Life and Death

So many things are running through my head today and I believe that it is quite possibly the result of having two cups of coffee. Either the coffee has made my brain extraordinarily active or it has woken me up enough to actually pay attention to what has been occupying my mind for weeks and months. There are several topics that I have been pondering and because I am such a fan of lists and bullet point I will use them to illustrate and organize my brain.
• Death
     No, I don’t normally dwell on death, especially since I am such an enthusiastic advocate of life, but for whatever reason death has been on the brain. I believe that as I get older death becomes more and more real and less and less foreign and distant. I know that I am one of those very fortunate people who has never lost a parent, a child, or a sibling at a premature age but the more these tragedies fall upon people that I care about, the closer death seems to creep. Grandmothers, grandfathers, moms, dads, and even siblings of my friends have departed and every time this happens, a small piece of my heart breaks even if I never met the deceased person. I often wonder if I have an overdramatized sense of empathy or if it is foolish of me to be emotionally affected at someone else’s loss. Whenever I worry about this, I must remember that it is good to weep with those who weep and laugh with those who laugh. As long as I love and express compassion I suppose it is not a bad thing to grieve alongside my comrades.
• Life
     Life is often a much more fruitful topic than death but what do I think about depressed or melancholic dispositions? I have not decided yet. I am an optimist but I know several people who are pessimists. I do not think it is a bad thing to be either but can both parties take each view to an extreme? I’m sure they can; an overly optimistic person could have the tendency to ignore complications and problems in life, whereas a pessimistic person might overemphasize trials and forget to hope for anything good. Finding a nice, solid balance in realism is very difficult I think.

That is life and death. There is more that I have been pondering but I do not have the energy to voice it all today.
Food for thought!
~C

My Weekdays in Pictures

What Will Really Be Gone...??

     I get in the car, on the way home from work, and am instantly engulfed in the music that the radio has pumped out for hundreds of listeners. As I drive I feel tired and worn down from the long day of work. I suddenly snap to attention when lyrics of an annoying, repetitive, pop song mention Jesus. I know that I am not listening to a Christian radio station and I listen curiously- wondering why they would say such a precious name without cursing. The lyric continued on, “Got Jesus on my necklace/ I’ve got that glitter on my eyes/ Stockings ripped all up the side/ Looking sick and sexyfied/ So let’s go-o-o/ Let’s go”. I sat in my car, appalled as I passed the well-lit Clackamas Town Center mall.
     What kind of trash was this? Whoever this girl was (I learned later that it was Ke$ha singing), she was singing about living her life in the moment, doing whatever she wanted, owning her own illusion of life, and using Jesus as a fashion statement, of all the things. I was struck. My Lord and Savior, was not being used as a curse for vain and angry ends but even worse; used as a fashionable idol to make a girl and her friends sexually appealing to whoever they met on their strung-out, head banging, booty popping adventures. After the sheer shock of this realization I felt very sad. How do people find joy in the numbness of the party scene? The rest of the lyrics rang with the ecstasy found in drugs, sex, alcohol, and paving one’s own way in a distorted ideal of what life should be like.
     That was last night. This morning, on my way to school I switched on the Christian radio station and listened halfheartedly, tired from a long night with little to no rest. Again, song lyrics caught my attention but not because I heard the name Jesus. I heard the word “gone” sung over and over again. Now, I was dreadfully confused. The secular station is singing “Jesus” and the Christian one is singing “gone” but as I paid attention I realized there was a depth behind the “gone” that “We R Who We R” did not. It is a song by Switchfoot and I thought it was worth sharing all of the lyrics.
     It is a song about what really matters in this short life on earth and what truly means nothing. It was a nice reality check. As Christians, we are weird and odd and have a strange faith but it makes perfect sense and is very eternally satisfying. I was encouraged.
    Press on.

~ C

"Gone" by Switchfoot

She told him she'd rather fix her makeup

Than try to fix what's going on

But the problem keeps on calling 

Even with the cellphone gone

She told him that she believes in living 

Bigger than she's living now

But her world keeps spinning backwards 

And upsidedown

Don't say so long, and throw yourself wrong

Don't spend today away

Cuz today will soon be 

[Chorus:]

Gone, like yesterday is gone, 

Like history is

Gone, just trying to prove me wrong 

And pretend like you're immortal

She said he said live like no tomorrow

Every day we borrow

Brings us one step closer to the edge (infinity)

Where's your treasure, where's your hope

If you get the world and lose your soul

She pretends like she pretends like she's immortal

Don't say so long

You're not that far gone

This could be your big chance to makeup 

Today will soon be

[Chorus:]

Gone, like yeterday is gone, 

Like history is gone,

The world keeps spinning on,

Your going going gone, 

Like summer break is gone,

Like saturday is gone

Just try to prove me wrong 

You pretend like your immortal your immortal

We are not infinite 

We are not permanent

Nothing is immediate

We're so confident 

In our accomplishments

Look at our decadence

[Chorus:]

Gone, like Frank Sinatra

Like Elvis and his mom

Like AL Pacino's cash nothing lasts in this life

My highschool dreams are gone

My childhood sweets are gone

Life is a day that doesn't last for long

Life is more than money 

Time was never money

Time was never cash,

Life is still more than girls 

Life is more than hundred dollar bills

And roto-tom fills

Life's more than fame and rock and roll and thrills

All the riches of the kings

End up in wills we got information in the information age

But do we know what life is 

Outside of our convenient Lexus cages

She said he said live like no tomorrow 

Every moment that we borrow

Brings us closer to the God who's not short of cash 

Hey Bono I'm glad you asked

Life is still worth living, life is still worth living

Posted by a Proud, Proud Sister

My brother and our dear friend Sarah have both thrust themselves, head on into speech and debate. Together they have compiled and mastered a ten-minute duo speech depicting and quoting Katherine Patterson's masterpiece, The Bridge to Terebithia. They will be competing with this speech in the Regional NCFCA tournament this spring. I am very excited and very proud of both of them!
Please enjoy one of their performances now!

~ C

Downtown with Dad...at Midnight!!

Last night my dad and I went on the first date we have had in a very, very long time. It was incredible.

We went to dinner at 9pm (because we both had work and Ty, Ry, J, and Austin's basketball games), then from around 10:30pm to 1:00am we drove downtown Portland and explored!!

I had never walked around downtown with the freedom to soak it all in without the worry of time and schedules. He showed me the Pioneer Courthouse Square and the tiny, little amphitheater where your voice seems to echo off the city itself! We saw a great ship mast that was donated to the city at the end of the life of a great marine ship called the U.S.S. Oregon. Nicknamed "the bulldog of the navy" because it was an awesome ship!!

We walked and talked and he told me about the history of different buildings and fun facts behind them. We even went up to Portland City Grill to see what the restaurant looked like and the view from the 30th floor- it was beautiful. We could see all the different colored, twinkling lights and it was very lovely.

Also, we explored the building that Finnegan's Toys resides in and walked up all twelve flights of stairs. That was so much fun. We were awesome and pretty much like Jason Bourne. (On a mission to find the bathroom!!)

There were plenty of police around at midnight in downtown and we saw one man get grabbed by the cops, cuffed, and given a harsh talking to. Eventually, they let him go. Not sure what the trouble was but he wasn't their man. That was very fun and interesting. Also, a drunk Russian ran past us screaming, "I'm Russian!!!!!!!" and a very stoned man, in the passenger's seat of a car, was blowing bubbles out the window.

Oh, and Valentine's Day. Dad was a peach earlier this week, on Valentine's Day!! He brought me dinner at work- Panda Express- and it made me very very happy. I also got a lovely heart sucker from Grandma.

      

Altogether, it was an absolutely fantastic time and I hope to be going on more dates with my dad. I'll have to steal him away sometime and be distracted at ungodly hours of the night but it will be and has been so worth it. I love my dad so, so, so, so, SO much! He's amazing.

~ C