The Peace of God

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

This is not a biblical command to have peace but I think if we are not taking advantage of this benefit that Christ has left us then we are being awfully foolish. So recently I've been trying to be at peace and when I'm not I try to figure out why. Here are some notes from my journal about what this peace is that isn't the peace of the world but is rather the peace of God.

Peace is a triune unity of the internal components of a person. The mind, soul and spirit must all be united under a common love for God thus enabling a person to have peace despite their external circumstances. The flesh must be dead, the sin nature must be eradicated so our spirit is made pure and our minds must be purified. If all these things are accomplished a person will be able to rest secure knowing his purpose and his Lord. For this to be accomplished the sinful nature must be killed through a divine act of grace and replaced, again by divine grace, by a "spirit of righteousness". A after our sin nature is dead their is still the problem of our fleshly habits, like a an army without its general these passions and desires wander hither and yon through our parts exciting unnatural emotions, making us long for the impossible and allowing us to assume the absurd as factual. These fleshly habits must be conquered and subdued using every weapon in our hevanly arsenal. Things such as penance, self discipline, friendly counsel and study are what will allow us to wage war against the flesh, which is powerful even without the sin nature inside us. By waging war against the flesh a human subjugate his mind to Gods. By allowing Christ to supplant our sin nature and raise a substitute to take its place a human will subjugate his spirit and will to God. The soul like a weak emperor will merely follow the advice of its counselors the spirit and mind meaning that if the spirit and mind are subjugated to God the soul will quickly follow suit. The mind and the spirit will guide the soul and thus will the whole of a human be subjugated to Gods will allowing for the influx of the peace of Christ. This peace does not come from a connection between the inner parts of a person but a subjugation of each individual part to God which results in all the parts of a person being in unity with each other. In this way may one acquire the peace of God, not the peace of the world but the peace that the Godhead has amongst itself, holy and perfect, simple yet elegant, powerful and attractive. We all long for it but it must be sought out.

I believe this is why the early Christian ascetics went to such extremes to purge their bodies of sin. They didn't think that somehow they could earn their way to heaven rather they had an almost fanatical desire to commune with God and they recognized as we need to recognize in our modern era that the thing separating us from God is the flesh. Now unlike the early ascetics commune with God must not be our top priority because if it was we'd all go become hermits. Communion with God however is an essential part of Christianity and if our flesh has not been purged then we are missing out on the "joy" of knowing Christ. If all we know is that we ought to be serving Christ and can not commune with Him because we remain bound to our flesh then we are living a miserable existence and we seek joy in things of the flesh rather then the spirit which leads to living a double life and ultimately to damnation. True peace of God however is devoid of fear and lives in perfect harmony with our Creator. Let us be encouraged to pursue Him and seek His fellowship

Feel free to comment and point out the flaws of my thinking. I really appreciate it when anyone shares their opinion on what I write.

Coming Second in a Fat Man Race

So when Christmas break came rolling around this year I decided I probably ought to plan something so I dont just sit and waste away the three precious weeks that I have of relative freedom. I needed to do two things 1. Finish City of God 2 Stay on top of latin over the break so I dont forget everything I was supposed o have learned already. I finished City of God really quickly and since Latin doesn't take all day I planned to use the next week for pleasure reading. I felt I had earned a little break after City of God and so I decided to read the Harry Potter series, something I've wanted to do for awhile but because of the frivolous nature of its subject I never took the time to read it. Anyhow, thanks to Mandie Morris and the Simsbury Library I was able to borrow all seven books and finished them in just over a week. Fastest 4000 pages I've ever read, although It doesn't really mean anything important because their are still people who read them faster. Hence the reason for the title of this blog, I raced to read the Harry Potter books which is really easy and so equivalant to a fat man race but i still lost because I didn't even win the race....oh well.

I promised myself while I reading that after i was done I'd write up an opinion of the series. I'll try not to reveal too much of the stories for those who havn't read them yet or are in process of reading. So let us begin.

Worst Characters: Harry Potter
I hated that he was the hero, he was an arrogant, haughty, selfish, greedy little squirt. Never once and I actually looked for this as I read, did he say "I'm sorry" for any of the life threatening situations he dragged his friends into or for any of the problems that he caused. He always tried to justify what he had done or what happened to him by blaming something else, never or very rarely did he ever acknowledge that he was ever at fault. He had no thought for the thoughts or emotions of the girls he dated, he merely wanted them for his own emotional gratification. Lastly he never cared about the rules, his morals were the ends justify the means which obviously doesn't make sense.

Favorite Charcter: Professor Snape
He was the only one who saw Potter for what he was, a little tyke with an ego big enough to match his legend but not his actual personality. Snape was the only one who trusted Dumbelodre to the last even though Dumbeldore didn't tell him everything and even though Snape knew Harry had to be the hero of the story. Snape was in my opinion the real hero of the story.

Other Favotire Character: Luna Lovegood because she was the only girl who didn't need a boy to kiss, she was confident in who she was regardless of what other people thought of her.

Neville Longbottom because when Harry had seemingly died and all hope was lost Voldermot asked him in person to change sides and Neville replied "I'll join you when all Hell freezes over" and proceeded to cut off the snakes head.

The good and bad elements of the book: When I started the series I was warned by a few people that the books were something evil. When one reads fiction he must understand that a good fictional author is one who can totally divorce their work from reality. So while in reality, witches, wizards, werewolves, vampires, warlocks are undeniably evil in this false reality that the author created these beings are good or bad depending on the choices of that individual. When one is willing to make that jump and acknowledge that in the books witches are not evil simply because they are called witches, their is very little that makes the books evil. The code at one point to get into the ministry of magic is 6,4,2,2,4 which is assumed to relate to the satanic number 666 however that is really the only thing I found that one could say is evil. For Christians seeking justification in reading the books I actually found many Christian themes. The idea that love is more powerful then hatred, that blood must be paid to regain life, that loyalty is more important the glory. One could even draw a comparison from Harry Potter to Jesus if one is willing to make a few stretches. Harry Potter the boy who lived the one who would succumb to death to conquer death and returned from what he thought was death to save the world from the evil Voldermort closely resembles the story of Jesus who came to earth and lived to die and then return from the dead to defeat death and conquer Satan.

Ultimatlly I think the books were neither evil nor good. its just like a wand its not the wand that is good or bad its the one who carries it, such is it with books. The series was undoubtlay a waste of time and so I'd only advise reading it if you feel your able to abandon reality for a week or however long it takes you to read it because its a very good story when the reader is not distracted by the cares of reality. Much like an elongated movie, when your done with it you feel like you just woke up from a long nap and have to pick up the threads of life where you left them.

Good Old Plinky.

So I'm not going to apologize for not posting because I have my reasons, I just hope people haven't stopped checking my blog because of a shortage of posts. Seeing as how I posted fourteen days straight I think I earned myself a little slack. I wasn't going to post today either but today's Plinky question was far to thought provoking. Here it is, *drumroooooooooollllll*

If their was no consequences what is the most evil thing you would do?

A superb question and one that in my younger years I actually devoted considerable hours of daydreaming to. These thoughts normally led to daring exploits such as becoming and expert assassin/inquisitor and being a sort of Robin Hood. Making myself appear that I'm doing good but in reality I would feed off an established system of authority to make myself happy.

Those dreams however are long gone. Realistically if I could choose one evil thing to do and not get caught I'd try to bring about the downfall of some powerful organization that I dont particularly like. Not necessarily because I dont like the task that it is doing I just think the resources that organization uses could be better used elsewhere. Agenices like the DMV *scowls* or society's dedicated to the protection of animals or companies that produce "christian" media for the public to make it more appealing and less threatening. I'd use more violent means then legislation and vent my frustration on such organizations by perhaps killing the last Eight Eyed Purple Glow in the Dark Filipino Butterfly Moth Bug or possibly nudging a bicyclist who thinks he's a car and trys to take up a driving lane.

So now that you all have a glimpse into my dark side and know a bit more about the things I'd delete pretty quick if I had a bit more power and a bit less conscience, I'll go to bed and leave you to wonder what sort of foul deeds you'd commit if God went off watch.

PS. I'm reading the Harry Potter books, hardcore and trying to finish them as quickly as possible...hence my not posting. I've been holding out on a post about the books and the reasons people dislike them until after I've done, so it might be Monday or Tuesday before I get to that.

Christmas Tree Adventure 2010

Every year for the past year my family leaves my parents at home to make us hot chocolate while the rest of us go on an adventure to pick out the perfect Christmas tree. Over the years we've allowed various outsiders to observe as we participate in this sacred tradition. This year we allowed our good friend Dr. Super Genius Man John Vaz to join us. We figured we could use his extensive medical training to help us when someone was inevitably hurt in the violent games of tag we play each year while looking for the tree.

Here is the genius man himself with my youngest sister.

Nathan is lamenting the absence of a check in the card he just opened.

There we are, all bundled up and ready to go.

So begins the search. Pickings were slim as you can see.

"What about this one?"

"sorry Sarah, to short, plus theirs not enough room for presents underneath."

One hour gone and Daniel is getting tired, all the trees are starting to look the same.
and then we found it. After two hours of a meticulous run through of the entire field we happened upon "the fatty" wide and bulbous and with plenty of room underneath for presents we though we might have found "the one"

taking a second look from the other side.

Some of us were doubting that "Fatty" was the right tree for us so we played a game while we decided. Rules, real simple, catch the little remote control helicopter that Jordan has in his hands, and dont trip and die on all Christmas tree stumps.

Finally after a game of ninja it was decided that Fatty was not the tree for us and that it would be better to buy one of the ones that they had already precut and laid outfront. However we swore on oath and signed our names in blood that if the fatty is there next year we'll return and get it. String it with popcorn and give it the home it has been grown for ever since it was a little sprout.

On the tractor ride back we all agreed we had made a good decision.

and then some of us were just cold.

The last and final challenge was how do we get the tree that we did choose home? Since we sold the van we no longer have a massive car to transport things around in. We wound up lashing the tree to the roof of my dads car and drove very carefully all the way home. So ends the story of the Lagans search for a Christmas tree. A happy ending for us because we found the tree we had been wanting but a sad ending for Fatty who remains cold and shivering in the back left corner of the Christmas tree field just waiting for someone to go and pick him.

Midnight Meditations.

So without going into much detail I've been particularly frustrated recently. I dont even really no why. My life is awesome and in all honesty its really really hard to stay grumpy for any amount of time simply because their are always fun things that I could be doing...things I often am not willing to participate in like movies, video games ect... So I've been doing alot of thinking, trying to answer this question, "why do I have a lack of peace?" Trying to answer this question gave rise to numerous other questions like, "if I'm a Christian and the God I serve is the Prince of Peace then shouldn't I be at peace all the time?" Am I even a Christian? what exactly does Prince of Peace mean, perhaps, peace is something different and more complicated then merely a calmness of the inner being? All these questions have been pounding through my head day and night, haunting my dreams and making life a chore, doing the things I normally love like talking to friends or playing games with my siblings or eating or praying all proved tiring and so for the past two weeks I've allowed Satan to drag me deeper and deeper in this quagmire of guilt, remorse and self doubt. I think most of you know what sort of quagmire I'm talking about, most of us have experienced it at some point some of us are in the midst of it right now.

It wasn't until this evening that I really allowed God to give me some encouragement. Now the frustration is not gone, it is still terribly real as are all my feelings and as is this quagmire which I still need to work through but I do have some thoughts from my time with God earlier this evening which were helpful, so here they are. I'm putting them in list format to avoid being all confusing and to possibly lessen the prevalence of my grammatical errors.

I. beliefs determine our actions.
II. Our thoughts determine our beliefs
III. actions show us what we believe.
IIII. Our thoughts determine our reactions to feelings.
V. People must make mental effort to control their feelings, not to subdue hide or pretend their not there.
VI. We can not control our circumstances
VII. God can control our circumstances
VIII. Our circumstances are the barrier between allowing us to feel how our thoughts wants us to.
VIIII. To the degree that we can ignore our circumstances is the degree to which our thoughts determine our feelings.
X. God wants us to embrace reality while trusting in Him and so we can not merely abandon the world around us for a sense of spiritual bliss like the Hindu monks

In light of all these random facts which are merely the output of my mind computer not necessarily an insight I had from reading the word, a question is raised. Does God command us to feel particular ways, or does He merely expect us to act certain ways? I think the evidence is very clear that he commands us to feel things. He commands us to love, to be at peace to be humble all of which are at least have some feeling component they are not straight out commands they are more states of being. If God commands us to feel a certain way and yet we cannot control entirely how we feel without forsaking the world and being hermits then doesn't that mean that God commands us to do something we can not do? If this is true then how is that fair, how can God command us to do things we can not do then judge us guilty when we dont do them?

There is the impass at which I found myself and only tonight did God remind me of something I had written alot about in my journal a few months ago, mainly that God commands us all the time to do things we can not. He commands us to be perfect and love your neighbor as ourself and to forsake everything and follow Him these are commands that are entirely impossible to accomplish without His divine intervention. So answering my own question above "does God command us to do things we can not do?" Yes he does and He in His own perfect timing enables us to do just as He pleases. So how is it fair that God asks us to do things we can not do? It isn't
Why does God have to be fair to us He's God and the day He decides to be fair is the day I'd stop calling Him God. Justice is not treating everyone fairly, its treating them according to their worth and ability.

Tell me what you think, where I am wrong? where were my thoughts were misguided by carnal desires or the significant lack of green tea in my diet recently?

Oh I almost forgot, Over The Hills and Far Away by Nightwish is really cool. I've been listening to it all night.

Meh

So I'm not sure what to post about. I'd like to post about something intellectual that I've been learning about such as God's peace or sanctification or the defense of the gospel or the biblical God as opposed to the American perception of god but all my studies in those various fields are simply producing more questions then answers, questions to which I have no answers. So I can not blindly write about a topic that I have no answers for.

On a more exciting note, I'm hopefully going to finish getting my permit tomorrow. *fingers crossed* I went on Monday and passed the written test but failed the vision test. So I have to go and see the eye doctor, get glasses and pass the vision test. All three of which are scheduled for tomorrow. Its also Jordan's birthday, he's turning fourteen lucky guy that he is. I wish I was fourteen again. I'll do a longer post later when I have some answers to those questions.

Here's something for you all to chew on and hopefully comment on if you have any answers. Mark 1:15, read it, think about it. Depending on your translation it will say "and saying The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel" Now this is Jesus talking and he's saying believe in the gospel. Dont most modern Christians when they hear the word gospel think of the good news of Jesus birth life death and resurrection? What gospel is Jesus referring to, what good news is he telling us to believe?

Their is my question for you, if any of you have any good topics you'd like me to blog about please let me know because I'm having a difficult time coming up with things.

Thankfulness Post, Day 14

I'm thankful for today, it was pretty epic.
Stage 1. Early Morning Football.
This morning my family prepared for my church s annual football game. Since I have so many male siblings my family is always expected to make a good showing. Today we had six players, Nathan (8) Ezra (11) Jordan (13) Me (16) Daniel (22) Daddy (?). We headed out about nine complete with headbands and football jerseys. I wore my traditional Ricky Williams jersey, for those of you who dont know, Ricky Williams was kicked out of football for multiple years because of drug abuse but tradition is tradition so I had to wear the jersey. The games were really good and very evenly matched. Their were no girls, which made it much easier and it was not really windy only horribly cold. I started out playing poorly but I redeemed myself later on when I caught an interception which I returned for a touchdown and made a full layout to catch a ball that was actually meant for my older brother. My team won by a slight very small margin of two points.

Stage 2. Dinner
We had a very small crowd this year. One of my mom's brothers came up from New York with his family. We had our resident Super Genius Man Man come over, more commonly known as Dr John Vaz he is the culmination of all things respectful and gentlemanly. In total we had a scanty 13 people, 13 people to consume enough food for an army. Let me tell you, finishing all that food was rough like really really difficult. We somehow managed though to consume the majority of our feast and left the remains for tomorrow.

Stage 3. Conversation/Dessert 1
After dinner we rotated doing dishes and talking with our guests. We had an excellant Pecan Pie which has been an old tradition from the times of my grandmother. *whispers* I think my mom makes my great grandmothers recipe for Pecan pie better then she did. We talked about The City of God and the turbelant times during which The Church was proclaimed the state religion of the Roman Empire and all the struggles that went along with that imperial decision.

Stage 4. Dessert 2
Bidding farewell to our guests we loaded into our cars (its really sad, I can't say van anymore *sniff sniff* because we sold our epicly large 15 passenger van and we are now a two car family) but we loaded into our cars and headed over to my grandmothers house where all of my dads family has gathered for another dessert session. We passed the evening playing cards, I had the worst luck, and eating a combination of Cherry, Pumpkin, Apple, Boston Cream and Blueberry pies.

Stage 5. Home again and I'll probably soon be rolling my tired, sore stuffed body up to my bed.


It was one of the best Thanksgiving I can remember but today wasn't even the point of this post, I mean I"m thankful for today and all but I dont want to end this whole thankfulness exercise on being thankful for something I couldn't have avoided even if I wanted to. So I'll share with you something interesting I thought about today. As I was riding in the car I had an interesting thought and it made me really thankful, thankful that everyone is not like me. I mean I like me alot (being totally serious) and I love watching as God molds me into whatever clay vessel he's gonna make me. Sometimes it looks like a pretty vase and other times it looks like a dumpy inkwell but either way I know I'm being crafted by the Master Craftsmen. So my thought today was "what if everyone was like me?" Pontificating on this question made me sooooo happy that everyone is not like me. lol I mean honestly how boring would life be? No one would laugh at my jokes no one would be there to pick up when they fall and no one would be their to pick me up when I fall. The only thing I could really do well with myself would be play Age of Empires and that gets boring after awhile. So throughout the day I've been coming to appreciate the advantages that their are and the enormous wisdom that God had in enabling human genes to come up with an infinite combination of character traits and physical features. We truly serve a creative God with an awesome sense of humor. I mean just look at me? Doesn't it just make you chuckle and say "God you did that?....really... you made that? are you sure that was smart?"

So now that this fourteen days of thankfulness is over I hope we wont forget throughout the upcoming year how grateful we ought to be all the time. I think I'm gonna periodically scatter a couple more thankfulness posts throughout each month just to keep my mind focused correctly and I'd encourage you all who were disciplined enough to do this for fourteen days straight to make the effort to do it once or twice a month. How hard can it be if we do it together?

Thankfulness Post, Day 13

I'm very much vexed because I was gonna post about something really cool and then forgot what it was. So now I'm stuck and with only 36 minutes left until tomorrow I need to come up with something quick. Today, at my churches Thanksgiving Eve service we played a really neat hymn that I hadn't heard in awhile called, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. I was really thankful for that song because earlier we had sung three or four other songs which were not bad by any means but they just didn't have much substance they were kinda the fluffy modern worship songs. Recently I've come to appreciate hymns enormously, they are not merely fluffy songs that have all the right words but have no meaning in them. I think what makes hymns so special and powerful is that they were written through the passion of men who had experianced the power of the living God and had felt His saving grace. A Mighty Fortress is our God was written by Martin Luther during the the turbalant times of the Reformation. It Is Well With My Soul was written by Horatio Spafford after he had lost all his property in The Great Chicago Fire, his only son to an unknown incurable disease and all four of his daughters to a shipping accident. Their is power in words that come from the heart of a grieving father or a wearied pastor or a troubled child. We must appreciate the power in these relics of history that tell stories of darkness and frustration being conquered by God's power.


Here is a list of some of my favorite hynms, comment with ones I forgot to include or with ones that are particularly special to you: Be Thou My Vision, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Come Ye Sinners, All Hail The Power of Jesus' Name, Doxology, It is well, In Christ Alone, Amazing Grace, A Might Fortress Is Our God and A Call to Prayer

Thankfulness Day 10, 11 and 12

Considering the enormous amount of things I have to be thankful for and taking into consideration the enormity of my blessings I can not fathom why I still have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. I have everything to look forward to and yet I get upset at the slightest provocation and can in an instant forget all my blessings and go back to the old ways of self love and sin. In an effort to keep myself from hearkening back to the old ways of self indulgence I'll try to make this post longer and move involved then previous posts.

So Sunday was a very interesting day, I've ceased to say whether days are good or bad because I can not trust my feelings to tell me whether it was good or bad because my feelings are often misguided and I can not trust the circumstances to tell me if it was good or bad because circumstances do not prove the morality of an action. Needless to say Sunday was an interesting day and it prompted me to include in this post my gratitude for the Sabbath. Historically the sabbath whether it was a Saturday or Sunday was a day of celebration and rejoicing. In ancient Jewish culture the sabbath was a time to rejoice in all that God had done for His people. In the early church you were allowed only to pray/worship standing up with your arms upraised on the Sabbath because it was day for rejoicing and not for repentance. You were supposed to be right with God before the Sabbath because on the Sabbath was the day set aside to praising God not sadness or regret. Today our sabbath has become something of a drudgery, we're glad for the day off from school and the time we can spend with friends at church but its almost like the glory of Sunday is darkened by the knowledge that we have to go to school the next day. I'm thankful for the historical view of the Sabbath and this view is one I'm trying to implant into myself. Sunday is not meant to be a drudgery or merely another day of the weekend, rather it is a time to rejoice together with the brothers and sisters of the faith, to rejoice in the remembrance of what God has done for us. Everything from Creation to the Exodus to the Resurrection and all subsequent divine acts of God that are worthy of praise. We must make Sunday a day of remembrance and empowerment not merely a day to cram all your homework into that you didn't do on Saturday. The day is holy and has the potential to be so much more then we let it.

Remembering the great acts of God brought me my second thing I'm thankful for. Some of you know this whole story, others have heard it in part and to some of you this will be entirely new. Know that it was divine grace that allowed this story to happen not luck or the good fortune of my parents.
For many years my family has been the recipient of thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of food. Stage 1. Over a decade ago my family approached the owners of a local Dunkin Donuts after noticing that every night the person who closed simply threw away all the leftover donuts and bagels. The manager agreed to allow my family to pick up all the leftover food from the weekends at no cost if we came at ten thirty every Saturday and packed it all up ourselves. For I think eight years my family got these donuts every weekend and what we didn't keep we brought to church the next day so the rest of the body could benefit from Gods blessing.
Stage 2. During that eight year period my father was in and out of work relatively frequently for two or two and half years. During those years we drove to the Farmers Market (a massive warehouse where all the veggies from around the world are dropped off and local grocery stores come and pick up their fruits and vegetables) At the farmers market their is a place where they sell bad or rotting produce for really inexpensive, really inexpensive meaning 1$ or 2$ for a massive crate of oranges or apples. The so called "rotten" produce normally had maybe one or two bad products in each box so we were able to get enough fruits and veggies at really low prices enough to feed my whole family. Sometimes we were lucky and got good stuff like melons and apples but other times they had more exotic things. Sometimes dad would come home with four crates of Radishes which required much more creativity to enjoy.
Stage 3. I saved the best for last because I didn't want to end on something boring. Now the Dunkin Donuts deal stopped about two years ago because the owner of the branch changed and a few other variables came into existence that made the free donuts not worth pursuing. The Farmers Market cheap produce section closed down and were not sure why but God who knew the needs of my large family decided to give us something else. Using the same tactics that we used for Dunkin Donuts we talked to the owners of a local Panera Bread and they agreed to let us come every Friday and Saturday night after the store closed and take all the leftover bread and pastries, this usually numbers three or four boxes. If you've been to Panera you know how expensive it is and its the finest quality bread you can get. So every week God gives us more bread then my family could possibly eat, enough that we can bring hundreds of dollars worth of bread to church every week. This deal with Panera is still going on and all you who go to my church can agree that it is awesome.

So I think that qualifies as three days of thankfulness. I hope that reading helped you all think of those special things God did for you which you can be thankful for.

I will finish this Thankfulness thing

Just for the record I'm gonna post later today for today and the other two days that I missed I've just been horribly busy these past two days.

Thankfulness Post Day 9

Audio books are something that recently I've become really thankful for. During school I generally listen to music and over the past few months I have listened to my limited musical collection to the degree that its tedious to hear the same songs again. So in need of something to distract me during the tediousness of schoolwork and finding myself at the library with ten minutes to spare I searched the audio books section. I stumbled upon The Da Vinci Code and The Shack, two books that I'd heard lots about but knew I'd never actually take the time to read. I checked out those two at our libraries fancy automatic no librarian required check out machine and have been listening to them over the past two weeks. Both were good and both were infinitely more enjoyable because I had someone reading them with funny voices and I didn't have to read them myself.

Now I figured out the hard way that listening to audio books only works well with novels or stories and not with non fiction works, books like histories and textbooks or theological works.. You can experiment for yourself but I think this principle will hold true for most everyone.

So if you have a novel/story that you've always wanted to read and just dont have the time then find it at the library and listen to it while you do school, or while you knit, or do it in place of watching Psych on Wednesday night *cough* Mercy *cough*.

Thankfulness Post Day 8

Night closes doors forever
Night heals those souls dismembered
In Night secrets are brought forth never
Night hides all those assembled.

On this night I'm thankful for night itself and the world which it encompasses that few like to embrace. Their is something special in walking under a full moon, or watching from a rooftop a streak of lightening illuminate a darkened sky. I've come to appreciate the night and solace it brings from the tedious unpredictability of the day. Their is a purpose and reason it was given us which is greater then merely a time to sleep.

Thanksfulness Day 7

Today I am thankful for something yummy. Something dark, something square and cold, something that I havn't had since last Holiday season. Something....chocolate.
Fudge, If properly made it is my favorite treat. I make it every holiday season using a very special recipe. Sadly it not a recipe that has been passed down through my family for countless generations :), actually I think we just copied it out of a cook book onto a note card and crumpled the corners so it looks real old. Anyhow the recipe is really simple and is soooo good or maybe its just my ability to make it so well, I guess we'll never know. Anyhow its particularly good with walnuts. I can think of few things I'd like better than coffee and fudge by a fire over Christmas break. Plus fudge makes an incredible gift, like really really yummy gift and one that very very few people like not to receive.

Thankfulness Post Day 6

Today I am thankful for the witness and the testimony of the Christian saints who have gone before us. Men and woman who have spent their lives pursuing Gods will and their stories are an incredible example well worth imitating. To often we downgrade the example of other Christians, particularly historical Christians because we have somehow come to the conclusion that learning about these people eliminates our ability to focus on Christ. This assumption is simply not the case, if this were so then why does the bible include stories about people besides Jesus or those directly related to Jesus? Obviously they dont detract from Him but understanding people who have followed God with all their heart, who have sought His face will enable us to know how we can better to seek His face. In times of trial their is always the example of someone who persevered through such worse circumstances or mental strain and if we know and can appreciate these examples our lives our not only more enriched but it enables us to weather our own storms of life better and more effectively.

Some of the not mainstream Christians I have found particular encouragement in studying are men such as, Athanasius, Paphnutius, Charles Spurgeon, John Calvin, St. Augustine, John Wesly, Adoniram Judson, Nate Saint and his son Steve Saint, ect... the list goes on and on into more and more obscure people. Their is literally no end to the acts of courage and valor which were done in the name of Christ.

Oh for the day when knights were bold and chivalry yet lived. In an age when postmodern relativists control the media and the schools I can not thank God enough for the overwhelming evidence of history that despite the darkness of this present day, history shines forth the glory and majesty of God in all its chapters and no where in history is the power or purpose of God more clearly shown then in the lives of those who sought His face. Augustine, when asked about the different rituals done when a saint or martyr died, said,"we do not worship the deceased saints rather we honor the lives that they lived and try to make ours like theirs." We deprive ourselves of so much by not knowing about our brothers and sisters who have gone before us and walked the narrow way already. The way to Christ may be narrow and difficult but their are a whole host of men and woman who have walked that road and written thousands upon thousands of pages about their journey, why do we refuse to learn from them and try to do it our own way? Its just silly when we are willing to think about it.

Thankfullness Post Day 5

Today I am thankful for tea and coffee, not merely because they are what is currently keeping me up but also because their pretty. Their will be an eternal war waged to decide whether I prefer tea or coffee. I drink far more tea then I do coffee but I enjoy coffee more. They both are incredible and if they did not exist then life would just be a little less rich.

Thankfulness Post Day 4

Today I'm thankful for sports and a body that allows me to participate in them. One of the few blessings that I can not understand is why God gave me a physique that allows me to enjoy sports and he denies it to other people. I am not ignorant of this blessing and I thank God for it almost everyday. With the exception of a very few and very rare spiritual experiences I've never had a greater feeling of being alive, of having my mind soul and spirit all united in one clear purpose then when I've been playing sports. This unity of soul spirit mind is indeed rare, and with it comes a complete sense of bliss but not a bliss that requires us to lose scope of other things, simply it is a knowledge that amidst all the trials and storms of life their is in that specific moment a perfect balance of existence. I have not found or heard of any state of existence that is better then having one soul spirit and mind united in one purpose, our relationship with God was supposed to be like that but because of our stupidity, nature, ignorance, laziness, and fleshly body some part of us is always waging war with God or another part of ourselves, denying us that peace which is our greatest desire perfect purpose yet is as illusive as smoke on a windy day.

Two specific actions have I found to be particularly enjoying. Number one is a bit odd and probably specific to me but chasing down an opponent just makes me feel empowered. Whether I"m running after a Frisbee or football that was overthrown or a member of the other team I can almost always catch up. I've rarely been able to run faster or feel better when I'm chasing someone or something else. I am definitely not as good as most players and so I have been out maneuvered many times but I can run like a fiend if the mood takes me. I guess that comes from being perpetually on alert from the age 5 to 13. I learned to be quick from having to watch out for the homemade spear and from taking part in the full scale acorn and pine corn wars we'd have in our woods each year. The second thing is making a diving catch, few things can compare to the adrenaline rush that happens when you do something like this. No explanation needed.



Their you have it, sports are awesome and for anyone able to do them I think they ought to be enjoyed as something God gave us to take pleasure in.

Thankfulness Post Day 3

Today it was a little bit difficult to think of something I'm thankful for that isn't typical but after much thought and an afternoon spent studying in front of a fire with numerous pots of teas and of course, my bathrobe ;) I've think I've come up with a suitable subject for this post. Today I am thankful for floss. I've found floss to be extraordinarily handy despite the tedious task it is to use. If you've ever eaten corn on the cob, the proper way, which is not necessarily the polite way, you'll understand why floss is worthy of this post. Its amazing how little their is to write about something we use......or are supposed to use everyday. So I think I will end this post here cause I need to get back to work.

Moral of the story, floss your teeth you wont regret it especially considering the holidays are coming up.

Thankfulness Post 2

Advance warning: This post will be shorter because my fingers are really sore from helping someone move today.

So in an effort to give emphasis to the less obvious things that I am thankful for I'm going to focus these posts on the more obscure joys of my life. I mean my family, my friends, music, and the like are all awesome but that's something everyone posts about. So today I am thankful for something most of you probably will think is weird but I'm thankful for bathrobes. Why bathrobes? your probably thinking. Well simply because bathrobes are awesome, Most people think bathrobes are just for, well....when you take a bath but this is simply not the case. Bathrobes are the equivalent of a less constricting snuggie that can be worn, all the time, at all hours of the day or night. I wear mine on top of whatever normal clothes I'm wearing and since we dont really turn the heat on in my house unless we really really have to, as the winter gets colder my bathrobe becomes one of my best friends. For anyone who has been to my house for along time or come to my house when I didn't know you were coming, you've probably seen me in my bathrobe I tried to find a picture but sadly, pictures dont really help describe its coolness. Basically its big, its black, its fleece, its fluffy and its got pockets big enough to hold anything I want. Whether I need to conceal some chocolate on my way from the kitchen to my room or if I'm just needing to carry around a book the pockets on a bathrobe are perfect. Obviously for anyone who isn't homeschooled a bathrobe is more difficult to utilize, wearing it to school wouldn't go over very well but for homeschoolers who's parents don't make them dress up for school a bathrobe is like the ultimate combination of comfort and efficiency.

So there you have it, never underestimate the bathrobe I mean it worked pretty well for the thousands of years before pants became popular.

Thankfulness Post 1

So I suppose I have to do this fourteen days of thankfullessness thingy as well, although I dont think it should necessarily be limited to fourteen days. So what am I thankful for? Methinks I ought to be thankful for everything, I mean what is in existence that is not allowed by God? and if it is allowed by God then who am I not be thankful for it? I think we often limit ourselves to being thankful for very specific things and thus miss out on so many of the blessings that God has given us. Now I'm not saying we are happy all the time with the things God gives us but knowing that they are from Him makes them special and worthy of notice whether we enjoy them or not. So I guess what I'm thankful for is life in general, complete with happy times and sad times it all makes up who I am right now and since I know without a doubt that right now I'm a servant of the living God and thats pretty awesome, it enables me to be thankful for everything. At least until I forget I am His servant and therefore lose my joy so I guess the struggle is not in being thankful instead its remembering who's I am and when I do that I can be thankful all the time.

Perhaps that's to big and grand for so small a small paragraph so to satisfy everyone who isn't yet happy with this blog post I will tell you about something I am particularly thankful for because of an experience that happened this morning. Today I am particularly thankful for alarm clocks. As much as I think modern technology is a detriment to our spiritual state I do think that alarm clocks are one of the most helpful inventions ever. For instance this morning I didn't set one or it was turned off or I just slept through it either way I woke up an hour and a half late making my day much more difficult and busy. I do not have a picture sadly because I dont even have an alarm clock I use my phone. I actually use it more as an alarm clock then a phone.

So day one thankfulness post summary I'm trying to be thankful for everything, I am thankful right now for alarm clocks cause they keep me from oversleeping and being all grumpy when I wake up.




Alright I'm gonna try again, here are the pictures from two of my ventures which have reaped substantial profit. I went shooting with Master Davenport who has more knowledge about guns in his left pinky then I ever will. Despite his obvious superiority we had a blast, hehehe no pun intended. Totally didn't mean to do that. lol

Me trying to look legit with my great grandfathers Diana 35 a German made air rifle circa 1940.

Our armaments, Diana 35, The Russia and two weenie pellet pistols.

My target from roughly ten yards, for a noob shooting in the wind I was told this was pretty good.

These next couple pictures are from a tea sleeve I made. I took the pictures just beofre I tried to make the button hole, I knew I'd probably mess up the whole thing with the button hole so I wouldn't to have some pictures before I had to tear it apart. Fortunately I only half wrecked it and was able to ship it off as a gift to my sister still functioning, so if its breaks under her care its not my problem.

I used to size seven circular needles, that I got for my birthday, pretty spiffy if you ask me.

Cool Cables

From the back with my pattern and my scribbles representing how many rows I'd done.

Despite the recent posts about the extra curricular actives I've had time to do their are few places I'd rather be then right here in my personalized little cubicle. Despite the fact that its bitter cold most of the time and my chair is a tagsale resale its pretty awesome. We recently got the outlit behind the desk fixed so I can actually use the light you see there and I no longer need the candles.

An old journal entry

Lately my journal which is really no journal but rather a simple notebook, has been falling apart so two days ago I finished the destructive process and relocated everything into a three ring binder. I found something interesting that I wrote, I think last winter but I'm not sure, theirs no quotation marks on it but I think its from Thomas à Kempis' the Imitation of Christ. So here it is, tell me what you think I found it helpful.

"When a spirit of fervor is kindled within you, you may well meditate on how you will feel when the fervor leaves. Then when this happens remember that the light which I have withdrawn for a time is a warning to you and for My own glory. Such trials are often more beneficial than if you had things always as you wish. For a man's merits are not measured by many visions or consolations or by knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, or by his being in a higher position than others but by the truth of his humility, by his capacity for divine charity, by his consistency in seeking purely and entirely the honor of God, by his disregard and positive contempt of self, and more, by preferring to be despised and humiliated by others rather tan honored by others."

Oh for the record the King Arthur soundtrack is really good.

Sloth

Every epoch and age of history has had its various trials and struggles, those things which could have been the downfall of humanity yet were foreseen and halted before they were able to reap their destructive harvest upon humanities. Today we have another such enemy, one which Satan hopes will tear down much of the good Christianity has brought to the world. Due to all the time saving devices that modern technology has so conveniently invented for our use we now have an abundance of "free time" and therein lies our adversary. The idea that their is such a thing as free time must be obliterated from the mind of those among us who call ourselves Christians. As both slaves and sons to Christ we have no time to forsake the joy to which he calls us.

As sons with a Father who surpasses all earthly fathers it is our joy to repay His grace with a sacrifice of ourselves upon the alter of humility and self denial.
The duty of a slave is to serve their master regardless of life or personal preference.

Combining these two positions we hold before the Almighty into one will show us that not only are we infinitely blessed to enjoy a portion in the heavenly family, but we are also exhorted, because of our position as sons to serve our father as slaves would serve their masters without restraint caring not for what anyone else thinks or says.

For me doing things like watching tv, watching movies, playing video games, reading novels, have become less and less a question of whether they are morally right or wrong and they have become rather a question of whether it is proper to use the precious moments God has given me to engage in such activities. More often then not I hear God saying "if you are willing to deny yourself the divine pleasure of learning about Me and communing with Me then go and appease your worldly desire for comfort and lose yourself in the non reality of a tv show"

People would retort, "well God created us to live life to the fullest and we ought not to deny the use of the blessings he's given us" I will not judge motives but I can speak from experiencing and say that I live life to the full, not based on the actions I do but the reasons for the action I do and I'd rather spend five minutes experiencing the peace of heavenly tranquility that comes with the knowledge that I am a servant of the living God over making the most epic frisbee catches this world has ever seen. Living life to the fullest means living in a continual fellowship with God, not using God as means just to get to the weekend, or the event that we are looking forward to.

Romans 12:11 "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." How are we supposed to continue in that spiritual fervor which we experience if we are not willing to spend our 'free time" pursuing its author. Laziness comes when we look at ourselves in perspective to other people as opposed to God. When we realize who we are before God their will be no time for things other then His will. Not to say other things are right or wrong but they will grow strangely dim when our pursuit of Christ consumes our daily lives and goes beyond Sunday and youth group to ignite a fire and a passion that is unquenchable.

If we will not allow God to control our lives here and now what do we plan on allowing Him to do when we get to heaven? Lets not let laziness be the reason we dont live like Christians.

October

Its not fair, I finally have sweet things to post about yet the camera is not working and I dont know how to fix it and now you guys can't see pictures of all the cool things I've been doing in the month of October. I guess that means I'll just have to describe them. Oh well, I guess now you'll just have to believe what I say because you'll have no pictures or eyewitness to prove me wrong, hehehe.

Well I've been busy since returning from Europe in addition to school I've invested in a few extra curricular activities, such as dundudndundudndudnudn!!! (drum roll) Ka'nitting, piano and shooting.

Ka'nitting which is the proper way of pronouncing knitting is something I learned how to do awhile ago but never took the time to learn the secrets of the trade. I have yet to entirely master the trade buuuuuttt restrain your judgmental glances and refrain from calling me a fake knitter because I actually made something more complicated then a square or a rectangle and I am very proud of it. Its a sleeve that you button around a mug to keep your hands from burning when you hold it. Not only is it practical its also handsome, being purple with cables and a big black button. Flawless in its symmetry it reigns supreme over my desktop, from its coaster throne brought all the way from Dublin Ireland it surveys its territory and scoffs at the unknitted balls of yarn which remain void of purpose shapeless in their randomness.

Piano has been really sporadic since school ended last year. Either I would practice hours and hours or I wouldn't practice at all for a whole week. Needless to say that habbit hasn't allowed me to really get far in my most challenging peice I"m learning, Pathetique Sonata 8 by Beethoven. I think I printed out the sheet music in maybe February of this year and since then I've progressed really slowly through it. However I'm relatively close to being done at least being able to play the first eight pages which is probably as far as I will go. I can play through page six pretty well it just has to be perfected and I have yet to touch page 7 and 8 but I don't think they'll be to difficult. I hope to have that done by Christmas cause I'll have lots of time to practice over Christmas break.

Shooting you ask? well yes that was a bit of an unlooked for event. My moms siblings came over with their families and they had apparently forgotten my birthday (I hadn't noticed, their very good to me) so I was just sitting their, minding my own business, drinking my coffee when they come with the oddest looking present ever. Upon opening it I discovered it to be my great grandfathers Diana 35, an original German made air gun. Not powerful enough to be considiered an actual firearm it can still kill that dumb woodpecker that goes "bangedy bangedy bang bang bang" all day while I'm sitting at my desk. So I got to go shoot that with my friend who knows everything to know about guns and I had a sweet picture of my targets. *sigh* well my best target had three bulls eyes which I was really pleased with because it was windy and the conditions were not ideal for shooting. Needless to say it was a good day and now I have a semi legit weapon in my closet.


Their you have it, pretty exciting, at least for me.

Plinky 1.0

Due to an unexplained lag in my schoolwork, I'm going to take advantage of the time and write a blog post. Now I would like to upload pictures and do a post about some strange adventure that happened in Europe buuuuuuutttt the camera isn't wanting to coraporate. Having an absence of things to blog about I shall use Plinky.

The question for today, "If you were the president of the United States what would be your #1 priority?

Education

The most prevalent problem with the United States is that the up and coming generation can only think when things benefit themselves, party unity is based on what can benefit the individual, no one is willing to sacrifice for their country.

I'd hope to use education to change that. Give people a purpose, make America a nation to be proud of, inspire a national pride and all that. To do this I'd teach about America, its past its present and potential. I'd use the logic and wisdom of the sages from all ages to mold a generation who could be self controlled for a greater end. I'd create an enlightened people that would never allow the government that was created for them to be turned into an instrument of tyranny.

This education would be founded on these principles

Nothing helpful comes without hard work
Things naturally fall into chaos
For you live in excess someone else must live in poverty

Proving and engraining these three basic principles into kids would be the essence of the education. Rounding out these principles with the teacings of various school masters from history would be the curriculum. Once they were willing to believe and apply these principles, then I'd allow each kid to pursue a choice of work/study with classes that would teach him everything about that specific topic. Forget this silly idea of having kids know a little bit of everything, lets get them really good in one thing.

Yeah education we ourselves can take the cue from history and note that the most vile and evil tyrants were able to stay in power because they were able to change the educational system in their favor, for America to become proud again it must start empowering its citizens to beleive in its greatness and to have its citizens desire that greatness to increase so much that their willing to sacrifice for it. All through the process of education.

I'm Caleb Lagan and I approve of Plinky, it worked pretty well.

Busy busy busy

I'm Home and safe and sound. Sorry it seemed like I dropped off the face of the planet. I got back on October 6th almost two weeks ago, which is oober weird to think that it was such a little while ago that I was sleeping on a board in Dublin having only bread and Nutella for sustenance. Well I made it through the pictures all the way up to Rome and I hope to slowly over the next few weeks put up the pictures from Paris, Munich, Cologne and Dublin. Being back has been very weird but I've had great practice in summarizing the story which I will do for you know with the highlights and adventures that are most significant.

Phase I. Thessalonik Greece, we got Josh all situated in his nice apartamant right on campus with his own kitchen and an agreeable roommate. Just a few days after arriving in Thessaloniki Daniel, Josh, and myself packed our three bags and went off on a tour of Greece. We did not go to the Islands we did not consider them worthy of our time when the remains of such mighty civilizations were awaiting our viewing. Highlight from this page, scaling an abandoned Byzantine Tower we found as we were driving along the coast.

Thus Began Phase II. We stopped off at Thermopylae where God held a public bus twenty seven minutes for us so we could make our connection and spend the night in Delphi. That was highlight number two. We toured Delphi, climbed a huge mountain for kicks then climbed back down and saw the ruins of the oracle. Went to Athens the next day saw the Acropolis and walked all over that stinky hot city looking for our hostel and a grocery store.

Phase III. We left Josh after Athens to return to school at Thessaloniki and me and Daniel continued on our way from Athens to Patras from Patras to Barri via ferry and from Barri to Rome via train. One of the lousiest traveling experiences ever. We had a fifteen hour overnight ferry from Patras Greece to Barri Italy, naturally our limited funds we were traveling worst class and spent the majority of the night bundled up in our two suits of clothing on the deck trying to catch some sleep. Arriving in Barri the next morning, cold, tired, hungry we discovered that our train had left early, the next one was full and one we could take we had to pay ten euros for while in addition to having to seven hours from ten to six when the train would leave. Finally arriving in Rome at eleven forty-five we opted not to wander through the city in the middle of the night and spent another sleepless night in the train station. The next day we found a campsite to stay in, we discovered how to use the public transport system and toured the city. Highlight seeing the Vatican, see previous post.

Phase IV. Being sick and homesick me and Daniel consulted and opted out of our plans to go to Venice and decided instead to go to Paris, where our missionary friend Miss Istoc graciously agreed to host us for a few days. We took an overnight train and filled our days seeing only a portion of what the city has to offer. I definitly think that Paris was the coolest city we visited on our trip. Highlight: we knew we wanted to visit Notre Dame and their just happened to be an organ concert the day we were there. So we heard an organ concert on the 7000+ pipe organ in The Notre Dame

Phase V. Germany: Visited Munich and Cologne where we stayed with Daniel's host brother and parents from when he studied in German. Went to the legit Oktoberfest for an afternoon. Saw Neuschwanstein Castle in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. Highlight: Coming down from the top of the Cologne Cathedral, their was a young woman looking extremely pale laying across the steps, with her traveling partner leaning over her. Me and Daniel told the fellow we would help carry her and their bags downstairs, which we proceeded to do, down all 564 steps of the spiral tower. Quite an unlooked for adventure.

Phase VI. Dublin and home: When we left Daniels host parents we were both very ready to come home. Havng someone to stay with made it easier not to miss home but once we left the feelings all came back. We did have a succesful two day stay in Dublin though. We found our hostel and stayed in a ten bed room, which for anyone who's stayed in hostels is a potentially disastrous experience because you never know who is sleeping in the bed next to you. Fortunatly we were blessed in the fact that four of the seven people in the room with us were two Asian couples who with the exeption of saying "your welcome" when he opened the door for me, didn't say a word. and the other three people were very nice and everyone was always in bed by eleven. Coming home took much longer then we thought. We left Dublin at 12:00 noon and took a seven hour flight to JFK. Due to the time change we arrived at 2:30 in the afternoon and had to hang around JFK airport until 9:30 that night. When our plane finally got fixed and we flew to Bradly where we got picked up and driven home from. Highlight: coming home. :)


Well there it is, pretty neat and an experience that will last a life time. It was not a vacation but it was truly special, in that, now I have stories and experiences that will benefit me for ever. I've been ridiculously busy since I got home, hence the not posting but its been a good busy. Currently my schedule is in bed rarely later then midnight and up by six so I can do some pleasure reading before everyone else gets up. I'm taking Algebra II, Physics, Latin II, Writing a book and studying Church History.

Its so nice to be home and notice those little things that I never would have if I hadn't gone on this trip. I think my favorite part of being home is connecting with my friends again. The saying is true "you dont realize how much you have until you lose it." I did seriously underestimated how special all my friends are, until I left and spent the night dreaming about them, well them or a really really big steak. Either way, you guys are pretty special and it stinks having to eat and sleep and be limited to twenty four hour days so I can't make more of you.

Farewell for now pictures coming later.

Train station Meditations.

Overlooking The Circus Maximus

Considering that over twenty four hours of the past tens days have been spent in a train station, I figured Id do a post about what Ive been thinking about. Because their really isnt much to do in a train station besides sit and think, sometimes you can read but its pretty load especially in the Rome train station, where they have huge vacuum like machines to keep the floors from becoming to disgusting. Now the drivers consider it a game to see how close they can get to sucking up your bags and so in between dodging the pickpockets, vacuum cleaners and random creepy people who haunt train stations, Ive been reading Thomas A Kempis, The Epistles of Paul, City of God and Christian Apologetics, all very good and all very thought provoking. Mostly Ive been reading and thinking in the context of the book Im hoping to coauthor on my return, so Ive been thinking about entertainment, enjoyment, fun and where all of those things fit profitably into a Christians life. Ive tried to summarize it in a few short thoughts.

I. To the degree that entertainment is beneficial to the spiritual well being of a person, to that extant ought it to be enjoyed.

II.When things that result in sensual enjoyment, not that are bad in and of themselves, but when they become a hinderance to ones ability to hear and obey The Holy Spirit then they must be thrown away until unity with the spirit is restored.

III.Sensual pleasure, is neither good nor bad, it can be either a result of pursuing the flesh or of walking with the spirit.

A. The gratification of the flesh produces a sensual delight that is wrong, and is dependent on ones circumstances, as soon as the physical circumstances change the pleasure leaves.

B. Walking in accordance with the spirit, brings sensual pleasure, NOT because we pursue it, but because God grants it to us as a gift and takes it back when He sees fit. This pleasure is more satisfying and is more dependent on the mental and spiritual state of the person instead of the physical.

IIII.Unless we wish to shame the examples of the most eminent church fathers we will not run from the chance to endure suffering when God refuses us the gift sensual pleasure, rather we will embrace pain and trail with joy knowing the greatest triumphs in Christianity came not in times of peace and prosperity rather they came in the midst of darkness, fire and sword.

V. Grace is the provision of God that allows human kind to forsake his natural tendency to pursue his own happiness and rather to seek Christ's pleasure. The result a sense of joy that is not necessarily sensual but more mental in its nature.

VI. Nothing ought to be pursued which is merely a tool to escape the life God has destined you to live, I would say thats cheating out on both the trials and the joys God has planned for each of us.

VII. True Happiness is only the result of a gift from God that comes when the flesh is entirely dead and the spirit is in control of ones feelings.

I'll interject here to tell a story about one of the times I feel like I've felt real happiness. We were in Rome and we went to the Vatican. We didn't see the Sistine Chapel but we wondered through Saints Peter's Basilica. I dont know what it is that makes a place more spiritual then others, obviously it depends on the person in each place, but their was something spiritual about that Cathedral and I wasn't the only one who felt it.

Here's a picture from the top, not my picture. So all around the top are statues of saints. The large courtyard was not as cool as I thought it would be because for some odd reason I thought their was a huge statue of St. Peter there and when their wasn't I was slightly disappointed. But we got to go inside, free of charge and first we went down to see the tombs of the popes. It was very solemn, no cameras were allowed, they had chanting in the background, As much as I might disagree with points of Catholic doctrine, I had to wander around the coffins in awe, gazing upon the men who for hundreds of years were the faces of Christianity. They were the men who upheld what was right good and lawful, they crowned and dethroned kings, they bore the responsibility for shepherding the entire flock of Christ. Then to see the tomb of St Peter was just incredible. Slowly I began to loose myself in the mists of imagination. Thinking about times gone by when knights were bold and popes still held the golden orb and scepter. We walked upstairs and surrounding us on all sides were statues of heroes from biblical, apostolic, post apostolic, Nicene, post Nicene and Medieval Christianity. Their was a room dedicated for prayers where me and Daniel went and their was where I felt happy, more so then I ever remember feeling before. Their was a true unity and connection with God that I can't quite describe. I dont know how long I stayed there in that little room, Daniel bumped my elbow to remind me I was still human and that we had to go soon so I thanked God for His gift that even after I left the room stayed and only wore off as God allowed, not as the physical circumstances changed. Over the next few days I realized why God had given me that special blessing, because the next few days were physically very taxing.. Daniel got sick from a combination of cold, spending the night in the Rome train station, spending a night on the open deck of a ferry, lack of good food and over exertion. We both felt really really homesick and we just sat around at the campsite we were staying trying to sleep trying not to think of home. I honestly think God gave me that special connect with Him in the cathedral to enable me to endure with perfect confidence and joy those next couple days. Even though we "felt" horrible my mind was clear and my soul was pure.

Sorry I know that was long. I figure since this blog is about me, I can tell a long story about myself every now and again. I hope that all made sense, for me it helped validify what I felt God had been teaching me both in my prayers and in what I had been reading. Namely that happiness is not the result of our circumstances rather it is a particular blessing from God that he gives at His leisure and takes at His leisure. Joy and such that is a different thing and a different topic which I must think more about and post on later. This post was to try to express in words a bit of what I've been thinking about and to show that my mind has not been inactive on this trip. Please comment with what you think, I hate it when people bring in a story into a debate that makes it all emotional and then its hard to contradict that person, so do not be worried about hurting my feelings if you radically disagree, I'd very much like to understand where I've gone wrong in my thinking.

Right now were in Munich Germany, visiting with one of Daniel's friends from when he lived in Germany. I still have to do a post with all the pictures from Paris then a post with all the pictures from Munich, on Friday we go to Cologne and stay there till Monday when we fly to Dublin Ireland and a week from today we fly home. Me and Daniel made dinner for the three of us and we made far far to much, so we have a massive pot of rice sitting in the kitchen so we are both well fed and content.

Pictures from Rome

Sorry this is so late. We didn't really have access to a computer for a long time over the past week. These pictures are from September 21 I think. We saw all of Rome in one day it was really exciting. We saw the Vatican, The Colosseum, The Roman Forum, and loads and loads of Roman ruins, their all over the place, in the subway in the train station and random aquedacts throughout the city.

Us in front of St. Peters Basilica.
The alter in the Cathedral.
The outside is decorated with the saints, I think their is one for every day of the year.
The gulf of Corinth from the train window.
Trajans Column, he had the outside decorated with his feats from the Dacian Wars
The Arch of Constantine.
Amidst the ruins of the Colosseum their is a cross erected. Every year the pope comes to this spot to pray for the souls of the martyrs who died there.
The ruins of the colosseum. Me and Daniel just sat around for along time thinking and pondering. We had to pay twenty-four euros so we decided to make it worth out while. Im not sure about Daniel but I know most of my thoughts were dwelling on the extant to which man will take his love for entertainment, entertainment or escape from life. To think that the greatest and most well known relic from the one of the most powerful empires ever to dominate the world, is an enormous building dedicated to the sensual pleasure of the Roman populace. Such a dark contrast St. Peters Basilica just a little bit away, which stands for truth, and upholds the name of God. I will hopefully post more of my thoughts later. Its really annoying because the keyboards are getting really funky. In Greece and Italy they were very similar to American ones but in France and Germany they are weird. That is my excuse for short posts.