::hap::

" Hap"

If but some vengeful god would call to me

From up the sky, and laugh: “Thou suffering thing,

Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy,

That they love’s loss is my hate’s profiting!”

Then would I bear it, clench myself, and die,

Steeled by the sense of ire unmerited;

Half-eased in that a Powerfuller than I

Had willed and meted me the tears I shed.

But not so. How arrives it joy lies slain,

And why unblooms the best hope ever sown?

-Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain,

And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan…

These purblind Doomsters had as readily strown

Blisses about my pilgrimage as pain.

Thomas Hardy 1898

i think that Hardy is onto something. This is yet another of the poems i must read to complete the well-rounding of my person-hood at the University. Delightfully, it's quite good!

so many times it would be easier to go through life blaming a vicious god, a god who did not care about us or want good things for us . . . it would make sense of why things in our lives turn out so dreadfully sometimes and that way it would not be our fault. As Hardy writes, we could "bear it, clench" ourselves, "and die." We could feel slighted by the "ire unmerited" that the gods had rained down on us; and though our lives were terrible, we could live "half-eased," feeling justified for our anger.

but that god does not exist. No indeed, there is not a "change" that brings us to our fates or has an evil hand in our undoing. if our lives are miserable, it is on account of sin (either that of our own, or its presence around us), and there is a loving God who does not play with us as toys. This knowledge makes it harder to go through life because we have no one to blame for our sorrows, but it makes it easier simultaneously because we have a Good God more powerful than we are, who does not destroy us for destruction's sake.

if He tears down, He will reconstruct.

if He breaks, He will mend.

if He kills, He will resurrect.

do the cross, believers. He will ALWAYS do the resurrection.

~ peace to you ~

::go to sleep, dear::

"Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake." - Victor Hugo

::shall we become abominable snowmen?::

You must admit, he's cute.

Proverbs 29.27 writes
An unjust man is abominable to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked.

Matthew 13.43:
Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Psalm 34.5:
They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed.

When I read Proverbs 29 this morning and reached the end, where the word "abominable" is used twice in such short order, it made me laugh because I hardly use the word, except in reference to the snowman. But we live in a kingdom of darkness, and we are light-bearers, and darkness hates light. If we walk in righteousness we will shine into the darkness, and though the darkness tries to overcome it, it is unable (see John 1 -- Jesus, the original light, conquered the darkness and gives us the same light that He had!). In reality, darkness wars against light, and does everything in its power to snuff out and light that comes its way.

Jesus is intense light. He is the light that has come into the world to shine through the darkness and change everything. He reaches out, snatches darkened lives, and illuminates them in His beautiful way. Then they are made radiant, and pure-white, a spotless bride. Purity, that hurts the eyes...the purity of Jesus.

For Christians, we are in the world, but not of the world. We are made of the same darkness, but God's light has broken through. In reality, we should not be able to help being light in the midst of darkness, it should be natural and unstoppable. And if the light is encroaching on the darkness around us ... will we not be abominable to those around us, as the Proverb says?

Shall we not become abominable snowmen?

::a midterm, 4 full weeks, and Immersion::

Well, hello there. Fancy meeting you here ... now ...

It is week 7 already at the University. I can hardly believe that 6 full weeks have gone by! Tomorrow is my last 'midterm' of the quarter, although it's week 7 so it doesn't quite feel like a midterm because it's after the middle of the term. But, to each professor his/her own, right?

Four weeks, four full weeks left, then a half week for finals. Pretty soon there will be new developments as to life next quarter, but right now "mum's the word" ... I have to wait until things are finalized to broadcast them.

This brings us to the last section of this short post, Immersion. Now, you may think that I am making reference to some language learning school or class, since I am a Spanish Major. As fitting as that would be, it's not the case. No, twice in the past two weeks my pastor has talked about this intercessory prayer conference he attended at which an African pastor spoke. He talked about the importance of being in the word, as a discipline, and that they encouraged their people to be reading 30 chapters a day. A day! Sometimes I read four . . . but 30? That's a lot! And this pastor also said that they encouraged their youth to at least read 10 if they couldn't get to 30. This kind of immersion in the word can only mean good things. I'd have to abandon my love of the TV to actually DO Homework to actually HAVE time to read 30 chapters a day.

Maybe I'll try it this week, TV's not that great anyways, right?

Care to join me?