OK, So, as a father, and as a Christian, I've struggled with my childrens views on cohabitation. I am firmly agianst it, in or out of dorms. When Voice brought it up on a recent blog I was concerned with what I read, then there was a blog on Boundless about the same article. I was very shocked at many of the responses. Here were young, well educated Christians, many who seemed like professionals, and they were not only un-concerned, but even encouraged the practice. I will tell you that I will always tell my kids they are wrong to do this, and will never believe it's the right thing, but we need to get through to our young men and women! I also think Boundless needs to continue to find ways to be a beacon to these young men and women, I am aware that it is not their idea of normallity. Anyway, I thought you all might like to see that this was a much more timely topic than we might have thought.
I was reminded tonight of this quote. C.S.Lewis From "The Problem Of Pain
~~"There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else. You may have noticed that the books you really love are bound together by a secret thread. You know very well what is the common quality that makes you love them, though you cannot put it into words: but most of your friends do not see it at all... Are not all lifelong friendships born at the moment when at last you meet another human being who has some inkling... of that something which you were born desiring... All the things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of it... echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. But if it should really become manifest... you would know it. We cannot tell each other about it. It is the secret signature of each soul... If we lose this, we lose all.
Tonight I found myself starting to slip down off the mountaintop I have been on the last couple of weeks(Thanks Mike...snicker). It wasn't a major falling down, but one that felt like the beginning of the slide into depression that used to be my bread and butter. As I was slipping into those familiar feelings, God led me to a blog I had saved from a young acquaintance from the Boundless website. This young wife of an Orthodox priest always seems to touch my heart in ways that are almost too deep for words. She's written about death and grief, about grieving with her friend Rachel at the loss of her husband in Rachel's Tears, and tonight I read a old blog I had saved on hope. Funny how tenuous our faith is that we can go from faith to despair in a single day, yet even in this slip, I find myself understanding the faith of the Apostle. They went from a mountaintop feeding the 5000, and the joyful innocence of setting with the people listening to the Beatitudes, to seeing Lazarus raised from the dead. Then, in a moment, they abandoned, and then there's Peter:
22:34And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, until thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
Whew, talk about up and down. My failures aren't often that extreme, but still, after 30 years you would think I'd have everything straight, right? What I have gained is speed at repenting. When I fall I get back up quicker, and move towards God's arms instead of running away from Him. I find myself a sucker for hope, and that is not a bad thing. Hope keeps despair from setting in and leading me into the dark places of depression. Oops, there it is, I said that word that is supposed to be foreign to victorious Christians, but yet, at times I have slid into that deep hole. I don't often go there anymore, God has given me a suite of armaments to use against it, and one of them is you all in my church in Versailles, and on MyChurch. Thanks you for being Christ to me!
I'll close with a quote from the last article I mentioned by Jenny S., written in the journal of a young friend who was leaving his family behind, due to terminal cancer. It is about true hope....and Him.
"As we find hope," Jarrod wrote, "We find evidence that He's just been here. Hope is the bread crumbs that God leaves for us, not just to find our deepest desire or dream — but Him." Jarrod Voltz
OK, Firs Josh recommended a few groups, now Rachel recommends a movie! I have a list of favorite "food" movies. Some are a bit adult, Chocolate, and Spanglish, but now I have another to add to Babette's Feast, and Rattoullie, as a good family food movie. I just finished "No Reservations". Wonderful, wonderful..and biy am I hungry. I'd tell you more about the movie, but I have to go find FOOD!!!!
Oh, here's the trailer, it does reflect the sweet spirit of the movie. Oh, and nothing overt on sexuality or language, but there is a bit of passion around food..hehe...running theme?
