James 4:13-17

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.'  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'  As it is, you boast and brag.  All such boasting is evil."

I'm going to retranslate that into the "Peter just had an interesting weekend" version.

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to Chicago and then Milwaukee, go to a wedding, and return home.'  Why, you do not even know whether or not your car's coolant hose will crack before you get there.  In addition, the tow truck may be delayed such that you cannot get your car fixed until Monday, forcing you to depend on a friend's relatives for a bed and to take the train home early the next morning.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and go on a road trip to celebrate an old friend's wedding.'  As it is, you boast and brag.  All such boasting is evil."

Apparently I'm not quite as in control of my life as I like to think.

Practical Justice...

is the name of a book that I started reading a couple weeks ago.  It is written by a Christian who spends a lot of time ministering to the opressed and the poor.  Most recently I read the section of the book on "giving a man a fish" where he talks about direct handouts:  what it looks like to directly help someone, what it can cost, and what not to do.  In addition to that, I started reading Isaiah in my quiet times, which is a lot of God criticizing the rich for making money by oppressing those who are in need.  God promises to return and give both the righteous and the wicked what they deserve.

Anyway, I think I read the chapter in Practical Justice on Wednesday morning.  That day it was raining so I rode the bus to campus and was thinking about walking home that evening because I felt like it.  As I was walking down green street a man named Charles greeted me on the street.  I could tell immediately from his manner that he wanted something from me (or was selling something), and sure enough, he told me he was homeless and asked if I would help him out.  Due to some other circumstances that God brought about, I was relatively free for the evening and so I agreed to buy him dinner, where he told me that he was a Christian, has been all his life, and his favorite passage is the ten commandments.  Also during dinner he asked me for a few different things that boiled down to more money, which I did agree to take him to Goodwill and buy him a coat, while refusing to give him $40 in cash.  

So I drove Charles and a buddy of his, Marcus, to Goodwill and bought him a warm coat and a pair of pants.  Marcus had walked over to buy some food at a fast food place, so we drove over to pick him up there, and parked to wait.  As we sat in the parking lot, I looked over my left shoulder to see the restaurant, and then to my right and saw a liquour store, and then started to wonder which door Marcus would come out of.  Sure enough, he came out of the latter establishment.  Charles assured me that he was talking to somebody there, cuz he knows lots of people, but Marcus hadn't seen us right away, and I saw the bottle in his hand and the look in his eye when he spotted us.  His story was that Long John Silver's didn't have change for a $50, so he had to go over there to get change.

I'm really glad I had the whole experience.  I was exposed to the realities of the poor.  I can't say that I really got a taste of it or that it hit me full on.  But I met and talked to some guys who have to walk everywhere and sleep on the streets.  

I'm glad I put some food in Charles' stomach and I'm glad I put a warm coat on his back, and I'm glad I didn't give him any cash :).  I also figured that since he said he was a Christian (whether he is or not) and I was buying him dinner, that he wasn't going anywhere, so I talked as much as I could about Jesus.  I told him one of my favorite passages, I talked about what I've been learning about trusting God in grad school, and about what we studied in Bible study the night before.  When he thanked me I told him to thank God, because I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't for what God has done for me.  This kind of thing is outside of my comfort zone and risks my belongings and takes my time, but I think it's what Jesus would have done. 

I apologize if it seems like I'm tooting my own horn here, I don't mean to be.  This is something that happened to me.  I've been praying for opportunities to share the gospel and to be a part of caring for the poor and the oppressed, and so I guess I shouldn't be surprised when God gives me a chance to do both.

Life without mah internetz?

Last Monday the internet at my apartment was down all day. This did result in a few minor emergencies-I had to frantically redo some homework on campus so that I could print out the proper graph. However, I have recently been thinking about how I spend my time and if I am actually as busy as I think. That day definitely illustrated to me how much I use the internet for AND how much time I waste online. I also realized that I really could do without the internet. I'd have to either stay on campus or go back to campus after dinner to do homework in the evening and check my email less frequently, but that really isn't that drastic. After I finished my homework on Monday evening I sat down and read a book instead of reading news or browsing the internet. So what if I fall behind on reading xkcd or miss a deal on something at Newegg, having a slower pace could be nice. As an inadvertent illustration to my point, I'm writing this on campus while I'm in between events, and thirty minutes just wasn't enough time for me to feel like getting some homework done (especially since it isn't due until next Monday).

I've also decided that I think that my blog is one of the most unattractive blogs on the net, so I may play around with the template and color scheme.

have a fabulous Thursday

Home-schooling strikes again!

I just read an article about a twelve-year-old girl who got bored with high school coursework and is now attending a community college.  She is applying to go to Yale for pre-med next year.  The thing that I liked best about the article is that her parents said that others asked them "Aren't you rushing things?"  Which is a pretty valid question, but their response was that it was their daughter who has these goals and dreams, and so they're just being supportive.  I though it was cool that they aren't pressuring her, she's making her own decisions with their help.  Sounds like home-schooling at it's best.