wisdom

In our short time here on Earth, we spend our lifetimes struggling and squirming out of the darkness towards the Light. Then we die, and anything we've learned, any progress we've made, is gone. Maybe what got me thinking about this is Thomas Merton's "No Man Is an Island" In his introduction he states:

The meaning of of my life is not to be looked on merely in the sum total of my own achievements. It is seen only in the complete integration of my achievements and failures with the achievements and failures of my own generation, and society, and time. It is seen, above all, in my integration in the mystery of Christ... Every other man is a piece of myself, for I am a part and a member of mankind... What I do is also done for them and with them and by them. What they do is done in me and by me and for me. But each one of us remains responsible for his own share in the life of the whole body.

So, I believe strongly that in order to truly believe something you must make it your own. That is why most people go through a dark period of doubt and sorrow, and somehow come out stronger. But during and after these struggles, if I don't do something to remember it, how quickly do I forget all that the Lord has done for me? The nation of Israel had the same constant struggle, and because of this, the Lord commanded Joshua (their leader) to place monuments to his glory (usually as alters or piles of large stones) so they would not forget what he had done for them.
I mentioned before that I'd like for my blog to have a purpose and this is going to be somewhat it. I plan on every 2 or so weeks to post something about something, so that by the end of a year I have 25 posts about 25 topics. Do consider myself wise and all knowing at 24? No, but its ok because I can edit past blogs when i learn new things. I hope you enjoy, and I hope that you comment and give me suggestions and disseminate wisdom back towards me. Until that time...
peace, and love,
mike