Translation: Unkown

Coincidences

2005-07-12T04:36:00.000-07:00

A Night-Time Collect
"Visit this place, O Lord, and drive far from it all snares of the enemy; let your holy angels dwell with me to preserve me in peace; and let your blessing be upon me always; through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen"

Phos Hilaron
"Hail Gladdening Light of his Pure Glory Poured,
Who is the immortal Father, Heavenly, Blest,
Holiest of Holies, Jesus Christ Our Lord!

Now we are come to the sun's hour of rest
The lights in the evening 'round us shine
we hymn the Father, Sun, and Holy Spirit Divine

Worthiest art thou, at all times be sung, with undefiled tongue
Son of our God, giver of life, alone!
Therefore, in all the world they glories, Lord, thine own."

These snippets of prayer and poetry were written on the backs of two 3" X 5" cards that I found while checking the Science Building on the Calvin College Campus during my building tour for Campus Safety. I sometimes find things that people have forgotten or left behind as I am walking around at night (I often work third shift), but they are often things that are relatively dull or things that should not be removed, like backpacks, magazines, etc... I also like to stop and read the many posters and bits of newspaper articles posted on the walls of the various academic buildings I walk through. During my relatively unexciting building tours (nighttime is so often more boring than scary when it comes to walking through buildings), I try to keep my mind occupied, which is why I often stop at the various bulletin boards and read whatever happens to catch my interest. It gives me a bit of brain-food to chew on as I walk about. If nothing happens to arouse my curiousity enough for me to stop and read for a bit, I try to think about other things. As a Christian, that takes the form of focusing my thoughts on God and simply contemplating what He has done for me or passages from the Bible. That is why it was a pleasent surprise to find the aforementioned cards. I have no idea who they were written by(although judging by the handwriting I am fairly certain that whoever wrote them must be female), nor do I have any idea how they happened to fall where they did. Perhaps they simply fell out of some young woman's backpack as she hurried off to class. I do believe that there are no coincidences, so I do not suppose it would be too much to say that God worked things in such a way that I should find these encouraging words on a night when I was in sore need of some encouragement to uplift my weary mind and body as was quite tired. Perhaps this served as a small reminder that God is looking out for me, even when I forget that he does.

Cool...Clear...Clean...Water!

2005-07-05T05:16:00.000-07:00

Sprinklers. They are all over Calvin's campus, and they make navigating the sidewalks around Calvin College at night quite interesting. These sprinklers are on for at least two hours, and there are quite a few of them and they put out quite a bit of water. Some of the sprinklers spray water half on the road and half on the grass. In short, only about fifty-percent of the water that most of the sprinklers spray lands on the grass. The other half ends up someplace else, such as a sidewalk, road, or building. This seems rather inefficient to me, and a real waste of water. Not only that, but the sprinklers come on every day, even when it is raining.
Watching (and sometimes avoiding), the sprinklers got me to thinking; what if Calvin chose to run the sprinklers only every other day of the week, starting with Monday? That is four days that the sprinklers would run. Think of the money that Calvin could save in a year on their water bill if they did that. So I was thinking; why not use the money that could be saved on the water bill, and send it to some organization like blood water mission that creates clean water sources for poor communities in Africa? Isn't it more important to give a cup of clean cold water to someone in the name of Christ than to keep the grass in our yards green? How much is green grass really worth to Calvin (and Americans in general)? I think I could live with brown grass if I knew that someone else had access to something I take for granted every day; namely, clean water.

Churches that hurt us

2005-06-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

So after much thought, I decided to return to writing my blog after a long absence. I suppose I was questioning my motives for starting the blog in the first place. Was I doing it to whine, vent, moan and complain, or was I really posting my thoughts online? I think that I was doing more of the former than the latter, which was why I took a sabbatical (if you can call it that). I suppose that my model for intelligent posting (and far less whining), was Tait Chamberlin. This young man, whom I count as one of my friends, is currently in England, seeing the sights and improving his writing abilities. He is bound to write something groundbreaking and original, I am sure. His blogging was always a pleasure to read, thoughtfully put together, and insightfully written. If I can write half as well as he, I will be pleased.
Well, I am back again, and I have some new things to write about. I am meeting with the pastor of Madison to talk with him about some things that I have wanted to talk to a pastor about for a long time; namely, why is it that the people who say that their job is to minister to the saints end up hurting them instead? I have witnessed this in my own church experience more than once, and it has caused me to lose quite a bit of faith in church leadership. It baffles me how a person can spend several years in a seminary, doing nothing but study God's word in great detail, supposedly becoming better equipped to communicate the truth of the Gospel to people become some of the most arrogent and egotistical people I have ever known. I think the infamous reputation of pastor's kids (PK's) proves my point. One would think that the children of those who seem to "know" so much about grace would have some of the most stable home lives. Yet time and time again, the stereotype of the rebellious PK is shown to be true. Some might say that I am being too harsh on Church Leaders, but does it not say in scripture that much more will be expected from pastors and teachers? What are Christians supposed to expect from their leaders? I do not think that humbleness and a servant's heart are too much to expect.
May God have mercy on us all.

Man Proposes and God Disposes

2005-02-02T13:30:00.000-08:00

So where am I right now? A good question indeed, because I don't really know. Naturally, my body is in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on the campus of Calvin College, trying desperately to graduate and leave the womb-like insularity of College for a life of my own, with the woman I love and am currently engaged to be married to. However, God has seen it fit to somehow turn my life upside down, and cause me to wonder exactly what in the world he is trying to do with me. I am currently experiencing a great deal of frustration due to the fact that all of my credits are not falling neatly into place, as well as attempting to figure out a way to graduate this semester and what it is exactly God wants me to do with my life (I thought I used to have this all figured out. Ha-ha, silly me!). It has come to my attention that this cannot happen with a major in East Asian Studies. It may, however, be accomplished by doing a self-designed major, which would basically consist of the credits and classes I have completed up until now. This is not so bad. After all, possible places of employment do not look at what kind of a major you have graduated with, they look at the fact that you actually have a piece of paper that says you have jumped through the hoops society has told you must jump through, as well as looking at whatever meager skills one may have acquired by the four-year circus that is College.
Of course I believe in expanding and developing the mind and the pursuit of higher knowledge, but there must be a better (and cheaper) way of achieving greater degrees of knowledge. Ironically enough, I think I will probably enjoy all of my classes this semester. My teachers seem to be actual human beings (instead of what most professors asssume, which is that they are the font of all knowledge), and actually personable, approachable human beings at that. I wonder if God is enjoying a wry smile at this paradox of frustration and enjoyment that I am experiencing right now.

It tears

2005-01-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

So what is this thing called truth and the pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding? Why is it so important that we seek it out, rather than agree with everyone and everything? Is it purposeless to think, stand, fall, or otherwise fight to see what is right? When it seems everything around you feels wrong, is it yourself just making it all into a giant demon so that you can remain in the protection of your own opinions, or is it something more? Is there the possibility that the majority does not dictate what is right or true? What really is the purpose of theology and doctrine if all it seems to produce is arguments and divisions? Can we historically negate at will what we want in Scripture when we find something that may be contrary to our thinking? Do we believe the Bible is divinely inspired and infallible, or do we say it was written by men, therefore we have to read behind their male chauvinism to find the real meaning, or is their something more to it than that? Historical context is certainly important to gain a fuller knowledge and understanding of the mind-set of the writers of scripture, but do we use it as a weapon to fit our own concise little ideologies? How is the gospel practiced inconsistently in my own life and the life of the Church, yet still practiced? How can Christ reign in our mortal bodies when we must still fight against the desires of our heart that would try to dethrone Him? I mean our own sinful nature here. It makes no sense to me and confuses me to the point of frustration.
Why? Why do I analyze the way I do? Why can I not just agree with everything and everyone and stop thinking so much? The author of Eccleisiastes was right; knowledge certainly does bring grief.

Woefully Absent

2005-01-06T06:30:00.000-08:00

Yes, that phrase would describe my posting on this blog. I suppose with the rush of the holidays, that came like a north wind through a house with no windows, as well as my return from Japan and readjustment to America and the time difference, things went by faster than I could control. Overall, God has been gracious and provided for me, and I have no complaints. It was such a joy to be with family and friends over the holidays, although it was somewhat difficult to feel the holiday cheer at times because of the aforementioned conditions. Christmastime was, however, a much needed break and respite from the busy and frentic pace that was mylife at JCMU. Now I am back at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Am I glad to be back at Calvin? Yes and No. I am glad to be back because it means I am now only a fifteen minute drive away from Sarah, and I am also back with the many friends I missed while I was in Japan. The negative side to being back at Calvin is the Developing a Christian Mind class that I have to take. It is ridiculously spoon-fed to students as though we were all little children back in sunday school, which is exactly what the class reminds me of. The material almost feels insulting to my intelligence. The content of the course and the concepts it present, are concepts I have grown up with in a family built on faith in Christ. I believe that the principles in DCM are ones that are very elementary in nature, and I think it is safe to venture that most of the students of Calvin think the same way, if they do any thinking at all, since most of them come from at least nominally Christian homes and schools. The fact that a majority of the students here come from families with a good deal of money is also detrimental to their understanding of what the real world is like. Money can be a great insulater from dealing with the harsh realities of life. Thus, if you have no concept of what the real world is like, if you have only ever gone to Christian schools of your life and been insulated in a Christian community that prefers to keep their hands tucked deep inside their coat pockets, so as not to dirty them with the dirt of unsaved people, you will not be properly equipped to "engage the world from a Christian point of view"(to use Calvin's terminology). Perhaps I am making too harsh of an assesment, as well as over-generalizing, but there is something that bothers me about much of Calvin's ideology that I still cannot put my finger on. Even though I have only actually had one day of this class, I am already sick of it. I weary of Calvin's forced Christian thought and vacillating theology. I suppose I should be thankful that I am at a Christian school that is not hostile to the beliefs I hold dear. Although sometimes I wonder if that is such a good thing. While it provides a certain security and relief from the kind of hostility I experienced at JCMU, is it altogether too insulating? Classes like DCM make me wonder about that times. The method by which the class is taught makes it feel as though the college and professors are acting as though they are our parents, and we are merely ignorant children who must be taught the basics once again about what it means to be Christians. I think the writer of Hebrews had a thing or two to say about that in Chapter five of that specific book of the Bible, but I digress. In essence, I am tired of feeling patronized. If young Christians are to properly and intelligently engage the world from a Biblical standpoint(which this so-called DCM course claims to do), we need to be challenged to think, rather than have all of our thinking done for us. May God have mercy on us all.

Back to Nagoya, my first Japanese home!

2004-11-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

considering that I still have more homework to do, and it is already 10pm here, this post will be short. I am definitely ready for this semester to be OVER! Yeah, I have learned a lot, and yeah I have had good times and bad, but right now, it seems as though the three weeks left are an eternity! I will be spending the weekend in Nagoya, visiting the Missionaries and Japanese friends that I made when I was there two years ago. I consider Nagoya my Japanese home, since it was the place where I first experienced living in Japan. Even my Japanese accent and some of my idiosynchrosies are Nagoyan. Thus, I consider myself to be something of a Nagoyan when I am in Japan, just like I think of myself as a West Virginian when I am in America. Of course, I will always and forever retain my Americanness, no matter how much I adapt to whatever situation I am in, but in terms of a Japanese home base, Nagoya is it. I have many fond memories there. It will also be a welcome reprieve from many of the students here, whom I have come to dislike, due to bad attitudes about learning Japanese, and just bad attitudes in general. I guess the saying is true, familiarity does indeed breed contempt. It is somewhat of a cruel irony when one prefers doing homework to being around other students, yet I find that the solace of my room is more welcome than the company of the other students here, which is where I am off to now, to finish what homework I have left in order to receive a much needed slumber.

Oh Sweet Serenity!

2004-11-22T23:22:00.000-08:00

Yes, that is correct,
I have will have had four consecutive days off of school so far, and it is a much needed break. I have used this time to rest up, do some fun stuff, and generally sleep in and get some much needed rest. My day today was spent grocery shopping, writing a paper in Japanese, and watching movies. A rather peaceful, uneventful day, if I do say so myslef. The last few days I have gone to Hikone Castle by myself, seen the newest Miyazaki movie(Howl's Moving Castle), gone to church, hung out with some of my Japanese friends, talked with Sarah for more than two hours on the phone, and generally taken things easy. I do not believe that I have ever needed a break as much as I needed this one. This rest has truly been something of a blessing, coming at a time when things are beginning to gear up as they prepare to end. When my departure the 20th of August comes, I will have spent almost four months here, my class cramming as much Japanese as possible into my head, and I will have seen my Japanse abilities increase greatly from when I first arrived here. This thought, as encourageing as it is, comes with the more solemn knowledge that I still have a much farther way to go before I achieve the level of fluency I want, but even if I never attain that, even if I end up doing something completely different where I will not be using my Japanese, what really matters is that I live as a witness of Christ's love to others. Do I feel that God wants me in Japan? Yes. As far as a time frame goes, it will happen when the fullness of time has come. I have also felt a gentle tugging on my heart towards somewhere in Africa like Ghana or Nigeria, for reasons I am still not completely sure of myself. The many African friends I have made at Calvin, who have given me the community and family atmosphere that I have sought after so much at Calvin, have opened my eyes to the troubles of their respective nations, and how really misunderstood the country of Africa is by Western eyes. It is just a small thought though, that remains in the back of my head, as I prayerfully ask God for the patience and peace to go wherever he leads me.
As the end is in sight here at JCMU, I look forward to returning home and seeing my family, the girl who has captured my heart, and my friends at Calvin and in WV once again. It is a thought that makes me quite excited, though there is a slight tinge of sadness at leaving the Japanese friends I have made here. I am the kind of person who can pretty much become comfortable in any situation, as long as I have a good group of friends and people who can support me emotionally and spiritually. More and more I see my adaptability and versatility in a culturally setting as something from God, and when I sit and ponder how God can use that, it brings a feeling of excitement at what He can do through me. Perhaps the deeper calling on my life is not so much to be a missionary in Japan, as much as to be a man, a vessel, a tool in the hand of the Almighty, that attests to the universal nature of God's love for ALL people. As I am refined by His fire, I pray that I would be a better witness for Him, that many can taste and see that He is good, because he loves people, even people as messed up as me.
Well, I guess this blog took on a tone that I had not originally intended, but that is quite alright. Perhaps someone who is unaware of humanity's great need for a savior will read this and stop and think about their life, and realize that they need Jesus, as desperately as I do, as desperately as we all do. That would be grand indeed, wouldn't it?

grrrrr......

2004-11-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so I think that I might try to write shorter posts, that way I can post more frequently. I was in a pretty foul mood today, mostly because I was getting tired of a lot of the different attitudes and behavior of the students here, directly and indirectly. Mostly just boils down to the fact that there are quite a few people here I would like to tell them exactly what I think about them. Fortunately, I have not gone off on anybody, even though I was in a very foul mood. My girlfriend, Sarah, says that when I am in a particularly foul mood, my whole countenance darkens. Well, it was pretty dark around me today. So I put all I had into the twenty-five minute bike ride to the college that our Buddhism class(conducted in English) is held at, which ended up only being fifteen minutes. I was moving pretty fast. I sat by myself in the dining hall and scowled at any Japanese who happened to let the idea of practicing their English with English with me cross their minds, and just generally avoiding the other Americans students(headphones are such a great way to let people know you don't feel like talking). On a side note, apparently JCMU bought two free-standing punching bags. This is very exciting for me, because it means I can work out my anger and aggression on the punching bags. I do not feel as angry anymore, but I am still just generally avoiding the other students as much as I can, aside from maybe the two Americans here who I consider friends. Lately, I haven't really been in much of a mood to deal with people and their inconsiderate ways. I know these attitudes are not the best to have, especially since, as a Christian, I am supposed to be a witness to those around me, and also because I can be just as inconsiderate at times. Perhaps avoidance is better than getting ugly with people and making a bad situation worse. There are times, though, when I just feel like lashing back at the people who lash out at me. I have a tendency to go through periods where I just get tired of dealing with people. Mind you, I don't feel this way about the people I love(i.e. my family, my girlfriend, my true friends, etc...), just the people who are harder to deal with. I guess maybe it is just the weariness of dealing with sin in people's lives, in all of its ugliness. Ironic how I care so much for people, and have such a big heart(or so I am told), and yet it I go through times like these, where I just feel angry and frustrated with not just other people, but myself as well, because I know that I am supposed to love those people like Jesus did. Oh well. If you are reading this, please be so kind as to speak a few words for me in your time with the Most High. I could use it a lot.

大変な事　or Frustrating Things

2004-11-07T01:50:00.000-08:00

Perhaps as you read this, you are wondering why I felt the need to use Japanese in an english blog, read specifically by english speakers. It all has to do with the nature of the word 大変(taihen), which pretty well describes how I have felt this last week. Taihen is, like many other Japanese words, an ambigious term with many different translations, depending on the context within which it is found. It can mean anything from "very strange" to "something troubling or hard to deal with". There is so much ambigiuty in Japanese that I think it is making its way into my head. My emotions have been something very ambigious to me this week, as I already said. It all started with the Registrar's office not having lifted my clearence to register for classes(which they said had already been done. Mind you, when I went to register for classes after my appointed time and I discovered this, it was the weekend, which meant that the problem would not be resolved for several days at least. After finally getting the clearence lifted, I had the misfortune to find out that Calvin does routine maintenance on their website very late at night, usually around 2AM. This routine maintenance made the schedule of classes, as well as the ability to register, unavailable. Since Japan is now 14 hours ahead of America, when I have the time to get online(usually 2PM or later in the afternoon), it is already late at night in America. This made for a very frustrating week for yours truly. Fortunately, despite having to rearrange my schedule, I was able to register for the classes that I needed. On top of all this, I found out that Calvin was not going to give me a Cross Cultural Engagement credit(which is a core requirement) for doing the JCMU study abroad program. After e-mailing a professor of mine back at Calvin who, bless is heart, was on my side and talked to the appropriate people, was able to acquire a way for me to receive this requirement, albeit with a bit of paper work. This on top of my normal homework made for a very stressful few days, but I have made it through and am pressing ahead.
I suppose some of the emotional ambigiuty comes from feeling the strain of not having any other Christian fellowship with the other students. Sure I have friends, but I have still been unable to connect with people on a deeper level. Despite the fact that I am a friendly person, and I am on friendly terms with most of the people here, there is no one with whom I am able to deeply express my emotions too, like I can with my girlfriend. Though I wonder if I look to people too much in that respect. I know that God fulfills all of my needs, and he is my strength, but what about the human aspect? He did not design us to be solitary beings. Nor did he set up the Church as a group of solitary individuals who share their ideas. Rather, community is an integral aspect of the spiritual and emotional makeup of human beings. America turns community into a dirty word; Japan turns it into an Idol. I suppose that coming from a large family, with parents who saw the importance of developing close bonds within the family unit, perhaps I have a stronger sense as well as a stronger need for community. Has community become my idol? How do I know if the loneliness I feel, even though I am surrounded by people, is not something that Satan uses to draw me away from God? Lately, it seems that I have been searching for where I am emotionally and spiritually. I feel as though I have retreated within myself to some degree, hiding behind old walls to protect myself from others. This is something I do not want to happen, but it seems inevitable. With the intensity of this program, it is easy to get caught up in the pace and forget about what is important, or where my focus should be, especially when I am not constantly reminded of where my focus should be by my friends, family, and girlfriend, simply because I have no friends like that here.
It may sound cynical, but I doubt if I will have any lasting friends from this experience, and I wonder if that is my fault? If anything, the Japanese friends I have will probably remain better friends than the other Americans I consider myself friends with. But the purpose of this program was not to make friends, but to improve my Japanese, which it is doing. So I guess when I look at it that way, it does not seem so bad. I suppose I should be spending more time in Prayer, eh? If you are reading this, would you please do me the kindness of mentioning me in your prayers to the almighty, and offer up some sort of request on behalf of a worn and weary soldier.

A trip to the park of your heritage!

2004-10-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

Today was possibly the best day of speaking Japanese I have had in a while. Things just seemed to flow out of my mouth, and I was shocked at how much I was understanding of what my friends were saying! My only hope is that I continue to improve in this manner, because it is exciting to think of how far I have come, yet is sobering when I think of how far I have yet to go!
Yeah, so anyways, I went to a Japanese park today which was described on the pamphlet as being a "Shiga Farming Park". No, seriously, they actually have parks like that in Japan. But get this, the entire theme of the park was Germany circa 150 years ago. I was taken there by my Japanese Conversation partners Yuya and Momoe(who are actually more like friends), and Momoe's friend Yukiko. So we went to this park and, oddly enough, I did not feel the least bit out of place, despite the fact that everybody there was Japanese! Why, might you ask, did I feel this way? Simply because I was the only person there who looked even remotely German, owing to my close to 75% German blood. Not only that, but as it occurred, I was wearing my German military issue shirt with the little German flag on each shoulder. I was indeed filled with quite a bit of pride at my German Heritage, in spite of the fact that I cannot speak a lick of the language, aside from the most basic greetings. That's right dang it, this place is about my heritage now folks, no more Japanse temples or assorted Japanese customs, no sir! In all of my time in Japan, this was probably the only time where I was not distinctly aware of my foreignness. Well, that plus the fact that I was mostly ignored by the Japanese who were there. That's right, no impolite staring or gawking at this young man, no sir! Thank God, too, all the staring I receive here gets on my nerves from time to time. Well, have to go lock up the dorm now, so I bid all you gentle readers a hearty Guten Nacht!

Need....more....coffee!

2004-10-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

It is 1 PM as I write this, and I am sitting at a computer station at the JCMU Dormitory, listening to my favorite ablum by one of my favorite bands("All That You Can't Leave Behind" by U2), feeling chill. Today is a holiday, so there is no class and nothing to do aside from some homework that still needs to be finished. So today I am going to try and finish an essay in Japanese I have kind of been dreading writing. Just seems as though I always draw a blank with that sort of thing. We are supposed to use graphs about how much kids in Japan study compared to other countries and finish writing the last three paragraphs. Not really hard to do, when it comes right down to it, but even in english I am kind of confused as to how I would finish it. I just feel terribly unmotivated right now. Especially hard when it seems that my mind keeps drifting back to Sarah. I want to do something, but I don't know what. I feel restless and aimless, without much money to spend on wasting time. I don't want to waste my time, and I want to study as much as possible, but I think maybe I am feeling a little burnt out. Not really sure exactly what I feel right now, aside from not feeling like working on that essay. Seems as though I approach the weekend with the intention of doing nothing but study, yet somehow it turns into a time for me to just crash after the stress of the week. I still study and get my homework done, but I guess it is not as much as I think I should be doing. Probably just being too hard on myself, demanding myself to be supe student who does nothing but study. Maybe I downplay my downtime too much. The old "I must be productive!" attitude seems to be popping up.
Kind of wish I had some friend here who I could chill with, but that usually is not the case, since all the people that I was getting to know really well are now on homestays and I somehow always seem to miss the group activities that other people I know are going on or I don't have the money for it. Okay, I will stop whining now. I just really miss the blessed distraction of Sarah. Sometimes I love doing things on my own, and sometimes I absolutely hate it. Guess maybe I am in a catch 22 with nothing to do. I think I will go and try and get myself into Japanese mode and crank that essay out.
My Japanese skills are kind of frustrating me right now as well. I can read just fine, I know a lot of Kanji, but when it comes to translating my own thoughts into Japanese, everything gets mixed up. Rather frustrating, indeed. Guess I just have to keep trying.
Be so kind as to mention me in prayer to the most High.
Ja Ne

Is your focus blurry?

2004-09-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

Something I have found through my walk with Christ is that, the more focused one is on Him, the more one is enabled to think of others before themselves. When the focus isn't there, one descends into a selfish introspection, looking for somebody to receive encouragement fromm, rather than looking for people to give encouragement to. Just thought that was an interesting thought that I was humility smacked with over the weekend.

2004-09-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

Don't really know what to say right now. So often I stare at the computer screen and it sucks the ideas out of my brain. I had a weekend homestay that was quite fun and rather interesting. It was fun because I got to go to universal studios in Osaka, relax, and play vids. It was interesting because I got to see the mechanics of a Japanese family that I have not been privy to before. There were a lot of other things that were of interest as well, but they are difficult to put into words.
So it is back to work now. I got a better grade on my test (just shy of a B), and I am doing my best to work hard and understand things. It isn't always easy, especially trying to think in Japanese. I have to focus my mind a great deal. I try to look with hope towards the future, when my hard work and practice will pay off.
That about does it for now.

The hopelessness of a Nation and the despair of a People

2004-09-17T03:08:00.000-07:00

So I am in Japan now, studying Japanese in an intensive program in Hikone. What can be said about this place that hasn't been said before by so many people? Yet in the placid face of lake biwa I see the face of a nation and the soul of a people who are drowning. Why do I feel this seeming hopelessness so much stronger in Japan? Perhaps it is how far removed it is from any sort of practiced Christianity, the hallmark of Western civilization. Despite the watering down of Christ's message, and the failure of the Church in America,(but really, who can we blame but ourselves? We hate hypocrisy, but fail to live honestly.) Despite this, it is still relatively easy for the time being to find a congregation of like-minded souls, without having our collective nation despise us and treat us as social outcasts(perhaps it would do us some good if we were).
In a nation with so many gods, it is amazing how Godless it really is here. I am not sure why I feel this burden, perhaps it is a sign of my call to be here and be an agent of grace. As I look around, I see a people seeking to ease the pain by whatever means possible; a people keeping such a tight rein on their emotions that without the aid of alchohol, it is terribly difficult to wash away that practiced silence; a people who are not encouraged to think, but told what to think without ever being given the chance to ask why. They are a people who are thirsty unto death, yet remain chained to the social norms and generations of tradition that has about as much meaning to my generation as a wooden pair of disposable chopsticks. They are a people who need to have the chains of their prison snapped by the radical love of Jesus. My heart aches for this nation and the wounds it tries to hide, yet small comparison it is to the one who actually bled for the redemption of their souls.
May I be a servant of the most High, that these people may taste and see that He is good.
"If I could become the servant of all,
No lower place to fall..."
~Mewithoutyou

The first post

2004-09-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

yeah, so my old blog kept sending me to linux.org, so I decided to create a new one. Feel free to look around and see what you can see, and if you are feeling gracious, leave me a comment.
Alex

2004-09-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.