Lost

Last weekend was YFC's Student Leader Retreat. It was a weekend that was on course to be the usual great time of bonding and learning... and indeed the retreat was all of those things, but it certainly was not typical.

Saturday afternoon three of the girls went out for a hike through the woods. Several other students and staff had taken the same excursion, following the paths down to the creek. But due to some confusion, the girls took a wrong path.

At around 5:30 we started dinner, and some noticed that we were short a few people. We figured out the girls had left around 3pm, and figured there was a chance they just lost track of time. So we waited a little longer. When they still hadn't showed, we sent out a team of three staff members to search for them. By the time our make-shift search team left, it was already getting pretty dark.

Half an hour later, around 7pm, there was still no sign of them, but our three leaders believed they were following the girls' tracks on an unofficial path. The snow was deep, the woods were dark, and one of the three staff following the tracks told me he felt some strong emotions during that time. Walking with his light, warm clothes, and cell phone, he thought of these girls who had been out lost in the cold for 4 hours now. Being lost, alone, and completely ill-equipped, how scared and desperate must they feel? He told me he found himself crying as they walked, with this overwhelming sensation of what they must be feeling. He could see better what they were experiencing because he was walking their path.

I think of the path of man. In this life we are by ourselves, lost, and ill-equipped for the things of life. I believe we all come to grasps with how we have no real control over our lives, and how we really don't know what we're doing... as well as me may put up a front like we have it all figured out.

It was Christ who came to Earth. Christ, who walked the same path as us, and connected with the harshness of humanity. But as much as he walked our path, he was not in he same position as us. He was not ill-equipped. He had the necessities that we did not have... he had the Truth!

Our search team was equipped with blankets, water, communication, medical supplies, and light; all the things these girls needed, but were without. It was a rescue mission. That's why Jesus came, to rescue us. He came with allt he things we needed to save us from our situation.

I don't think that God was unable to relate to humanity without Jesus coming, but it certainly does show us a commonality, an understanding, and an intentionality; joining us in marriage of closeness, love, and rescue.

The girls were found and taken to the hospital. They turned out to be fine, which was great. It was a hard time for everyone, but I do think there is some good understanding that came out of it.

Living Like Jesus? Really?

Hmm, he drops a couple bombshells in there.

I would gain so much persecution from my fellow Christian family members if I ever did this.  Sadly mostly because of the beard.

Splitting Hairs

I posted a blog on my other site that is probably more geared to this one, so here is a link.

Along For The Ride

As a Campus Life director, I am always looking for media clips that will help illustrate a point. You know, that scene that makes the idea I'm speaking on come to life, and allows the students to identify more practically with the subject matter. Creating this connection between a thought being conveyed and the audience is key to any speaker.

There is a plethora of scenes that portray moral, heart-felt words that demonstrate virtuous characteristics and world views. I have a library of clips in my head, categorized by topical affiliation. It struck me, despite the total lapse in morality in today's movies, I can so easily find moments of moral integrity in almost any film. It seems so paradoxical.

I have stumbled upon some very sensitive material that Hollywood doesn't want you to realize. That's why I'm going to be writing a book called "Hollywood Insights 'They Don't Want You To Know About,'" seeing as how this format is working so well for Kevin Trudeau.

Movies take you for a ride, and they don't drop you off at the destination they promise. Here's a common layout for modern day comedy. Introduce the protagonist (or antagonist who gradually becomes a protagonist), who is currently living in a state that is obviously off from what is the proper way to live. The movie will make light of the character's lifestyle, but indirectly assume that there is something fundamentally superficial; enjoyable, yet ultimately unfulfilling about this person.

We embark on a journey that saturates us in immoral lies about actual life. The character lives in a greatly exaggerated state of how some actual less-than-righteous individuals might think or live. Since a major goal of cinema is to immerse the watcher into the movie, the audience member's reality becomes the movie for it's duration. Anytime you are immersed into anything, something is bound to stick (whether good, bad, or neutral). In most cases someones guard is not completely lifted, but softened during a movie; giving way to susceptibility.

You will notice that the bulk of iniquity is found near the beginning or middle of the movie, while the end has a twist of uprightness. It's about taste. A sweet morsel covers a bitter taste, so you forget it was ever there. As the movie ends and your mind is freed up to process what you have just taken in, you remember the good, and can deem it an acceptable film. But the quotable moments, or those you will laugh at and are embedded into your mind consist of the vulgar, the unrealistic, the stuff your grandmother would not approve of.

In the end, the protagonist has gained a compromised perspective of right and wrong. It's better than where they started, and it has relics of admirable qualities; however, the final product is only good in a relative sense to where they started. There is a great lack of true virtue. But because it is more easy to identify things in a relative fashion than a static way, guided by truth, faith, and philosophy, we are more likely to applaud the "moral of the story." And realize it or not, our understanding of right and wrong has been tweaked.

The ride is from a place of perversion to a place of middle ground. We pick up all the junk along the way and are fed a spoonful of compromised morality. Bravery, friendship, acceptance, education, maturity, and dedication are good things, but they are not inherently good. They are good when the are coupled with truth and love. Movie emphasize the former and neglect the latter. Thus we look for the right things in the wrong places and expect a Hollywood ending.

Media greatly determines what we will accept as our next reality. Remain skeptic of a movie's moral finish. Discern what is truly right, wrong, good, and bad... then hold everything up to that light. Don't just go along for the ride, have an intended destination.