Where the Dead People Go

Okay, so this isn't really a serious post, despite the title, but I'm writing it anyway:

We learned in class that in most biblical times, people had this concept of the universe as being 3-story. There was Earth, which was a disk; the heavens, which were a dome above it; and the underworld, where the dead people went. But as time went on, people discovered that this was a bad idea. Now we have the theory of the ever-expanding universe. The question is, where do the dead people go now? There's no under anymore.

My answer, dear friends, is this:

THEY LIVE ON THE OTHER PLANETS.

Not now, maybe. But when the dead are all resurrected. I mean, where are you going to stick all the human beings that have ever lived? You'd certainly have an overcrowded Earth. That's why the universe is ever-expanding. There are more and more people being born everyday. We don't have to worry about being one small speck in the universe--all those other places are our retirement homes!

.... But in all seriousness, I don't know.

You Did Not Get Through Life On Your Own

For most of the time when I was in high school, I lived with this notion that God loved me, but he would never bring me immediate help. I had multiple medical disorders, and life was very difficult for me. I prayed and prayed for it to just be a little easier, for just one illness to go away -- just one, not all, not two. And nothing happened. I came to expect that it wouldn't.

I said I knew God loved me. And I did. I also knew that suffering would make me stronger, and whatever I was going through it was for a good reason. But I also came to believe that God had stepped out of my way, and thus when I did get stronger, when I did manage to overcome anything, it was on my own. The way I saw it, God wasn't helping me because of some higher plan I didn't understand, so I would get through it on my own. When bad things happened, I dealt with it. I got by. Sure, I didn't thrive, but I made it.

I know many people are like this. But recently, I was thinking about it, and I realized that I stopped too soon in my conclusions. Yes, I was dealing with things. Yes, God wasn't making my problems suddenly disappear.

But how strange, how assuming was I to believe that every time I got stronger, I did it on my own?

The End of Our Beginning

When I was helping my mom set up her kindergarten classroom, she played a bunch of songs that I gave her years ago on her iPad. This song popped up: The End of the Beginning by David Phelps. It's basically about a man sitting on a plane reading the Bible, and the guy next to him asks him what he's reading. Instead of just saying it's a Bible, he says it's a bestseller, history and mystery, and decides to read from the Gospels and bursts into a chorus about it. It's kind of an epic-sounding song, if you ignore the fact that any person that can understand English will know instantly that it's a Bible. But suspending disbelief about the possibility of this situation, here's the song for you to listen to:

Click here to listen.

For years, whenever I heard this song, I thought it was strange that the chorus never even mentioned that Jesus rose from the dead. It just ends at "he walked on the road and died on the cross, and that was the end of the beginning." I mean, if I want to be cynical, it's probably just so the unknowing man can ask how something like the end of the beginning matters, because Jesus is dead. But if I don't look at it that way, I find something else. This song categorizes two parts of a story: there's from the beginning of the Bible all the way up to Jesus's death. Jesus's death is the end of that part, the beginning of another.

I've always seen the Bible separated into two parts, too: the Old Testament and the New Testament. But with this new categorization, you see things in a totally different light. Jesus's death ended humans having to sacrifice things for forgiveness. It ended only Hebrews being able to be saved. Jesus's death started a new beginning: everyone can be forgiven and saved. But how strange, and perhaps how beautiful, it is to think that you, right now at this very second, are part of the same story where Jesus rose from the dead. It's as if although the Bible stopped being written, the story of the human race and their relationship with God goes on. Because Jesus died on the cross, and then rose in victory, we are included in the salvation he brought. We're still living in that miraculous story.

Percy Jackson and Human Beings

A few nights ago I picked up the first book in the Percy Jackson series, which is written by Rick Riordian. It's a good book if you're younger than I am, and probably cooler if you're a boy, but it was good enough for me to finish it in about three hours. And although I enjoyed this book, there was something about it that I didn't like... and couldn't quite shake.

For those of you that don't know, the Percy Jackson series is about Percy, the son of Poseidon. He's a demigod in present-day America, where all the Greek gods exist. They explain that the Greek gods move with the Western civilization (which is why Mt. Olympus is in New York). Percy asked if this means God exists, and someone tells him that God with a capital G is metaphysical, which is something totally different and isn't even related to the subject of the Greek gods. This makes no logical sense with the Christian God, but obviously this is a work of fiction and no one believes in Greek gods anyway.

The thing I had a problem with was a subtler message in the first book. Apparently demigods give off this aura that monsters can smell, so monsters come to them. Percy's mother, an amazingly kind woman, wants to hide Percy's scent as long as possible, so she marries this terrible man named Gabe. Gabe is abusive, cruel, dirty, and stupid. And the reason she marries him is because Gabe's scent is so human, it masks Percy's.

So basically, the ultimate human -- the person who is so human that their scent can cover a demigod -- is the worst kind of human being on the planet.

A Different Kind of Love

In my last post, I talked about how Jesus is accessible to everyone, although not everyone hears Him equally. This is sort of related to that subject matter.

As anyone who's even acquainted with Christian theology can tell you, God's love is eternal, and always there, even if you can't feel it. And often times, when you're at your lowest points, or even when you're just scared or sad, God's love is what you need, and you can't feel it. It kind of really sucks, right?

So I have nightmares every night. Sometimes I wake up screaming. Two nights ago this happened multiple times, and so, naturally, last night I was scared to go to sleep. I could hear God telling me that He was there, but I couldn't feel it. And there's this thing I sometimes do, when I need the comfort only He can give. I imagine Jesus standing somewhere, not really right in front of me but sort of in my head, and imagine myself hugging him. And I know that sounds ridiculous (although imagining things is a relaxation technique called Guided Meditation, and since God's love is real it shouldn't sound weird), and that's why I think it's something that so hard to get to. Human stuff gets in the way. You think it's stupid. You think you can't just imagine comfort. You think if you're imagining it, it can't possibly be something real. You think that it would be strange if God used the imagining capabilities he gave you to be capable of feeling him there. This is what happens:

Accessing Jesus

I have the English Standard Version of the Bible. This version had headlines that separate parts of the chapter by what happens. I'm reading Luke, partly because I want to read the Gospels and partly because I'm taking a Luke/Acts class next semester and I might as well read the one I'm going to be studying.

Anyway, there's this little blurb in chapter 8, which my Bible calls "Jesus' Mother and Brothers." (I really hope this was published before grammar rules said it was supposed to be Jesus's) It's verses 19-21, and since it's so short I'm going to type it out here:

Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you." But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."

It might just be me. But was anyone else bothered by Jesus's reaction? I mean, one of the Ten Commandments is to honor one's father and mother. Clearly, Jesus is basically renouncing his mother and his brothers. He's forsaking his family. So whenever I'd read it, I'd always frown a little, and then keep reading, hoping to forget about this odd little part of Luke. But then last night I was thinking about it, trying to figure out what Jesus meant with his response, and why it was the right answer.

Proclaiming on the Highest Mountain

Have you ever heard the phrase, "I'll proclaim it from the highest mountain top"? It's a phrase that is in common usage, or it used to be (I'm not sure sometimes, because I use archaic phrases too). I'm not sure where it came from. I think that it was from the Bible, and the closest thing I could find was Isaiah 40:9. And it's also sort of like the song "Go Tell it on the Mountain."

O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops! Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, "Your God is coming!"

So I used this phrase in my head a few months ago, thinking of what I would do because I was desperate to be heard. I wanted help, and I wanted someone to respond. But what was I willing to do? I think I sent an email or two. I could have posted a status update. I would have proclaimed it from the highest mountain top.

It's one of the phrases that we throw out in a sort of exaggeration. But then I got to thinking about it.
These days, if we want to say something and be heard, we post it on Facebook. Or online somewhere. Because you know, infinite reaches of the world wide web and everything.

But honestly, how much effort does it take to post a status update? Next to none.

How much effort does it take to climb a mountain? So much. You're climbing up past comfortable human breathing points. Have you ever climbed a mountain? I haven't. I've climbed a foothill in that hike to the A that about every APU student does. That was hard for me. But a mountain is SO MUCH HIGHER than a foothill. Professional mountain climber people train for years to climb the highest mountains, and when they do, it's a life-changing experience. I think most of them say that it was one of the best, most memorable experiences of their lives.

So the question is, what would you climb a mountain for? What would be so important for people to hear that you would climb a freaking MOUNTAIN?

When the Israelites are told to shout from the mountain tops, the phrase doesn't just mean that they will shout the good news (the Old Testament had good news too!) so everyone will hear; they mean that they will do the work and put in the effort to climb all the way up to that highest mountain.

The news about God, the maker of the universe, loving us and providing for us is important enough for the kind of hike that marks a huge change in your life.

God Chooses Low-Status People for Awesome Things

So, Luke. The Bible's really weird, because I flipped through Matthew, Mark, and John, and the books are all so different. Luke is basically the only Gospel that talks about Jesus's life before his ministry. I mean, Matthew spends two chapters on it, but even then most of chapter one is a list of names, and lots of chapter two is stuff that focuses on Joseph.

Luke is the third Gospel in the Bible. They're all in a row. So what's the focus in Luke?

I only read until the sixth chapter, so I obviously don't have everything. But I can at least tell you what I got out of the first part.

The first couple of chapters focus on humble people being exalted and the fulfillment of God's promises (although, to be fair, the whole Bible is basically about how God fulfills his covenant with his people).

1) People that are righteous with God get the good news and the holy babies. Conditions?

• If you're Zechariah and you question the good news, you are still shown mercy and get the holy baby (in his case John the Baptist), but you get turned mute because you should know better. I mean, really, if you're so close to God as to be a priest and the father of John the Baptist, why would you question God?

• If you're Mary and you just ask how it will happen and then say, "let it be," well, you get to be Jesus's earth-mother.

2) The humble people (as in, good-hearted and poor) are exalted. This is a key theme in Luke (and the whole Bible, too).

Don't Break the Chain: Bible Style.

I started reading Luke yesterday because of something I started doing called "Don't Break the Chain." I learned it from YouTuber charlieissocoollike in his video, where he learned it from a video that learned it from Jerry Seinfeld. Charlie explains it in the video, but basically what I'm doing is reading the Bible/writing about it/praying or meditating about it for 30 minutes every day. I pick one of those three to do, and I get to make a chain on a calendar when I do it. ... Just watch the video. It'll make more sense.

At first, I was only going to read the Bible. But as I was reading it, I remembered what I'd learned from Dr. Baloian's class for Exo/Deut, and I realized that simply reading for half an hour wasn't going to do anything. The Bible isn't like an anthology where you get to pick a chapter and start reading. Well, you can do that. I do that. But if you do, you won't get the whole point of it. You need to think. Mediate, like Bruner's Lectio Divina that he likes talking about. So I realized that I needed to think about it and draw conclusions, and what better place to draw conclusions than in a blog that nobody reads?

I remember Baloian saying that when the books or chapters of the Bible repeat themselves, like Jesus's life four times over, it is like adding an exclamation point to the topic, but it also reframes it.

Praise God! And be aware of it!

Praise God! He has shown his love in such powerful ways that I could never have hoped for. I have to write about it, declare it publicly and unashamed because it is just that amazing.

Throughout my life, the main things that I prayed for in my desperation were these:

1. To have someone that understands me.
2. To have someone, not just family, that loves me regardless of what they find out about me or who I am. Not that family is unimportant or insufficient, but I felt like, in order to know that I could be loved, it couldn't be a family member.
3. To be loved "specially" -- in other words, to not just be placed in a group of people that one person loves, but to be special to them. Even in high school, I never prayed that it had to be a boyfriend (although that would have been nice). I just wanted love.

Years went by. Years of pain and struggles and dark feelings of isolation. I never lost faith because I believed that everything would work somehow for good. But in the meantime, as my emotional/mental health began to dwindle, I seriously doubted whether God would ever decide that I needed to have those sorts of people in my life. I seriously doubted whether he cared if I was happy.

And now, suddenly, it's happened all at once. I have multiple people that love me and accept me, no matter what. I mean, it's almost overwhelming. All those prayers came true. And I'm not healed -- it's not like everything's better -- but those three God decided to answer.

Maybe You Didn't Meet an Angel

I hear people say, "I met an angel today" or "God sent me an angel." Sometimes they describe a friend, someone that they know, as an angel. And while I definitely believe in angels, and of course often times they're right, I feel like there's something huge that these people aren't grasping:

Maybe they didn't meet an angel; maybe it was, kind of, maybe sort of... you know... the Holy Spirit in an ordinary human being.

The thing is, I think sometimes people underestimate Christians as active pieces in God's plan to help others. And when they meet someone especially spectacular, their first thought is that he or she is an angel. Because obviously no human would be that kind. No human would be able to understand and know this or that.

There are angels in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. They are still here now, too. But the thing is, when Jesus came down and died for our sins, he didn't promise to send angels to help us. He did more than that. He sent Himself, in the form of the Holy Spirit (John 16). The Holy Spirit resides inside Christians, guiding them, and sometimes the Spirit teaches them/us what to say (Luke 12). I've seen that this doesn't just mean that Christians only say what they know. Sometimes the Holy Spirit guides us to say or do things for reasons that we don't quite understand.

As my professor would say: does that make sense? Wherever you go, kindness or insightfulness isn't just found in angels. It can be found in everyday, imperfect Christians who are influenced by the Holy Spirit. How great is that? We don't just have angels helping us. We have GOD. Right there, in other people and in our own hearts.

As a side-note, this is a quote from Frederick Buechner: "Angels are powerful spirits whom God sends into the world to wish us well. Since we don't expect to see them, we don't. An angel spreads its glittering wings over us, and we say things like, 'It was one of those days that made you feel good just to be alive,' or... 'I don't know where I ever found the courage.'"

Focus. Breathe. Think.

Focus. Breathe. Think.

Most people go through life with their attention scattered amongst dozens of objects, ideas, or people. I'm one of them. I find that, no matter where I am, I'm almost never focused on just one thing. Obviously, the main distraction for my generation is what you're doing right now -- being on the Internet. Endless possibilities and updates from your friends and celebrities at your fingertips. When you're trying to do homework, your brain shifts every once and a while to consider checking Facebook or whatever website you're addicted to. But it's not just the Internet. It's your thoughts about the future when you're talking to someone, it's your multitasking when you eat and read at the same time. That's not always a bad thing, but I think that having your attention so scattered and distracted makes you miss contemplating on the important things in life. Your attention, your mind is constantly being presented with different stimuli and ideas that oftentimes the significant things get no attention at all.

When was the last time that you stopped for a moment and simply focused on one important thought? Just one, long enough for you to actually get somewhere. And by important, I mean a thought that presents a problem and tries to get a resolution. I mean a thought that will change something other than just the temporary situations in your life.

When was the last time you thought about what your purpose in life could be, and didn't get distracted degrading yourself or thinking about the last interesting thing you did? When was the last time you sat down and thought about your future and your plans, realistically and logically? When was the last time you thought deeply about the troubles of the world and what you could do about it? When was the last time you stopped and asked yourself what you could do in your life that would make things better for others? When did you last sit down, take a deep breath, and think?