Heaven Come Down

We stood in the dark, our feet in the cool sand. Bundled in sweatshirts though it was the middle of the summer, both of us stayed silent, listening to the breeze and the crashing waves.

"I love the beach at night," I said to my sister.
"Me too. It reminds me of heaven."

I looked at her, looked back out at the ocean, trying to make out the dark horizon line, and agreed.

"Yeah..."

We stayed at the edge of the water as long as we could before being beckoned back to the bonfire. In that moment, I became acutely aware of the vast beauty surrounding me, and I am comforted as I think of it from time to time. I began reflecting on why the beach at night is like heaven. An obvious initial response might be that all of creation reflects God, but I believe the metaphor goes deeper.

When looking out at the ocean, its expanse is too far for the eye to see. We can hardly even fathom that by going all the way out there into the unknown we would find land again. This experience is heightened at night, and I can't help but imagine the glory of God and how we can only get a taste of it! We know all too well the struggle in trust it takes to live life as a fully committed Christian, but think about this -- who really wants to stay on the beach? As hard as it is, if asked by someone "Do you want to continue doing the same thing or trust in the GOD of creation and experience the absolutely new?" which would you choose?

I like thinking there is someone so much greater than myself because honestly, I kinda suck sometimes. And that's an understatement...So I think I'm going to work on trusting that someone a little more.

Which is NEW for me...

Faith & Media

Over the course of the next 4 months, I will write a series on "Faith & Media." So far, I have used this as a personal blog/journal to talk about spiritual matters, but I believe we need to acknowledge the significant impact of our media culture and face its implications head-on.

As Christians, we are called to read the "signs of the times" and "go and preach to all nations." Now more than ever we have a vast number of means by which we can do this, but (as in every culture of every age) we must be effective communicators and see through the eyes of God. This means being both media literate and entirely detached, knowledgeable of the faith and nonjudgmental of others, defenders of Truth and keepers of the peace.

My purpose is not to condemn media or to command that Jesus' name be preached in every Facebook status or Twitter update. I do, however, intend to hopefully foster a more well-rounded, universal understanding of the media -- its purpose, drawbacks, opportunities, triumphs, and failures -- illuminated by the Light and Truth of our world, the Savior Jesus Christ.

We have the advantage of growing up in this culture in that our generation is the most able to answer this call. However, that requires us to take action -- to know, to use, and to change the media.

In addition to these entries, I will add more pages to include references, news updates, and other information.

We Always Hate Change!

I used to complain at how difficult it is to adapt to change, especially spiritually. Because I go to school in Ohio, I transition every few months from my home in southern California to my school in eastern Ohio. The two environments are not only severely different in weather and culture, but in the atmosphere I'm in as well. My actual home is a nice place, and I enjoy my family...sometimes. My friends are great as well, but I'm discovering that the more I change and grow at school, the harder it is to be home. At school, I'm surrounded by 2500 other people striving to be holy and become saints. There are 3 Masses every day, perpetual adoration, chapels in every dorm, and a million possible ministries you could join. My professors pray before class, and I'm friends with priests and nuns.

All of this makes the transitions that much harder. I don't have the same opportunities at home as I do at school (i.e. Mass at 3 different times every day). I'm not around the same people. I have absolutely no school schedule that I have to follow. My friends don't even get out of school at the same time...It all makes for an interesting change, to say the least.

However, I mentioned that I used to complain. It just seems so hard. Even semester to semester at my school is so different.

But why wouldn't it be? It should change. We are people and as such, we perpetually change. School is basically a large community of people, a.k.a. other perpetually changing humans. If our faith and spiritual life isn't changing, then something's wrong! I heard it put so beautifully once - If you're not moving forwards, you're moving backwards. Why, do you ask? Because life is an uphill battle. Life and faith are climbing the mountain, and if you stick yourself into Neutral and become complacent, you're just rolling back down the hill.

So obviously we'll be changing. Obviously my spirituality will change. I can't get stuck into a routine of "prayer life" that happens to work for me because that's not how you grow. When I come back to a place that's more spiritually dry than Franciscan University, it's my opportunity to grow in a different way. It's my opportunity to have more quiet time with God in my room, alone, as opposed to only in a chapel 20 ft. from my dorm room. I can experience God anywhere, YOU can experience God anywhere.

Don't complain about change like me, and definitely don't let complacency take hold of you without you knowing it. I've done both, and they haven't really worked out for me very well. Experience God in new ways. He is, after all, the living God. The Bible is the living Word of God, so read it. The Holy Spirit is living, and he is everywhere, so experience him!

Complacency and discouragement is NOT of the Lord. Ever.

Encourage.

During a sermon at Mass on Wednesday, Fr. Mike talked about St. Paul and how one of his favorite ministries that we are all called to is the ministry of encouragement.

Think about it. Think about how people's attitudes would change day-to-day if we just encouraged each other to keep going, keep fighting, keep persevering.

He then proceeded to tell a story from 71 yrs. ago when he was 6. He hit a bully in the head with a frying pan because he was picking on the girls, and the other kids encouraged him. After Mass, he told us that we should not miss the moral of the story and that we should find ways other than frying pans to encourage each other...but the point remains the same.

We can over-compliment, but we can never never over-encourage.

Do not let one another fall into discouragement and hopelessness, both of which are not of the Lord.

Encourage one another always, and keep fighting the good fight of faith.