Time to get back to it

It's a brain spew today.

Emotional roller coaster.

A tag line spews forth form the television. It's about another terribly contrived scenario to tear at the heart-strings. It reminds me of a woman me and Dad met on a walk in the Adelaide Hills. She was travelling around the country on her bike. I don't remember her name, but I do remember what Dad said afterwards.

"Did you catch her initials?"

"Huh, Dad? What do you mean?"

"J. C. Her initials were J C."

She didn't practice a religion, but she believed in a Creator God. What she didn't believe in was the status quo. She talked about the countries she'd travelled through, and the adventures she'd had. One of the things she spoke about was the media. She said she'd been in New Zealand cycling up and down, feeling happy with what life had given her and the geographical, and psychological place she was at. She stopped at a service station to buy some necessities and when she walked out she felt her joy draining from her. She couldn't work out what it was.

She realised later that it'd had been the row of newspapers in the displays out the front that had shifted her mood. The images and big, black headlines stared through her. When something awful happens around us, it's so hard to hide from the news- news that we wouldn't have heard in the days before our existences were saturated with media. In our lives there will be weddings, births, beautiful gardens and wonderful evenings with friends. Although these stories let us empathise with suffering outside our immediate vicinity, it's hard for them not to have a negative impact on our moods, which affect our actions, which affect our relationships.

Long story short- TV, newspapers, the web and radio often leave me feeling worse than if I hadn't spent time consuming their message.

Except if it's a little TV show called Community.

Joy and Happiness.

Yeah, this one gets two capital letters.

In many Christian circles we use these words to distinguish between the knowledge of sanctification by Jesus' death, and the buoyed feeling we get from everyday, earthly experiences. And often we're told to hold onto the first, but not be assured of the second.

"At least she's happy, right?"

Sometimes this is a necessary reminder that to be sure of our joy in Jesus, and our investment in Him who saved us, we must forgo the immediate pleasures in life. An analogy would look like forgoing the heavy drinking session, to honour the work we have to do the following day (let alone for the sake of our body). Or it could look like turning away from pornography to honour the partner we might share a life with- even if we haven't met that person yet.

When someone says they're doing something damaging, I find it little consolation knowing that they're happy. I hope everyone will know the great joy in Christ Jesus one day.

There are many days when I wish myself to see it more clearly- when unpleasant tasks rear their heads, or fear for a loved one weighs down on me. My hope is in Him. Even in sadness, His joy will come when we ask for it.

There will always be sadness in this life. But sometimes it's worth missing out on the pleasures at hand to be sure of our spiritual health- and as a reminder of the joy we have and the happiness we will have.

What to do and what to be.

Aside from studying myself silly over the last few weeks, I've really had to face up to some laziness on my part. I'm not talking about evenings spent gaming, or lectures where I may have allegedly brought episodes of certain Korean dramas to watch on my phone (a friend tells me that the Nokia N900's 900x480 resolution screen is amazing for watching DVD quality or better video). It's the laziness of inaction when something stares me in the face. My course. I've known that there are certain things I should have done earlier on in my tertiary education- some things that everyone can see. Some things I've wanted, but haven't had the guts to reach out and grab them. But it's time to speak up.

So I will. I'll shake things up.

Expect changes. BIG changes.

~~~

Okay. That's enough. No birdies today. No drawings. I've got too much work. But I think it'll be alright.

Oh, fine. Here's a moth.



Also, excuse spelling mistakes and typos.