Still Joshin'

Me ... and Jesus

2012-01-21T13:01:00.001-05:00

There's a song that plays quite often on Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) stations. I've heard it multiple times in recent weeks through the tinny ceiling speakers of Messiah's Student Union. And I think I've heard enough.

The song is called "Me and Jesus", and it's by Stellar Kart -- Christian music's pop-punk response to the enviable success of the secular Simple Plan. I apologize if you feel attached to this song in any way, but perhaps these thoughts are directed most pointedly to you.

"Me and Jesus", for me, encapsulates all that is errant in a well-meaning industry. The CCM industry was built upon a simple premise: write and release music for Christians to enjoy that glorifies God, not man. But I'm afraid the noble aims of this process have become a machine gravely mistaken, and refurbished with a new formula: take the most successful sounds of popular music, rewrite the lyrics, and repackage for Christian consumption.

I should preface by saying that I bear no personal grievance against the individuals that work so hard to oil this machine, for I believe their hearts are in the right place. But the machine runs on profits alone, and thus it has been allowed to produce some truly shameful songs...

"Me and Jesus" bears an undeniable similarity to, well, to about a thousand aching pop-punk choruses. Somewhere between the treacly consolation for those who have "hit rock bottom with nowhere left to turn" and the desperate supplication "don't give up, it's not the end" the song is virtually indistinguishable from a hundred down-and-out ballads of a similar caliber. Musically, it soars with all the originality of any bonified four-chord masterpiece. One can hardly help but weep as the singer whines his way through a litany of heart-wrenching cliches. Don't give up now. It's going to be alright. Open up your heart. After all we've been through. Love like there's no tomorrow.

And along the way, the drama is set. The picture has been painted, and it's emotional richness collides with the depth of the human condition like a housefly into the kitchen window. When it seems all hope is lost but for the paltry support of the dozen-strong cliches, and that poor despondent listener is certainly to succumb to that ... thing... she's going through, Stellar Kart pulls out the big guns:

Someone loves you even when you don't think so
Don't you know you got me and Jesus
By your side through the fight you will never be alone
On your own you got me and Jesus

Don't worry. You've got Me. And Jesus.

And suddenly, at the name of Me all pain is ceased, all death vanquished, all hope restored. Me rides in with love that saves the world. Me is here to lift your chin, to dry your eyes, to save you from yourself. Me will ... oh. Yeah. Right, and Jesus is here too.

Even now, the theological atrocity of this whole thing renders me nearly speechless. I would like very much to sit down with the aspiring young rock star who penned these words and inquire as to which took more time -- writing the lyrics for this song or spiking his hair for the music video?

I would hope he'd answer the latter, for if it's the former then we'd have to send this fellow back to Sunday School ASAP. But whether he wrote out of ignorance or idiocy is really not the issue. My bigger question is: how on earth did this song slip through the CCM machine, into the collections of Christian DJs, and onto the repeated 8-song playlist in the Union? To make things worse, the song was written over six years ago, making it something of a ... Christian classic.

Did no one stop along the way and ask, Hey, now wait a second. Since when did the consolation of man surpass, or even equal, the amazing grace of the Saviour? When did the sacrificial love of Christ take a backseat to the embrace of some Christian popstar? Why is Jesus not enough?!?

Perhaps such objections were raised, but quickly overwhelmed by the ecstatic support of CCM executives. Theology, Shmeology! This'll be a hit!

I don't know what else they could have said. For anyone who thinks just for two seconds about these words will notice there is something terribly amiss here. But maybe that's just the sorry state we're in. If so, then, Lord, we need to set our sights on you again. We need you to be more to us than profits. We need to show our love with more than pop-song imitations littered with horrendous theology. We need you to remind us that you, through all of eternity, will always be enough.

God bless us, everyone!
jmb

The Boggling Blogging Blogger

2011-11-27T21:39:00.001-05:00

The ironic thing about time is the harder you look for it, the harder it is to find.

I've long believed that there is no such thing as a "lack of time." The time we've been given is all we'll ever need. What we lack is not time, but the discipline to use it as we want to. So, hypothetically speaking, when a blogger of significantly insignificant cyber-significance continually neglects his little weblog he should not tell his familial following that he just "doesn't have time to blog." He may be better telling them straight, "I just don't make time to blog."

Deeeeep.

So I'm not apologizing for this undoubtedly boggling lack of blogging. At this point in my life, I have many priorities. The same amount of time, of course, but many important things to wedge into it. I'm still a student, a friend, a boyfriend, a brother and a son, still a Resident Assistant for 44 charming freshman guys, still a chapel leader and an employee, and still trying my best to be a devoted and faithful follower of Christ through it all. To top it all off, I'm also still occupied by the full-time application process for graduate school.

It's a sorry thing that public reflections and thoughtful recapitulations on the progression of my life must be sacrificed along the way, but I'm not sorry for a second for all the opportunities I've had this year, for all I've learned, for all I've achieved, for all I've aspired to, and for how I've been humbled and grown.

Regarding all aforementioned commitments, things continue to race along as one might expect them to. The task of summarizing even the highlights of such times is rather daunting at this moment, so if you really want to know the details, let's talk in person.

Suffice it to say, that I'm learning a lot these days. I'm being challenged and I'm being humbled, and it's no walk in the park. But I'm grateful for every opportunity I've had and am having. And I'm especially thankful lately for the blessing it is to dream about my future, and to chase those dreams. To have options and to be able to apply to 11 schools in 11 different cities with excitement overwhelming my apprehension.

But I'm most thankful for the hope I have in the God who goes with me into all of these things. The God who goes with me now. The God who is faithful, even in my unfaithfulness. The God who is strong, strong enough for all my weakness.

So in the midst of all of this, I often echo the words of David after that rather regrettable Bathsheba incident, and I'd like to share them with you now. [For the record, I cannot relate to the whole kill-a-man-take-his-wife thing, but to the notion that a hundred compelling desires can blot out the only one that really matters, I do resonate.]

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

Amen, King David, sir ... Amen.

Over and out.
jmb

Restore

Whirlywind

2011-09-20T12:34:00.001-04:00

Dear world,

Here we are again. Another whirlwind series of months since my last post, spanning 3 countries, half a dozen cities, seven days of cruising, five weeks of work, seven weeks of camp, one crucial exam, one family reunion with 37 boisterous Bodens, four visits with one special lady, 10 days of RA training, 44 freshmen guys, and a partridge in a pear tree. It's been quite a ride. No joke.

But through all of that -- the silly, the thrilling, the sad, and even the little bit of bad -- I find myself here again on another hazy Pennsylvania morning with likely much to do, but with little incentive to do any of it. So I greet you, my long-neglected but ever-loyal cyber chums, and I thank you for your interest in this little life of mine.

Each number in that litany of statistics above could be expanded upon greatly. But to boil it all down, it was a fantastic summer, but it sure was busy. I was the Program Director at camp again, my second year in the position and sixth year working up there. I also had to be back on campus for RA training on August 17th. So my summer, essentially, was the month of June, in which time I turned 21, worked full time for 4 weeks, studied every night for the GRE, wrote the GRE, and got camp program prepared.

Then there was camp, which went swimmingly. It was not without its challenges, as much to me personally as to the camp as a whole, but in unexpected ways, as I suppose it always is, we saw God work in and through his people. Interestingly, at camp we (the counselors) talk often of sharing Christ with the campers, of enlightening them through word and deed to the love of God in their lives. And yet time and time again, it is the counselors who come away from this ministry having been touched themselves so personally and powerfully by the hand of God, and who come, through serving and living by faith, to know God more deeply in their own lives.

So that is that. I don't have much time these days for looking behind, though, for it is the future that presently holds my attention. I'm in the midst of grad school applications, which seem quite profoundly to start as grad school aspirations. I'm interested in the field of school psychology, and to get there I'm looking at doctoral programs. Big stuff. But somewhere between looking at programs and studying in programs is a grueling application process seemingly contrived to beat bright-eyed applicants to their knees in submission before silent committees of high-brow academics who scrutinize your paper-sized life and survey the grades that have now become the ultimate manifestation of your God-given potential.

Thankfully, the God who gave me potential is the God in control. Of everything. What blessed assurance indeed.

So if you are a praying person, I'd appreciate prayers to that end. And if you are not a praying person, why not give it a whirl? At worst, you'd just be talking to yourself, but at best you'd be entering into time with the God above all things, the Creator bringing love and restoration and hope to a world that would be lost without it. It's worth a shot.

Have a holly jolly Tuesday, everybody!
jmb

Viskas.

2011-04-29T18:05:00.000-04:00

Viskas. This word means, "That's it" in Lithuanian. As I sit here studying for my final final tomorrow morning, I really feel like I am approaching Viskas. And it's kind of sad.

More reflections are sure to come, but last week I finished a final paper for my Cross Cultural class and I'll share that for now instead. If you are interested in some of my general impressions of the experience, prašom skaityti (please read [I need to use as much Lithuanian as possible now. I likely won't ever get to use it again.]).

Thinal Foughts on Life in Lithuania

Speaking of Lithuanian, I had a simple, but remarkably long, conversation with a lady in Senamiestas (Old Town) today. It was glorious. I hope you are as proud of me as I am of me.

But back to the sad bit. There are things that have pulled me so strongly back home throughout this whole semester (friends, family, and a certain lovely lady) that continue to draw me even more intensely as the reunions approach. Yet simultaneously there is so much about this place that holds me here. As the sun shines brilliantly and the gray turns to green all over the country ["pavasaris" = spring], I feel sometimes as if I am seeing this place for the first time. But I'm not. It's the same place it has always been. It just took a little springtime sunlight (and four months of challenge) to illuminate my love for it.

But the blogoglobe is no place for such sappy sentimentality. Except to express, for all who care to know it, the impression this country, this part of the world, these people, this language, these friends, have made on me. Indelible impressions indeed.

Gerai draugiai. Viskas dabar. (Okay, my friends. That's all for now)
jmb

The Adventures of Joshelberry Funn

2011-04-14T11:36:00.001-04:00

Dear internet (and people who use it),

The birds are chirping, the ice is finished melting, the sun is (sorta) shining, and life at LCC plows on full speed to the end. Though I feel great pressure to, I will not offer any obligatory apologies for my prolonged absence from this page. Nope. I will have no regrets, I tell you. For, you see, when a man is not on the internet piddling away his time and tap-tap-tapping his memories onto his 14.1" screen, I suppose he is instead spending his time living life to the full, or at least trying his best to.

In my case, I can assure you that this is the truth. Life has been a whirlwind of smaller whirlwinds, through it all -- the good, the bad, the wonderful, and even the little bit of boring. Yes, I said boring. But the great thing about being bored on the other side of the world is that you must only remind yourself that you are, in fact, on the other side of the world and such moments cease to be so dull.

Deep thought #1: Aren't we always on the other side of the world?

But I have not had much time for being bored. So let me highlight a few things that have happened lately. In my last post, I mentioned a quiz show game night thing. We lost. But life goes on. And it went on, in fact, and took me to the Parade of Stars, 2011. Parade of Stars is LCC's big cultural event, where all the countries here put on a performance or play of some sort and compete through various stages to win the prize. Being the multinational Canuck that I am afforded me the honor (sans "u") of joining Team America, whose clearly quite perceptive members promptly assigned me the role of Superman.

Long story short, I danced around in borrowed blue tights and red shorts, pretending to explore the Land of Liberty and all the while extolling its great virtues. We did quite well, if I do say so myself, but we ultimately ceded our prize to Team Latvia who fairly won the title but crushed our American imperialistic spirits. Ah well. Life goes on.

And it took me forward through many busy days and memorable times with new friends, challenging discussions and eye-opening experiences.

Deep thought #2: Every experience can be eye-opening. You just have to keep them open the whole time.

Then this past week, my roommate and good friend Anton and I took a trip to Copenhagen. Ohh boy. Where to begin? Well, being the fiscal fellows that we are, we decided to make this trip as cheap as humanly possible, never mind the fact that our destination was one of the most expensive cities in the world. So for us that meant pinching pennies on everything we could. On things like transportation and shelter, for example. You know.. dispensable things like that. We planned on CouchSurfing while in the city, which for those of you unaware is a network of people around the world who post available couches for travelers to come sleep on for free, and in turn get to travel themselves. We found a place to stay just outside the city, and it was great! Our hosts were very pleasant, mild-mannered, thoughtful folk who baked us cookies and gave us full access to their little flat for no fee other than our polite presence and storytelling. (There are good people in the world.)

The real adventure, though, was traveling to and from. Also, we reasoned why spend money on a bus when you could, you know, hitchhike or something!? We flew into Gothenburg, Sweden, and made the trek 200 kilometers down to Copenhagen within a day. On the way down, it more or less proceeded without a hitch. You meet fascinating people when you just stick your thumb out on the side of the road, as it turns out. We got lifts from an Arab couple, a couple African dudes, some Swedish engineers, and a chap from Kosovo. Fascinating people, all of them.

We spent a few delightful days in the city, and then began our trek back up to Gothenburg. At first, things were fine. We were a little short on money for the train out of the city, but the ticket-checker was so excited that I was Canadian, that he offered us a few helpful pointers and proceeded to chat hockey stats with me until we made it. I love Danish people.

So then we got a lift from an airport technician in a rad sports car into Sweden. From there we camped out and enjoyed a roadside picnic until a nice Swedish couple picked us up and took us 50 kilometers north, but not before stopping in on a few errands on the way while we dutifully smiled in the backseat. We slowly realized Swedish people are much less friendly to hitchhikers on Saturdays, as our next two rides took us only a matter of kilometers further.

Suddenly it was evening and we were too far from Gothenburg to make our night bus to the airport. Nevertheless, our only option was to wait by the roadside until something happened. Well, something happened, but not until after the sun had set. You see, it is very dangerous to be on the side of the road at night time, so when we realized we were stuck there with no flashlight and no hope for a ride, we decided to walk the 7 miles into the nearest town to find a train. What ensued were some of the most harrowing minutes of my life. As we skirted down a Swedish highway and lightning-quick late night traffic skirted by us. Then to our simultaneous great horror and relief, a cop car screeched to a halt in front of us with lights and sirens wailing. I am not sure which is more illegal -- hitchhiking or being on the side of the road at night, but it quickly became apparent that neither really mattered. In a staggering display of the true Police spirit, they both served and protected us. A firm lecture on the dangers of our endeavours was all we had to pay for a free lift to the train station... and a conversation that quickly turned to "Oh! No way! I have family in Canada! blah.. blah..blah"

So that is that. And oh yeah. Copenhagen is a beautiful place.

Well, my friends. If all these travel stories are making your head spin then I regret to tell you that I am about to leave for a weekend trip to Latvia and Estonia with the Study Abroad program here. Well, actually I do not regret anything. No regrets, remember? Right on.

Well, thanks for your time. Remember: God loves you, and so do I!
jmb

Russia-Returned

2011-03-17T12:43:00.003-04:00

Dear World of the Blog,

Today is a Thursday. Perhaps one of the most eventful Thursdays of my time in Lithuania, which makes this 60 minute lull in activity seem remarkably empty. Which qualifies as the perfect time for a brief post on this good old thought repository.

On Sunday we all returned safely from a crazy 8-day blitz through Russia's two biggest cities. It was, as I expected, a wild ride of a trip, full of beauty and thrills and items of staggering historical significance. My admittedly narrow perception of Russia as the cold, ugly, and rather chauvinistic bully of the northern European neighborhood was challenged and changed on every level. What I witnessed is certainly a proud and patriotic nation, but the culture, history, and legacy of the land is so deserving of that pride. Our Kremlin tour guide asserted (however provocatively) that in her experience, Russians and Americans are one and the same. Beneath all the politics and tensions and ideological disputes, the Russian spirit and the American spirit are fundamentally the same. And, as a fortunate third-party observer, I see what she means. Russians have a remarkably rich history, full of great names and heroes and victories and tragedies, of revolutionaries that liberated them and of regimes that have crumbled, of leaders that oppressed them and ideas that divided them. And through it all they've emerged with a vindictive sense of national pride. A manifest destiny of sorts, not so different from America's, as it turns out.

For those of you curious about the intricacies of daily life here, allow me to walk you through my exceptionally eventful day today, so you can get an idea of the kind of things that go on around here. This morning I joined a group of 10 other Study Abroad students for a brainstorming session with LCC International University's Study Abroad office. We were trying to come up with fresh ideas for LCC's promotional campaign for next year. For new merchandise, we came up with some great ideas, if I do say so myself -- who wouldn't want an LCC pet rock, or an LCC removable tattoo, or an LCC toothbrush?

Then it was off to practicum at the local Specialioji Mokykla (Special School). Everyday is something a little different, but today I spent a good hour playing Snakes and Ladders with my 14-year old pal Augustas. Back to school, where I made some gourmet grilled cheese and then headed to Theories of Personality class. We discussed more humanistic theology, a la Carl Rogers. [This marks the third time this academic year I've studied a unit on Carl Rogers. (I'm generally quite fond of the man, thankfully.)]

Then I had a meeting with my practicum advisor, where we went over logistics and all that. Once that was done, I headed back to an invitation-only reception in the first-floor lobby for a foreign dignitary who was visiting LCC. No big deal. Well, actually it wasn't really a big deal. There is a new Canadian Ambassador in Lithuania, you see, and since LCC is the only international university in the area, he decided to visit. An email was sent out to the community Canucks, and we all convened (8 of us) for coffee and pastries. I was the only one under 30, but it turns out I can schmooze with the dignitaries and small talk politics like the best of them. Naturally, the Canadian Ambassador was a real nice guy, and this brief meeting was equally pleasant.

At this meeting, I also received some unexpected life affirmation from LCC's interim president (who also happens to be Canadian). To put it simply, she declared that based on her perception of my character I would be a perfect candidate to someday travel Eastern Europe recruiting for LCC. So now we'll see about that, I suppose.

I conclude this post now, so I can run off to a game-show-trivia-night-kind-of-thing. It's a formal team event, so I'm off to a battle of the brains. A pizza dinner is on the line, so this is no joke.

Gotta jet. Love and peace.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
jmb

Russia-bound

2011-03-04T18:03:00.000-05:00

Hey people,

Quick update:
The adventures continue, and now grow in scale. I'm leaving in the morning for an 8-day trip into Russia. A 20 hour bus/train ride will take us into Moscow for 3 days, which will be followed by 4 days in Saint Petersburg. Needless to say, I am quite excited. This trip is a part of the Study Abroad program here, so it is completely arranged and organized for us by them (though still funded by us). I imagine I have a crazy week ahead, so I should get some sleep.

Thanks for reading this and thanks, as always, for your thoughts and prayers. You are in mine. Unless I don't know you. In which case let me know if you care for my thoughts or my prayers and I will happily oblige.

See you on the other side!

jmb

Confessions

2011-02-19T13:01:00.001-05:00

Laba diena, world!

It is sunny today. A delightful thing in any part of the world, no doubt, but it is especially so here, where the sun is seldom seen during remarkably gray winter months. But the sun shines brilliantly, and it has for almost a week straight. Clearly God's favour shines on Klaipeda lately.

I mentioned last time an upcoming trip to Stockholm. Well, said trip came quickly and went wonderfully. I was absolutely enthralled by the 14-island city, by it's staggeringly beautiful and balanced blend of ancient history and the ultra modern. Not that I've been that many places, but it really was unlike any place I'd ever been. Some notable highlights: wandering through the medieval streets and palace grounds of the old town, cheering for Sweden at Europe's largest hockey arena in a friendly Sweden-Russia game, shopping in the city's sprawling (and remarkably trendy) shopping district (which is almost a whole island to itself), sipping hot drinks at coffeeshops that put every Starbucks to shame, and on and on. Even the hours of bus and plane travel on either end of the trip was a great way to see more of this part of the world in which I now reside. As an added bonus, I know all the ins-and-outs of the Riga International Airport now too.That may come in handy again someday.

Since then, I've resumed my LCC life. But even that is anything but boring and predictable, though. I'm still working at the Klaipeda Special School. I normally go in 3 or 4 mornings a week. It's hard to describe exactly what I do, but this past week, in celebration of Valentine's Day, I assisted the school psychologist and social worker in putting on a little Valentine's card-making bash. Lots of tracing, cutting, colouring, and fun, and I may or may not have received a few gifts myself along the way. The rest of my days at the school are still spent in helping and playing in whatever ways I can. Though this is a rather simple evaluation of the whole thing so far, I'll say that it's been a great experience. I've learned a ton, but I don't even know if I could articulate it all right now.

So that's some of what I'm up to. But you know what, dear blogosphere? I have a confession. I have a hard time with writing here lately. Before this point, I've never lacked for material or inspiration for my ramblings. But for some reason, at a time where I am being constantly stimulated by new things and theoretically should be bursting at the seams with inspiration, I am kind of at a loss. I can certainly talk about the things that occupy my time, but I've always preferred to reflect more thoughtfully. But to do so requires some kind of concrete perspective or thought. Perhaps simply because my stimulation is so constant, and each experience is so new, and each day brings with new feelings and knowledge, I don't really feel like I'm at the right vantage point for philosophical musings on my present circumstances. Which is kind of a funny place for me to be in, because, as you may know, I really like all that philosophical musing stuff.

Ah well. Before I know it I'll be on my way home and trying once again to make sense of all of this. I still think very often about my time in Philly, and still feel impacted by all that happened there. So soon enough this time in Europe will be another experience relegated to the slow-cooker of influence that is memory. Hmm.. think about that.

So I'll end these pseudo-philosophical thoughts with something inspirational. Though it is rather specific...
If you are a 14-year old student, studying in the land of Canada, studying French in Grade 9, wondering whether to drop it and finally gain your freedom from the tyranny of the tres difficile, please do not. Because some day down the road, when you are 20-years old and your 8 years of mandatory french education is tightly locked in a vault in the recesses of your mind, you may find yourself in a place where everyone you meet speaks two languages better than you can speak one. And most people can speak three or four without batting an eye. And you will be asked by others and indeed ask yourself why you cannot speak more than one language. Aren't Canadians supposed to know French? you will be asked. And suddenly all of your adolescent reasoning and ethnocentric scoffing at the idea of learning French will suddenly seem remarkably short-sighted. And as you realize your severe linguistic handicap you will curse the day that band or gym or art or sleep took precedence over the priceless skill of bilingualism, when it was yours to cherish and to hold.

I speak from experience.

Well, that is all for tonight. I have one final thought that does not connect with anything I have said thus far. It is a fragment of 1 Corinthians 15:10. The Apostle Paul, on the state of his life: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.

By the grace of God, we are who we are. Receive that grace, and display its effects.

Love,
jmb

Labas!

2011-02-10T17:21:00.000-05:00

Hey world,

It's late on a Thursday evening. Life, to put it simply, has been great lately. But I don't have much time to talk about that. Because in the morning, I embark on another mini-adventure. An adventure within an adventure.

I'm spending the weekend in Stockholm. (I just like saying that. Not every day I'll be able to answer the So, what did you do this weekend question with, "Oh, you know, not much. Went to Stockholm. Hung out.")

So that should be awesome. Got a whole bunch of buses and planes to catch on the way, but by the end of it I'll have conquered a little more of Northern Europe. That's right. I'm here to conquer.

In other news, I'm a couple weeks into my practicum at Klaipedos 2-oji Specialoji Mokykla (Klaipeda 2nd Special School), where I shadow a school psychologist, and spend my mornings playing/teaching developmentally disabled children. It's a lot of colouring, playing, tutoring, and the odd English lesson too. Great times. Much more on that to come.

Hope wherever you are right now, you feel loved and blessed. Because you are.
Aight. Peace for now!
jmb

Life Lately

2011-01-28T09:14:00.000-05:00

Hey people,

It's been a couple weeks since I've written here. A couple of rather enjoyable, often crazy weeks, in fact. There is much I could say on a personal level, but I'll save my blathering on about self-discovery and trials for more personal forms of communication. So, good blogosphere, I treat you now to a summation of life lately.

Classes have been rather light lately, and my schedule has remained relatively open. I never have class in the mornings, and only ever for two or three hours in the afternoon. At first this free time drove my busybody crazy, but said busybody quickly found means to busyness. I've spent a delightful amount of time in prayer and reading my Bible, which at such a disorienting time and place is a divinely orienting thing. I've spent time at the gym, fulfilled my Canadian reputation playing pick-up floor hockey, and digested a nearly daily dose of political satire and news (thank you, Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert). But that's just the free time.

I was approached rather last minute to join a team for the annual KVN comedy show here at LCC. For those unfamiliar with KVN (join the club) it is essentially the Russian version of SNL. Except it's a competition between two teams. Competitive comedy, with a week to prepare. Talk about pressure. But, at the same time, talk about fun! Countless hours over the past week and a half were spent rehearsing, planning, editing, mixing, revising, and laughing. Though I must admit that, due to my late arrival on the scene and my profoundly un-Russian sense of humour, many of the jokes I delivered made little sense to me. But I'm thankful they were found funny upon delivery..

Our big show was last night, though, and it was certainly a success. We laughed, we cheered, we panicked, and at the end of it all, we won! My team was comprised of a Canadian, Albanian, Latvian, a few Ukrainians, Russians and others. So even if we hadn't won, the experience of working and laughing with all these wonderful people is one I will not forget.

I've started a practicum/internship/volunteer placement at a local school for children with developmental disabilities. I went in for the first time yesterday with my professor, who helped me navigate the halls and language differences. But I go in on Monday by myself. I'm really excited to begin, but I definitely got the impression that this school is a challenging place to work, and my time there (especially with so much broken communication) will be a challenge in many ways. But I'm ready. What's the worst that can happen? Perhaps I'll be confronted daily with challenging or uncomfortable situations. Likely, in fact. But, hey, I came here to experience and learn. Hard to do that sitting in your room twiddling your thumbs. So here goes nothing!

Well, world, I must now bid you viso gero (good bye). I'll be back with more in the coming days.

And thanks so much for reading this. You, sitting there reading this right now. Yes, you. You rock. God loves you. So do I.
jmb

Here and Now

2011-01-15T17:47:00.000-05:00

Hey People,

It's a chilly Saturday night in Klaipeda. Not too much going on. Just some reading, Russian TV dramas with roommates, and further experiments for dinner. The quiet time is nice, though, after a positively dizzying two weeks. As far as any sort of summation goes, I'm not sure even where to begin. My thoughts (and emotions) have been so strong but scattered that, for now, I'll provide you with a brief recap of my Lithuanian life thus far.

On the morning of Monday, January 3rd, I left Toronto, Canada. On the evening of Tuesday, January 4th, I arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania. I (and two travel companions) were promptly ushered into a taxi with a driver who spoke no English and hurried across the city to our three-day-hostel-home, just in time to head out for dinner with 18 strangers (fellow American students from various places, with a few Lithuanian helpers) to order from a menu we could not read food we had never eaten. Wild. But great.

The following two days were spent in Vilnius -- walking for miles, snapping pictures, eating out, mangling basic Lithuanian phrases, meeting new people, and all the while still meeting each other. It really is a special experience to be thrust into such intimate quarters with people you've never met, especially with the added expectation that these new faces are to become your close friends throughout the adventure. But I've been blessed to meet some great people and have some solid companions as we all embark on this adventure. [to see more of Vilnius, see my bookFace page]

It's fun to mangle words.

So by Thursday night we were in Klaipeda, greeted by staggering wind and sleet. But it was great to finally get settled in the place that will become our home for 4 months. In a funny way, it wasn't until classes began on Monday that my life began to slow down. The past week has been one of rather serious adjustment, but also some great exploration and fun. To be truthful, this adventure thus far has been a roller coaster of excitement and apprehension, anticipation and anxiety, but if you are really interested in those details then perhaps we could talk directly. But above it all, I am extremely grateful for this opportunity, and all the lessons I have learned even in this short time. Simply put, fearful uncertainty is being slowly replaced with bold certainty in God's faithfulness and my own need to be challenged.

Classes in this context have a much different feel, but I am excited for what I will learn from that very context, in addition to the material itself. I'm taking three psychology classes (Abnormal Psych, Theories of Personality, and Research Statistics), and Introduction to Lithuanian. I was also just approved for a practicum/internship at a local institution. Though there is much to be determined, it will likely be at a local orphanage. So in the meantime, any prayers for that endeavour are much appreciated.

It is now quite late. I acknowledge that my recapitulation has been rather brief and somewhat vague, but I assure you that more details (and pictures) will come with time. I have many things starting up this week, and I'm very excited to become more involved with this new community (both on campus and off).

If you are reading this, then I assume that you care about my adventures in some way. For that I thank you very much. It can be an isolating thing to be so, well, isolated, but support from all of you is a great encouragement. So thank you. Or, as they say it here, Aciu!

Sudie! (Go with God)
jmb

Hello from Lithuania

2011-01-09T16:23:00.000-05:00

Hey people,

I write to you now from that distant land of snow and ice and kepta duona. It's a little land with a lot of spirit, in a part of the world few of you may ever consider, with a language few on earth can understand. After a week of moving and seeing and gawking and leaving, we have finally arrived in our new home. At Lithuania Christian College International University. In Klaipeda, Lithuania.

So, far from home in a corner of the world I barely even know, with people I do not know speaking languages I do not know, I'm going to spend my semester. It's a rather frightening prospect, such extreme unfamiliarity. But it's also undeniably inspiring. Challenging. Exhilarating.

So here it goes. I have much I could say already, but I will save some of my thoughts for the clarity of retrospection. For your visual stimulation in the meantime, if you are interested, pictures are available on the Face Book.

Thanks for stopping by! That's all for now.
jmb

The Gospel

2010-12-16T22:07:00.000-05:00

Hey people,

I'm home. After one heck of a semester I've packed my life up again and plopped it back in Unionville for a couple weeks. I'll be shipping it overseas in a few weeks, but until then I'd like to offer some thoughts.

We are always learning. All the time. Even if it's just directions to somewhere, how your friend's night was, or philosophical postulations on divine foreknowledge, the world is a never-ending book to learn from. Rather daunting, if you think about it. But still very exciting. So all of that to say, I learned a ton this semester. Much of it I would like to share with you, and lucky for you, I can! I spent much of the semester studying different theories of psychotherapy and internally wrestling with their implications for faith. At the end of it all, I wrote a whopper of a paper on my views of human nature and problems and solutions for mental health (which I am quite proud of). So if you're interested in learning about the "Bodenian" approach to therapy, you can find it here. Personal Counseling Theory

Alright. That's enough of that.

There is one thing I would like to say, and it deserves much more thought than what I have time to give it right now. It concerns the Gospel, the Good News, the Christian message, or whatever you would call it. I would like to share with you what months of philosophical-postulating, theological-pondering, and thoughtful beard-stroking has taught me. Through my Philosophy of Religion class and personal investment in the topic, I quite literally dissected every facet of my faith in Jesus Christ, held it up to every lens of logical scrutiny, and somehow tried to stuff it back into my heart, where it must reside and guide my life.

The Gospel, the core of Christian belief, the saving message of God is this -- to know God.

To know him. To truly, intimately, deeply, emotionally, intellectually know God. That's simple, you may think. Perhaps to you it is. But for those of us who find ourselves thinking often about God, talking about him and learning about him, how radical and revolutionary it is to realize that we can talk to him. God is not a distant star to study, but a person to know.

For me, that is what it means to be a Christian. Know God. Funny concept to boil it all down to two little words, but those words are the starting point for all the intricacies and compulsions of belief. Once we know God for who he is, how can we but love him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength? Once we have known him, how can we but read his Word and pray and sing and live for him?

To know God is to realize our own position before him. We deserve nothing, yet he loves us lavishly. We defy him daily, yet he forgives us undeservedly. We are crafted pottery, eternally cherished by an eternal Potter and created for his glory.

So when we say we are "saved", what does that mean, exactly? We are saved from our crippling, sinful ignorance, and brought into redeeming knowledge of the Saviour. That's amazing.

In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul says that God has called us into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ. That's what we are called to. Not just to Church or youth group or church potlucks or to be a good person and to do Christian things. But we are called to know God, and be daily transformed by that knowledge. To fellowship with Jesus Christ and grow everyday as branches drawing nearer to the vine.

1 Corinthians 13:12 "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

- jmb

Lake Shore

2010-11-11T22:47:00.000-05:00

Hello good world,

The times I feel most inspired to write something here seem to be the busiest, unfortunately. So then I come to a night like this where I have time to write, but I almost feel at a loss for material. I may have been at a real loss, in fact, had I not been presented with something rather frightening last night. Something terrible, terrifying, and quite frankly unbelievable.

Lake Shore.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Jersey Shore has come to Canada.

If you are familiar with Jersey Shore or its dazzlingly despicable legacy, then you might presently cease to read this post and retreat to some Apocalypse-ready bunker to wait out this onslaught of magnificently trashy entertainment. But that implies that it will end, when the scariest thing may be that it won't.

Jersey Shore is the ultimate in gratuitous reality television. For TV today it's not a novel concept. Just some filthy rich and beautiful people living their hedonistic lives -- drinking, tanning, working out, dating, fighting, crying, sleeping (together), shouting, and a little more drinking -- in front of the whole world. But I suppose what made Jersey Shore such a smashing success are the stereotypes. These unreal characters are beach bums (already room for stereotyping), living in New Jersey (sorry, Jersey, but more stereotypes), and are Italian. So throw it all together and you have hit television. We can watch from a distance, and giggle and gawk as every stereotype of such people is confirmed and strengthened.

I know people who live on the Jersey Shore. None of them are like the cast of the show, and yet their home will always be associated with this kind of blatant narcissism and youthful debauchery. Like it or not, the Jersey Shore will long be known for a small group of crazy kids. So when I was excitedly informed by a friend that "Canada has their own Jersey Shore!" I was less than impressed. Then I found out it's set in Toronto, and I was suddenly quite concerned.

You see, this show is not just a copy of Jersey Shore. It's already been called "more offensive." The oh-so-tasteful producers have thrown 8 people from different ethnic backgrounds together, and given them appropriate names like "the Jew" or "the Pole" or "the Albanian." You get the picture. On the surface, it seems like a wonderful opportunity to showcase Toronto's diversity, and that's exactly what the producer claims he is doing.

The problem, of course, Mr. Producer, is that these people are not real people. Sure, they are Toronto residents and big Jersey Shore fans who lined up for hours and auditioned to make the final cut for a show that will hopefully shoot them towards fame... but who is going to do all that and stand before a panel of judges and be anything like themselves? They've all watched every episode of Jersey Shore. They know what makes reality TV popular. The producers want attitude and sex appeal and drama, and the young stars want fame and money. It's an easy trade.

As a proud Torontonian watching his city from afar, I really hope Toronto is not thrust into the world's consciousness by the fame of Lake Shore. I wish all the best for these folks, but this show truthfully doesn't do anyone any good. They are still deciding on a network to broadcast it, I believe, so there's still a chance it won't air. Lines from "the Turk" like, "I'm not racist; I hate everyone... especially Jews" may slow things down. But better yet, we could all just throw out our TVs, cause the stuff on it isn't likely to get any better. Yeah, that'll do it..

If you just stop for a second to see these characters as real people, created by God for so much more, you see that behind their loud and brash and obnoxious behavior they are just screaming for love and attention. They are empty and unfulfilled, so they are digging their emptiness deeper in an attempt to get out. It's really sad, actually, and even sadder that their vulnerability and hunger will be exploited for a quick profit, by an audience combating their own emptiness. I'll just say it straight: these people need Jesus, to live the lives we were created for.

So as funny as it sounds, maybe I'll pray for the cast of Lake Shore. It can't hurt, and it certainly seems like they could use it. But anyways, I hope this is the first and last mention you ever hear of this show.

Sorry to be so serious. I should work on some jokes for next time.
Oh! I got it. I went to Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity last week and this sign (one of many) made me chuckle.

To all of you supporting anti-immigration policies:

You're right, immigrants are a problem.
Just ask the Native Americans.

Thank you very much. Have a good night.
jmb

I Like Maine

2010-10-24T23:08:00.000-04:00

Hello world,

I've just returned from four days up in Maine, where I frolicked about with festive Fall frivolity among colorful trees, soaring hilltops and pounding ocean. We had a few days off for Fall Break, so I spent the time with a few friends at one fellow's house up there. Sure was beautiful. Breathtakingly so.

Of course I'm grateful to God for all times of the year, but this season is especially awe-inspiring for me. Likely for you as well. Anyway, there's much I could say, but I wrote a little article for the Op-Ed section of our school paper. In case you don't subscribe to The Swinging Bridge, I've shortened it and posted below. Hope you like it!

What's Like Got to Do With It?

Your cousin gets engaged. You like that. You post vacation photos. Your mom likes that. You share a joke with a new friend. He likes it. That kid from 8th grade science likes it too. Justin Bieber smiles. And 15 million people like it.

My question: what is like, exactly?

It’s no secret that Facebook has radically altered our social world. From the moment we sign over our names we are forever members of a new community – an online society that exists everywhere . . . and yet exists nowhere. Connections unhindered unite us with mindless ease to 500 million people across all manners of time and space.

Facebook is too large of a monster to wrestle in one go, and it’s too precious to us all to be adequately condemned. But there are certain aspects of this cyber-beast that rob too much of real friendship’s risk to be ignored. And this whole business of “liking”, for me, goes too far.

Once upon a time, dear cousin would have called you personally to deliver the good news. Mom would’ve been delighted to see the scrapbook you completed. Your joke would’ve been a special moment between two friends. And Justin Bieber, well, in another time he wouldn’t be.

But that isn’t the world our social lives inhabit anymore. Instead, each action can become a public display. In this new reality, the user chooses each social move carefully. He crafts his own image and selects his encounters; or when he so desires he simply observes unnoticed.

So it is in this era of cheapened social interaction that we find the ‘like’ button cheaper still. It takes the remnant of authentic exchange and whittles it to the core – to a primal instinct of pleasure or displeasure. Your personal congratulation to your cousin turned into an exclamatory wall post; now it is a virtual thumbs-up.

So we have ‘groups’ petitioning the folks at Facebook to create a ‘dislike’ button. After all, if we are reducing our response to a simple affirmative, why ignore the other basic affective state? If this happens, it doesn’t seem long before all words may be lost to our virtual selves; each newsfeed only a litany of thumbs up or down.

I believe that we were created for community and can function powerfully in authentic relationship. And it is this authenticity that is at risk when we maintain a friendship with sporadic 'likes.' There is no depth to our compliment or significance to our approval when it is so diminished. If we were vulnerable behind our Facebook profiles before, we are even less so when we use no words in our exchange. It’s simple and it’s safe to ‘like’ what you otherwise might have discussed – but perhaps it’s too simple, and perhaps too safe.

You could argue that this isn't a big deal, that though interaction be cheapened, friendship itself is strengthened. Even if you are just ‘liking’ someone else’s social activity, it’s still better than not interacting at all, right? And, anyways, you have 1, 627 friends. You just don’t have time to provide a deeper comment.

But there is a bigger issue here, I think. It’s simply a matter of how much we dare to think. How much will we question the ideas thrown at our minds or the tools thrust in our hands? History is being made by every moment that passes, but it is shaped by the choices we make. So think for yourself about the quality of friendship you wish to pursue; the identity you wish to embrace; the stamp you leave on the world.

Here’s a thought: each action on Facebook is an indelible imprint in time, one that will last even until the day your grandchildren add you as a friend. What sorts of relationships do you cultivate? What do you say? What do you like? Know that this crazy social world we inhabit no longer exists in our memories and old letters on a dusty shelf. It’s with us everyday, and it’s open for all to see.

So what do we do? Perhaps nothing new. We just think about each action, and remember that the gravity of personal dialogue can never be fully reduced to a single click of approval. It’s messy, this friendship thing. Let’s keep it that way.

A Canadian Thanksgiving

2010-10-12T17:31:00.001-04:00

A longer post is forthcoming. Until it arrives, I just wanted to wish everyone in the world a belated, but very happy Canadian Thanksgiving.

I learned yesterday that there are a few Canadian faculty here at Messiah. A number of people came up to me throughout the day to inform me that their Canadian professor had informed them that Monday was, in fact, Canadian Thanksgiving. Some of these professors are genuinely Canadian; others claim the title through a spouse or cousin or dog or whatever. The point is, you'll never feel more proud to be Canadian than when you're living in America.

So you tell your American friends that today is Thanksgiving Day in the motherland. And they exclaim, "What!? Canada has Thanksgiving? ...Um, what for?"

And you proceed to explain that though we had no Pilgrims, and no voyage of the Mayflower, and though our first encounter with the Natives is not recorded as a cordial family affair, we still have a harvest and a reason to be thankful. Then you'll tell them that it is celebrated in mid-October, because it's gosh-darn hard enough to farm the frozen tundra in July, let alone November. Then you'll describe how you celebrate in your ancestral igloo, but the turkey isn't cooked for fear of melting the roof. And after we gnaw the turkey, which is actually a Canadian Goose, we wash it down with some home-cooked poutine and throw on our toques before skating ootside.

But, I suppose, if they press you on your facts, they should know the truth. For instance, that the first recorded feast of thanksgiving in Canada dates to 1578. But whoever gets credit for originating the holiday, giving thanks is not as American as apple pie, anymore than it's as Canadian as peameal bacon.

So wherever you're at this Thanksgiving season (which, for me, spans 7 weeks and two countries), I hope it is blessed.

Cheers!
jmb

Mmm, peameal bacon.

Seize the Day! (or the late night ...)

2010-09-30T00:13:00.000-04:00

I'm writing from an upstairs bedroom of the Guys' Restoration House, just off the campus of Messiah College, tucked away in the rolling hills of Grantham, Pennsylvania. The blaring horn of a passing freight train screams its plea for attention as the clanking and rattling of that great metallic serpent carries it winding and whining into the night. But I do not suppose you are here to read about freight trains. So allow me to explain what I've been up to.

For my friends north of the border, I'd call this my third year of university. For everyone else, I'm a college junior. I'm back in Grantham, Messiah's main campus, after my semester-long adventure in Philadelphia. I'm often asked if the transition from teeming urban campus to quaint rural setting was difficult. Truthfully, it wasn't. Though Messiah may be quieter and less socially turbulent and sometimes even a bit stifling, it's always been that way and that's, I think, precisely why we love it. It's such a safe and special place, so nurturing and yet so rich with opportunity. But ultimately, like any place one could ever go, it's all what you make of it.

So once again, I'm going to try to make this the best it can be. I'm living at the Restoration House, which is one of Messiah's themed "satellite houses". It's a small old house just across the train tracks from campus, focused on sustainable living and awareness and home to six fine gentlemen. There is a girls' house across the street, home to six fine young ladies who bake us muffins and help us when we're sad. It's like coming home everyday to a 12-person family.

Confused about the "sustainable living" bit? I was a little too, so that's why I joined the house. To boil it all down, we seek to be a strong community that encourages ourselves and our school to care about the effect of our actions on Creation. It's admittedly something I never thought too much about, except when (at home) I've had to discard my trash in three separate bins. So I'm living at this house, and I'm learning about the kind of impact we, as a society and as individuals, have on our world from the lifestyles we lead. All really takes to right some of these wrongs is some self-discipline and lifestyle changes. If you're wondering, I have yet to literally hug a tree, but it may happen someday.

I'm working for College Ministries. My official title is Worship Consultant, because, yes, even our worship needs consulting now. What I really do is plan and coordinate our weekly chapels, and give leadership in worship to different events around campus. So it's a lot of ministry-related stuff I've done for years, with some added desk-work, responsibility, and a paycheck. It's great. College ministry is no walk in the park, though, and many may be surprised to learn that planning a chapel service takes more than 'just picking a few songs' but I've learned a ton already.

Academically, this is the hardest semester of my college career thus far, but it's also hands down my favorite. I am a psychology major, finally studying psychology in depth. And I love it. I think I'll leave it at that for now, though. So stay tuned.

I regrettably have only had time for this pastime far past the time for my slumber. But I wanted to give a (very) brief overview of some of my involvements this semester. There is much more to be done and much more to be said, but as always I thank you greatly for supporting me on this ride.

Until next time, dear friends,
jmb

Return To Blogsville

2010-09-21T00:40:00.001-04:00

Cue trumpets and wild fanfare. Send for your friends. Slaughter the fattened calf. Tonight we party, for the curator of this forgotten thought museum has returned!

Actually, do none of those things. Save the fattened calf for another time. But this humble author of his own reflections has, in fact, returned. I apologize for the prolonged absence, but I thank you for your patience and apparent devotion. I hereby declare the third season of this blog begun.

I'm admittedly a little too tired to write anything even remotely interesting, so I'll save my first post for the more favourable cognitive conditions of another day. Until then, thanks for checking in and I'll talk to you soon!

Feel free to talk back.
jmb

Who?

2010-06-12T20:24:00.000-04:00

Hey World,

It's been a while. How you been?

I've been home for almost a month now, enjoying the familiar but all the same trying to view it with new lenses. I've been thinking about that a lot, actually. When one goes out and has memorable, formative experiences far from home, how does their perspective of home change? I'm trying to deliberately change mine for the better. What is this place I've grown up in -- the Greater Toronto Area -- and what sort of powerful, life-changing things can I experience in a place I've always known?

This all actually leads to the second major "lesson" I suppose I wanted to share based on my Philly experience. If the first could be expressed in a word, it would be WHY. The second, then, would be WHO.

Everybody has a story. That notion is no stranger to this little blog of mine, but it quite easily becomes one to this little mind of mine. And probably yours as well. So I'm on a mission to remedy that ailment of ignorance. I want to see the world from others' eyes, and find beauty in the story of their lives. The same God who created me (and you) and whom I praise for his love and providence in my life knows all these people just as intimately as myself.

I've been convicted lately of one peculiar pattern I've noticed. When a friend goes abroad for a semester or even overseas for a few weeks, I am so eager to hear their stories and so inspired by their experiences. For instance, a few friends went to China, and I was so excited for them and anxious to hear what it was like. What a fascinating cultural encounter! Then I come home, where nearly half of the people in my immediate neighborhood were born somewhere in Asia. Talk about an extraordinary story worth hearing. These are lives worth celebrating and people worth knowing.

But regardless of someone's birthplace, are they not still children of God beautiful and valuable to him? I guess like I've said before, I feel that so much could be accomplished if people just took an interest in other people's stories and perspectives. Asking "why" can only lead to a better understanding of just "who" we're dealing with.

God's Creation is a beautiful thing. It's unbelievable, really. If I may digress for a minute, the good people at the BBC recently produced what I see to be one of the most worship-inspiring videos ever -- Planet Earth. Of course they are evolutionary biologists working for a secular media company, but the images and natural beauty they've brought to DVD format points me directly to God. There is truly staggering beauty even in the darkest, deepest places. Why would God create such beautiful things that man would never see? Perhaps just because he is God. He is an awesome God with power incomparable and glory unending.

My point here, though, is that the beauty of Creation can be seen in all aspects of it. Including people. Especially people. No two people are completely identical. Nobody's fingerprints are on anyone else's fingers. Your personality is your own. Your character is you, and it's yours alone. Everyone has a different story to tell. Everybody has heartaches and tragedies and hopes and desires and dreams. And they are all unique.

There are more cultures that one could ever know, and greater diversity than one could even fathom. But God knows it all. He created it all. It's common to praise diversity, but how often do we praise God for it? Like the beauty of Creation points me to the beauty of my Creator, so too the diversity of humans can only point me back to the eternal creativity of an eternal God. There are beautiful tales and innumerable stories to be heard in this world. So whether I'm on the other side of the world, or just bumming around at home, I want to hear those stories and worship the God who caused them all.

jmb.

Ask Why

2010-05-07T22:03:00.004-04:00

Hello world,

Well, it's all coming to a close. I realize my writing here has been sporadic at best, but it hasn't been for lack of inspiration. No, I've been busy trying to make the most of my last month here in Philadelphia -- an ambition impeded by an ever-growing workload. But now even the work is winding down, so I figured I'd take some time to reflect.

Philadelphia, to me, is the noise. It's the traffic. It's the dirt and grime and sirens near and far. It's the smells. It's the music. It's the sights and the sightseeing. It's the poverty. It's the wealth. It's the crime. It's the news. It's the food. It's the snow. It's the heat. It's the shopping malls. It's the street vendors. It's the subway. It's the skyscrapers. It's the vacant lots. It's the service. It's the living. It's the learning. It's all of these things and more. But mostly, it's the stories.

So I'd like to share a few little lessons I've learned the past few months. They're important to me, so I hope you can gain something too. I'll share them over the next couple weeks, but tonight I want to focus on one that is foundational to all others, and certainly I hope to my entire life.

Lesson One: Ask Why

Anyone who has ever played a video game will probably be familiar with the EA Games slogan. It goes like this:
Multitude of voices droning in eerie unison: "EA Games"
Lone child's voice in a creepier whisper: "Challenge Everything"

Creepiness aside, I think the folks at EA Games are sending a powerful message. Though I would rephrase to: Ask Why. That's it. Plain and simple, but oh so complex and oh so difficult. It's a simple premise with life-changing application, but ... it's going to take a lot of work.

There is always a reason. There is always another story to explain another action, thought, or idea. So let's look for it. Why is there racism in the world? Why is there poverty hand-in-hand with wealth? Why do some people live abundantly? Why do some people live in constant suffering? Why can't people get along in politics?

These are tough questions, but there is always an answer. For some questions, God alone may hold the answers, but that is no reason not to ask. It's no reason not to look further for the truth and to see, as I've said before, the world through God's eyes. And that's what I feel we sometimes forget -- there is always more to see and learn, even with things we see as inexplicable. The issue of prejudice, for example, is so fascinating to me. I might look at someone who is racist with nothing but disbelief and disdain, but why are they that way?

Perhaps they were born in a homogeneous rural town in a community very antagonistic to those of other colors. The prejudice rubs off on impressionable young minds. And perhaps the townspeople themselves grew up in a similar environment, and their ancestors were slaveholders who would have hated slavery but depended on it completely for their survival in a competitive world and so demeaned their black workers and beat them into submission lest they ever think to rebel and overcome the system. These ancestors may have tried desperately to justify slaveholding, even using the Bible to hold their economic system intact. But the more they read the Bible to convince themselves, the more they felt uneasy. So they painted blacks as the enemy, a people to fear and revile and oppress, and taught such things to their children, whose children's children's children are with us today.

In case you got lost there, the point is that no sane person could ever choose to despise another race unless they were taught it was the right way. What if I was born then, not in a Canadian metropolis of the 21st Century but a southern American town in the 19th Century. Would I be any different?

And what about political divides? In my modest observations and highly caricatured interpretations, Liberals see Conservatives as tradition-bound buffoons with closed minds and obtuse noggins. Conservatives see Liberals as obstinate progressives who would see the very fabric of democracy unravel for the sake of "pleasing everybody." But what if John Stewart and Rush Limbaugh played golf and shared stories of growing up? What if Ann Coulter and Arianna Huffington (of the Huffington Post) went out for coffee and chatted about their childhoods and families. Could they ever see eye-to-eye? Maybe they would, if they only asked why.

No one is born a Democrat or a Republican, we choose a platform based on the world we know. No one is forced to become wealthy or to give all their money away. We do things based on what we know. So what is the solution to all this misunderstanding, and even more so to problems of disparity and economic oppression? To me, it is to learn more. It is to live. It is to see the world beyond your own eyes, to experience the world beyond yourself. And you don't have to travel the world to do this, you just have to ask why.

All I'm Really Good For

2010-04-09T17:34:00.000-04:00

This morning at LIFT Philadelphia I was working with a first-time client. We were doing the usual intake paperwork, going over her financial situation, family background and career goals. Somewhere along the way, I stopped to ask her, "If you could have any job right now, what would it be?"

"Oh, just some kind of cleaning," she replied sincerely. "That's really all I'm good for."

To me, that moment was a profound collision between my world and hers. For the briefest sliver of time, my sphere of privilege and opportunity clashed right up against a life with limits, realistic and inhibiting. For myself and fellow students, such questions of possibility are a part of daily thoughts: what do I want to be? what do I want to do? who do I want to become? We feel entitled to the world, which of course is ours for the taking. We are proud of our accomplishments, even though realistically we still haven't accomplished anything.

This mindset is by no means exclusive to this generation, and I don't even think it's a bad thing. There's no doubt that progress really only seems to be made by those who dream, who have the opportunity to seek more. But it's humbling to learn from those who seem to have stopped dreaming altogether -- those who see only as far as tomorrow while they try to make it through today.

Like this woman. We sat together at the same desk and shared an hour of each other's time. We are different in many visible ways -- age, race, gender -- and have done vastly different things during our lives thus far. But the most profound difference, the one that struck me this morning, is our ability to dream.

We both dream at night. But during the day, when the sun shines, when a child cries, when sadness reigns, when laughter overcomes, when sirens wail, when music soars, when solitude threatens, when company comforts, when loved ones pass, when new lives begin, when goodness overwhelms, when God is known, then what? What does she dream of -- for herself, for her children, for her community, for the world?

Or have the pressures of a difficult life robbed her of such vision?

I know my dreams. I know what it is to catch glimpses of God's glory that move me, to hear a song that stirs me, to see an image that captivates me, to read a book that shapes me. You probably do too. And I know what it is to dream in those moments.

But what do I dream of, how do I dream differently, for the sake of those who don't dream at all? For the sake of those who see little value in themselves, how do I see myself? How do you see yourself?

I don't know how to properly answer that question, except to remind myself and the world that there is a God who cares, a God who does more than dream, but a God who plans for all his children, from every tongue, tribe, and nation to bow before Him. For all all of them to live in perfect harmony and fulfillment for all eternity. There, with our divine purpose restored, we will no longer dream of something better, but live for something more.

It's easy, when exposed to such disparity and injustice, to become cynical and hopeless, never feeling like we are doing enough. But there is such solace in knowing that I serve a God who will one day completely restore this crazy planet -- in all its beauty and corruption, wealth and poverty, good and evil -- to something eternally perfect. But in the meantime we don't just twiddle our thumbs and wait for divine reparations to commence, we work out our salvation as Christ's hands and feet doing whatever he would have us do.

And because this is a debate that shouldn't be ignored, I am not making a call for "social justice." It's a call for Godly living, wherever that takes you -- to the pulpit, to the cubicle, or to the streets of Calcutta. And never lose the vision of something more.

Dream on,
jmb

The Missionary Impulse

2010-03-25T00:38:00.001-04:00

This article was sent my way a few weeks ago. It's a piece about Laura Silsby, who, in the aftermath of Haiti's devastating earthquakes, tried to take some impoverished kids out of Port-Au-Prince to safety in the Dominican Republic. Sounds pretty harmless, right? One might even say it was downright nice of her. Well, they would have said that, except that she and her group got arrested at the border for trying to smuggle these kids out of the country without permission. Guess they should have thought of that.

The story would have ended right there, had the media not found one additional fact -- Ms. Silsby is a Christian. Duh, duh, duh. Cue blinding spotlights and weeks of front-page drama. The ignorance! The hypocrisy!

The torrential judgment that ensued fueled the writing of this article in the NY Times. So I'd encourage you to read it. My initial response is down below.

The Missionary Impulse -- The Opinionator

Well, first off I don't think anyone can deny that this is a pretty shameless case against Christianity, or at least Christian missions. But in my opinion, it's completely unfair and unwarranted. At least Ms. Silsby was doing something, motivated out of genuine compassion and following a biblical mandate to care for the oppressed. And, lest we forget, she was taking these kids to an orphanage. Reading some of these articles, one might think she was trying to take them home as slaves. If she had succeeded in her ill-guided scheme, remember the outcome would have been 30 kids nestled safely in warmer beds than the streets of Port-Au-Prince provide. Now that's not so evil, is it?

It becomes so easy to bash international Christian aid and mission efforts that have gone awry, and at the same time forget all the good that has been done by those same programs. Sure, perhaps the history of Christian missions is tainted by a few exceptional instances, but for every tragedy associated with Christianity, there has been much more good. For example, religious people consistently give four times as much to charity than any other group. And we should thank God for that, because, as that article points out, liberal atheists statistically don't give much to those in need.

I would argue that a few cases of ineffective (or even detrimental) Christian mission work does nothing to discredit two thousand years of caring for the poor and needy wherever they are -- the quiet servitude that will never make headlines. Of the hundreds of Christian volunteers who flooded into Haiti after the earthquake, 10 of them made some misguided attempts to help in the face of incredible suffering. The American media, in their incessant quest to find fault in "the righteous" blows the whole story into front-page material. In one of the greatest natural disasters in recent times, an unprecedented amount of relief work and aid flooded into a devastated nation with no strings attached. It's a story of unexplainable tragedy and compassion, yet the piece that snags the top spot is about one conservative Christian who made some mistakes.

So critical (presumably non-Christian) columnists point their fingers at one white American Christian woman who messed up, and, like in this article, inductively reason that Christian missions are a menace to society. The headlines also tell us that Tiger Woods is Buddhist. Hence, all Buddhists are selfish and sex-obsessed. Stalin was an atheist. So were the Columbine shooters. Atheists have done some bad things. So watch out for Atheists. They're a dangerous bunch.

I guess that's a little extreme, but I think it's also extreme to so vehemently antagonize this woman. I mean, nothing even happened. She got stopped, the kids were returned. End of story. Truth be told, the story isn't about kids being taken from Haiti. The story is about a Christian who isn't perfect.

I also think it would be a good idea for this evidently concerned columnist to perhaps redirect his energies to something more pressing. Say, the fact that hundreds of helpless Haitian kids are being trafficked out of Haiti as we speak. Turn the spotlight off a well-intentioned mishap before we completely miss the real tragedy.

As always, thanks for reading. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Peace and love,
jmb

O Canada!

2010-03-03T11:32:00.007-05:00

I realize I'm a little late, but there's something I've been dying to say:

GO CANADA GO!

For any Canadian who lives somewhere outside Canada, these past Olympics were something extra special. After years of enduring mindless misconceptions and pleading with peers for recognition, the world has turned its heavy gaze on my home and native land. It's so thrilling that people finally care.

Yes, it's a bit bothersome that their focus is narrow and brief, but to witness the impression that Vancouver 2010 has placed on American hearts is touching. Equally touching was their disbelief that there could be less snow in Vancouver than in Philadelphia. Imagine that...

Yes, there is a country up there, and no, it's not exactly the same as America.

No, I don't live anywhere near Vancouver, but I agree with you -- it's beautiful.

The tune of O Canada is stuck in your head? Pretty catchy, EH? Let me teach you the words!

Yeah, we have a pretty good sense of humour. And fashion. Check out those scarves.

Wait, Michael J. Fox is Canadian!? Why, yes he is. And guess who else?

Oh and did you notice we're the best hockey players in the world?

I'm so proud to be Canadian. And from this side of North America, I can firmly attest that everyone was impressed by these games. I heard a few people, so moved by the friendly faces and beautiful landscape of these Vancouver games, exclaim, "I'm moving to Canada!"

So there you have it. The world may sometimes forget us in the political shadow of our giant neighbour, but there is nothing but love for the True North, strong and free!

My name is Josh. And I Am Canadian.

Photo Essay

2010-02-17T15:00:00.003-05:00

Dearest world,

Here's a visual glimpse into my life... if the words just aren't cutting it.

This was our first major project for Design for Journalism. We were supposed to document a week in our lives in pictures, then edit and string all the images together to tell some sort of coherent story.

I'm not much of a photographer (I had to borrow a camera for this), but it was actually a lot of fun.
Enjoi,
jmb

check out 'the week.'

Snow and Stories

2010-02-06T17:14:00.003-05:00

I opened up BBC World News online this afternoon and read the headline, "Snowstorm Paralyses U.S. East Coast." The article covered crippling damage that's been inflicted in major cities, including D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia. I also received numerous messages from friends and family back home inquiring about my experience (and safety) smack dab in the middle of all the calamity. There have been several deaths, power outages, and a whole lot of car accidents.

So what has my experience been? Well, to be honest, it hasn't been all that dramatic. I watched a foot of snow pile up outside my window, I saw a few cars slip a little on the street below, I took some cool pictures, I had some snow spray in my face and in my jacket, I got my socks wet walking to lunch. Yup. That's about it.

So if someone were to ask me directly, "You're in Philadelphia. What's it like? Is everyone alright?" I would honestly have to reply, "Um, yeah. Actually, it's not so bad."

Because that's my experience. That's my perspective. That's my story.

But it's not really true. Or, at least, it's not completely true.

I have a class on Wednesday nights called EcoUrban Footprints of Post-Metropolis Life: Examining an Integral Relationship of Natural and Social Ecologies in Urban Environments. No, I don't know what it means either. I doubt even the instructor knows. But regardless, we watched a fascinating lecture last class by an African author named Chimamanda Adichie about "the danger of a single story."

How often do we think we know everything? Or perhaps we don't think we know everything, we just don't bother to learn anymore, to dig any deeper. In this lecture, which I would highly encourage you to watch in its entirety, Adichie explains her experiences as an African woman and successful author in America -- the prejudices she endures and the misconceptions she deals with daily.

Her tone is gentle and even humorous, but her message is strong and sharp: don't be blinded by the single story. Do not think that your personal experiences or observations -- with people, countries, ideas, cultures -- have given you a full understanding. For instance, when Adichie moved from Nigeria to the U.S. for university, her classmates knew only the American story of Africa. They were shocked beyond belief to learn she grew up in a house, not a hut, was part of a city, not a tribe, and listened to Mariah Carey ... on a CD, no less.

I'm challenging myself to think the same way here in Philadelphia. Every person I encounter, whether they are homeless on the street or sitting next to me in class, has a story. And it's a story worth hearing, because these are people worth loving.

This storm is bad, but my eyes only tell me a portion of the truth. Likewise, that guy begging for money looks like a mess. His eyes are puffy, his clothes are dirty, and his face is scruffy. And the story I've been told about guys like this is that they're total bums who will use my spare pennies for drugs. But what else is going on here? What's his story?

I'm trying my best to learn new stories this semester. I've already learned a few, through troubled teens at tutoring and clients over at LIFT, and I'm greatly anticipating my furthered understanding of things I used to think I knew.

What it comes down to, I believe, is this. God's creation is too complex to be understood by a single story. There's always something more. Another perspective. Another story to be told. We can never see it all, and we never will. But God does. And praise Him for that. So let's try to see the world the way God sees it.

From Philly: A Quick Update

2010-01-28T14:11:00.000-05:00

Greetings, good folk!

A lengthier report I would love to provide, but a succinct summation will have to suffice. I will confess that I feel a tad self-indulgent posting such detailed accounts of my activities and ambitions with the expectation that people will take time out of busy schedules to read them. But, I guess I don't feel that bad because I'm doing it anyway... ;)

It's been a wonderful two weeks since I first arrived in the city of brotherly love. I've been enjoying the luxuries of little accumulated schoolwork and few nagging commitments, though I'm getting anxious for more to do. That said, in addition to the ever-present excitements of exploration and the thrills of navigating a new school, I have these things upcoming...

I'll be hosting some Messiah chums on their J-term break this weekend.

A tutoring ministry at a church across the street is beginning next week, and I'll be there Tuesday and Friday evenings.

I'm going to help lead some of the worship at our weekly community gatherings (aka. chapel).

I'm contributing some articles for the Broad Street Journal, MCPC's* student paper.

I'm looking forward to church at Epiphany Fellowship again this week. It's a really neat place, with incredible music, a young congregation (ha not that that is any indication of a good church, it just helps us belong), and a really solid pastor who consistently delivers refreshingly biblical teaching. Apparently this pastor, Eric Mason, speaks with such respected Reformed preachers as as John Piper. I believe it.

And lastly, and probably most exciting..ly, there's this program called LIFT down the street from here that I might be volunteering a few hours with each week. It's an organization that partners homeless and low-income folks in the area with students from Temple. We work with them to provide services and help them find jobs, housing, etc. Needless to say, it sounds awesome.

Last lastly, classes are great.

As always, thanks for reading! Your prayers and concerns are greatly appreciated. Know that I'm praying for you too.
jmb

p.s. Here's something that really spoke to me today. Let us not forget what we're working for!

* MCPC = Messiah College Philadelphia Campus

Intro to Philly Time

2010-01-19T11:37:00.001-05:00

There are too many "producers" out there for a little guy like me to contend with. It's way too easy for one to become a very invested "consumer" of opinions and information and quite quickly forget why one ever bothered to produce one's own content. But alas, here I go again. Thank you to the few of you that convince me I have something worthwhile to say.

I'm treated tonight to the steady whoosh of cars whizzing past, the shrill choir of sirens distant and near, and the discordant hollers of excited frat boys. It's an unfamiliar neighbourhood in a city different from and far from home. And yet, this place is home for the next few months. Welcome to North Philadelphia.

Something about leaving all that's comfortable for a new place leaves you exhausted -- mentally, physically, emotionally -- but oh so excited. It's the overwhelming new sights, sounds and smells; the fascinating people you meet for the first (and last) time; the swelling sense of accomplishment you gain as this strange place becomes a little more of who you are.

So that's where I'm at. I'm spending the spring semester of my sophomore year studying at Messiah's Philadelphia Campus. Philly is comparable in size to Toronto, but I'm quickly discovering how incredibly different it is. The "Jane & Finch" area of Toronto is reputed as a neighbourhood rife with crime and danger, the no-go-zone in the minds of suburban kids across the GTA. Well, now I've been supplanted into the middle of a city with its fair share of "Jane & Finches" and I can't wait for all that's in store.

The tranquility of Grantham is long gone for now. I'll be sure to face plenty of challenges along with everything else this semester, but you grow the most when you're uncomfortable. So bring it on.

I have plenty more I could say now, but I'll save all of that for future musings. So stay tuned!
God is good, all the time.
jmb

Why So Silent?

2009-12-02T16:02:00.000-05:00

It's another busy day in Grantham. Rainy too. And dark. And chilly. But it is also a blessed day, don't you think? Simply because it is. I like to think of every moment as a gift. Every breath that I breathe, in and out non-stop since I was born, is really quite a privilege.

The world is a painful place. People suffer and people die. All the time. Turn on the news for a matter of minutes and you'll be exposed to more sadness and tragedy than one could possibly deal with. The BBC One-Minute World News is a prime example. It helps me to watch at the peak of my preoccupation -- with homework, errands, planning, email, work. As the dismal montage of misfortune and disaster streams across my screen with characteristic newsroom indifference, suddenly that pressing assignment doesn't seem so stressful. As I watch violent protests and floods, maybe work tonight won't be so bad after all.

Depressing? Certainly. Reality? Unfortunately.

So what? Well, this is somehow connected to my absence from the blogosphere this past semester. Let me explain.

People talk. Images flash. News comes in. People talk more. As a chapel speaker said boldly, though ironically, during a recent message, "I'm tired of all the talk." He was a Yale academic and director of some world missions research program. His message was excellent, but I especially appreciated his acknowledgment that when tragedy hits and uncertainty arises, the favoured response is to talk. Especially in Christian culture, but I feel it's a universal condition.

In my negligence of my own blog, I've become a fairly regular reader of a number of other blogs, from the New York Times, to Christian leaders, to professors. Everywhere I click, someone else has an incredibly insightful, intriguing opinion. A critique of the church here. An opinion on current events there. Maybe even a plan for changing the world somewhere. I love reading these inspiring posts, and I love engaging in the discussion that follows.

However, I've simultaneously been studying much more about society in the world at large. I've been listening to sermons on suffering as well, trying to make sense of the God I strive to know, a God of love and compassion and justice, and the horrible injustice that occurs all the time. Just a second ago someone died alone and forgotten. And another.

So where are God's followers during all of this? I just hope we're not missing our chance to take the Gospel to a world that needs its healing power because we're too busy reading about how we should be doing more.

Is the correct Christian response to talk ... or maybe to act? Obviously, in this information age a persuasive post or convicting message can go a long way to stir people's hearts. But, as Jesus himself pointed out, we're judged on how we live, not what we say.

So that's why I've been slow to blog recently. Well, that and I just haven't had as much free time. But I am simply trying to discover how my life can count for something in the world. If each moment is a gift, do I spend the available ones writing about what I should do, or just doing it?

So the obvious question now that I'm replacing all that cheap talk with heroic radical action, then, is: How many lives have I saved? How much hunger have I alleviated? To put it simply, what have I done for the least of these?

Well, you've got me there. You'll also notice how there are probably more question marks than periods in this post. That's because I'm not pretending to speak with any real authority. I'm just a seeker who has found the greatest Truth and the Eternal Way ... but I'm seeking further nonetheless.

Thanks for being here!
jmb

A Night with DC

2009-11-11T14:38:00.001-05:00

In case you were wondering, I haven't completely forgotten.

Schoolwork has been exceptionally busy the past few weeks. That, coupled with various other changes in life, haven't really allowed much time for public reflection. But the world moves on at a rapid pace, and I continually realize that without intentional times of reflection, life will simply pass me by. Every experiences yields a thousand opportunities for reflection and consideration. Too bad there are a thousand experiences.

A group of us went to a David Crowder Band concert on Sunday. Smack dab in the middle of Bible-belt Lancaster, PA, the sold-out concert attracted an audience of youth groups, families, grandparents, children, and even a few plain-dress Mennonites (or some form of Amish). What is it, I wondered, about David Crowder's signature blend of electro-pop-dance-rock-anthemic worship music that draws such crowds? And as with all such Christian concerts, I wondered where the glory would be given -- to the performers who write music explicitly praising the God of all heaven, or to the subject of the praise, God himself.

To be sure, David Crowder and friends put on a kickin' concert. Their equipment and gadgetry alone is enough to gawk at for hours as each instrumentalist spent nearly as much time fiddling with laptops and synthesizers as playing their usual instruments. There were songs to dance to, jokes to laugh at, fists to pump, guitar solos to applaud, and even hands to raise in worship. For such a talented group, I wonder sometimes where that fine line falls between a sold-out show to applaud the songwriting skills of a goofy-goteed rockstar and a house packed with Christ-followers eager to worship God. Do we flock to David Crowder (and like artists) to glorify David Crowder or glorify God?

Or, can we bring God praise by appreciating the undeniable skills that God has blessed David Crowder with, particularly when he is using those skills to glorify God to the best of his ability?

In other news, I'm launching a full-scale investigation of the will of God for my life. Actually, I'm really just wondering what God's will is for his people everywhere. So far, all I know is that it's for something radical, and it definitely looks a lot different than what the world wants from me.

More on that later.

Okay, it's back to the books.
Love.

So What?

2009-10-11T23:51:00.000-04:00

You might have notice that it's been a while since my last post. I sure have.

In my defense, I've been fairly busy. It's definitely a "good" kind of busy, but, then again, can any busyness that diverts my attention from my loyal readers be of any good at all? Doubtful.

Anyways, how are you? If you are reading this and haven't talked to me directly in a while (I'm lookin at you, grandparents, aunts, and uncles), please send me an email. I'd love to hear from you!

Life is good. I suppose I always say that, but then I suppose it's always true. Many recent activities, including studying the flaws and issues plaguing modern society (Sociology 101, Mass Media & Society) have certainly afforded me a new appreciation for my present situation. More specifically, I'm continually floored by God's blessings to me.

Why me? I might ask. My life, as it stands currently, is overflowing with potential. I have resources to study nearly anywhere in the world, devote as much time to leisure as I desire, and spend hours deliberating over my future.

For so many, their futures are decided before they are even born.

But I suppose mine was too, then. I was born into a world saturated in opportunities. If something impairs my pursuit of happiness, away with it! Thanks to a comfortable financial cushion and a devoted network of 'encouragers', I can do nearly anything I set my mind to.

So what about the rest of the world? By far the majority, their circumstances leave them helpless to do anything but live one day to the next. They may set their minds to all they can ever imagine, but for many this is futile.

I don't mean to be cynical, and I don't mean to generalize at all. But as I sit here on the 'precipice of potential' with a world before me waiting to be encountered and conquered, I can't help but feel sorry for all those left behind, for no fault of their own.

I find, then, that this awareness of my bountiful blessings leaves me with an incredible responsibility. I believe that we are to do our best to serve God wherever he places us on Earth. Whether it is in Grantham, PA or the slums of Mumbai, God's people are to live as Christ-like as possible. So then what do the Christians in Grantham, PA, with the world at their fingertips, do for the saved (and unsaved) in the slums, whose influence in the world seems to reach no further than their immediate surroundings?

With great power comes great responsibility. Thanks, Spiderman. Spidey uses his powers, that naturally set him apart and above his neighbours, to help those in need. And let us not forget that there is such great power in the name of Jesus as well. Perhaps not web-slinging, wall-crawling powers, but powers of a more spiritual, eternal nature.

So what do we do with our power?

Climb the corporate ladder? Get rich? Hide behind white picket fences until Sunday morning?

I can't help but feel like we have a greater purpose. Something that drives us to live radically. We are united with the Creator of the universe, soveriegn over all things. Shouldn't that set us apart?

That's all for late night rambling. Austin is back so now I can go to sleep.
Peace,
jmb

Tuesday Talk

2009-09-18T14:58:00.001-04:00

I like writing in public places. Or just sitting in public places, for that matter, in a position where I can observe. It's fun to watch the interactions of large groups or the dynamics of an intimate conversation between close friends. Like right now in the Union.

It helps me get more work done too. I might even say the quiet rhythm of students coming and going and the gentle din of conversation are soothing. When your mind is contemplating things far beyond your own little world, the visual distraction of people embracing the present is quite comforting.

I had the wonderful privilege of volunteering twice last week. At Bethesda Men's Shelter I helped with the soup line and met a few very interesting people. Then the next day I went back into Harrisburg to help teach ESL. Both experiences were incredible for so many reasons, and also only the firsts of many similar opportunities.

There was a remarkable young man at Bethesda who I had the immense privilege of chatting with for 20 minutes over steaming chili and pre-packaged sandwiches. If every conversation I had in a day was as inspiring as that one, I don't think I could handle it. After hitting "rock bottom" only a month ago, the man found his way to the shelter where he accepted Christ within a couple days.

With a grin that didn't disappear for the entire duration of our talk, he told me all about where he'd been and where he's come. Interestingly, he barely spoke at all about his life before being saved, as if it didn't even matter in light of the hope he had know found. And what hope and joy he has! "It's so beautiful," he muttered between mouthfuls.

As expected, it got me thinking. It is beautiful. Why do we forget that so easily? God is beautiful. Creation is beautiful. The story of our redemption is as beautiful as it gets. My new friend knows this. He shows it. So should I. This guy really isn't that different from me. Despite the fact that he's been in and out of prison multiple times, been caught up with all sorts of substances I couldn't even recognize, and now lives in a men's shelter, we serve the same God and have been saved from the same certain death.

That's the body of Christ for you -- bringing the most unlikely of acquaintances together in the most glorious and eternal unity.

I'm off to help with ESL again tonight. It's interesting how I go to teach but intend to learn. Because that really is where you learn: in the world beyond your own. In the eyes of a capitalist society, these people we work with don't have much to offer, but in God's eyes (and consequently the eyes of his followers) they have so much worth.

There's a world out there in need of God's love. As I was reminded during an evening service I help with on Sunday, there is always more love to be shown. We will never fill our quota, and thank God he won't either. Let's not be satisfied.

JMB

p.s. I'm published!
p.s.s. It'll get better. You have to start somewhere.

Untitled

2009-09-11T14:04:00.000-04:00

The tiny town of Grantham, PA is once again coming to life. Students and teachers alike are bustling about with greater activity, already feeling the weight of deadlines and obligations. Classes are becoming interesting but not yet overwhelming. Best of all, extracurricular activities are getting underway.

Let me just say that I love extracurriculars. Between the recent opportunities fair and ice cream social for community service, I’ve signed up for more than I can remember. It’s unfortunate, really, how obtrusive classes become when there are so many other valuable options for our time. . . This year I’ll be doing the following things on a somewhat regular basis: writing for the school paper (The Swinging Bridge), working again for Phonathon, leading common chapels, working a few hours a week doing set-up and tear-down for chapel, helping with an evening church start-up on campus, volunteering with an ESL program in Harrisburg, and being a casual member of Psych club and Human Rights Awareness group. Now, I don’t say any of that to boast, but to inform you so you can be excited with me. It’s going to be a good year. I know it. And right now I’ve still had plenty of time for tossing Frisbees in the sunny September air.

I’m also looking forward to some of my classes. Mass Media and Society is exactly what it sounds like, but we’ve already had some good discussions and read some really thought-provoking articles. Principles of Sociology, although it starts at 8 AM, is also really fascinating already. Between the two of them, I’ve already been forced to think a lot about societal trends and norms; what defines them and how do they impact us?

Here’s a thought. Is truth ever defined by culture? So many things that we in the West take as common sense fact are not seen the same way around the world. For instance, let’s take a look at romantic love. It’s a completely different concept for us than it is for a lot of the world. We stress finding your true “soulmate” and fighting for love at all costs. We decry arranged marriages and weep for women with such bleak destinies; if only they could experience the freedom we have – a freedom that all are yearning for. The reality is, however, that millions of young women are married off every year to men much older than them, often as nothing more than transactions for business partnerships. As our jaws drop and our fists clench ready to defend the cause of these oppressed women, we need to remember that it was in this exact cultural context that our Bible was written.

All I’m saying is that often I feel like we need to distance ourselves from our own cultural understandings – a difficult task if we’ve never known anything different. Many people see aranged marriage as the ultimate injustice; how could anyone find happiness in such circumstances!? In our minds, in our understanding of truth, arranged marriage is bad. It impairs our pursuit of happiness. Well, millions of women do live in such circumstances and, dare I say, they probably aren’t completely miserable.

On another note, we had a discussion in Mass Media yesterday about different forms of technology. The conversation rapidly declined into another debate about the iPhone versus Blackberry. As I sat between the heated exchange with my trusty stone age phone in hand, I just couldn’t help but think, It doesn’t matter!

Honestly, I find it very interesting how these pieces of technology that were mere prototypes in a lab only a few years ago are now seen as necessary. Do we forget that for the last, oh, 6000 years of human history nobody even had email? The horror! And yet civilization trudged on, fueled by a few clever thinkers in a population of dejected citizens yearning for the day that they would be able to check their email on the go. Thank goodness for those inventors who shook off the shackles of their technological ignorance to strive for that glorious light at the end of a dark tunnel, that day when we could bring Facebook with us in our pockets. Oh, how miserable they must have been.

It’s quite relieving, actually, to not be caught up in the technology race. Well, actually I suppose we’re all in it to some degree. Let’s just not let it consume us. Especially as Christians.

I played in chapel this morning for the first time. It went really well. I got to play a djembe for this fun African-style song we did, and then just sand and played for the others. One interesting thing, though, I had a ton of people approach me throughout the rest of the day to say, “Good job this morning!” To be honest, that makes me a little uncomfortable. I’d rather hear them say, “Thanks for leading us in worship,” or something to that effect. The last thing I want to do up there is make a praiseworthy “performance.” Oh well. What can you do.

You’ll hear from me again soon. I promise.

jmb

Reflections on the Past and Future

2009-08-28T23:13:00.000-04:00

Dear world,

Summaries are a difficult thing. Especially when, say, you encounter a friend you haven't seen in three months and your first verbal exchange is, "How was your summer?" Similar to pre-summer interactions with home friends, post-summer interactions with college friends must also be crudely reduced. I've found a simple "incredible" to be a sufficient (and truthful) response to such questions. Life, as it should be, is a daily whirlwind of challenge, growth, experience, and change, not something that can be aptly recapitulated in a brief word. The complexity of a human mind and soul is so deep that we can often barely understand ourselves, so think for a moment about the vastness of a God that can see and understand billions of minds simultaneously. ... Phew, this is getting deep.

I've been longing for the chance to write here for a while now. It's my arena for exploring the world around me and making sense of change external and internal. As always, I'm very grateful that you are reading this; I don't pretend to have anything new or profound to say, but I hope you can learn from what I've been learning. So now, as I sit in a new chair at a new desk in a new room in a new building on the same campus for the start of a new year, I'm going to write some more sounds of settling. (Clever, eh?)

The past summer was spent in part working at North Toronto Christian School and then back at camp. Throughout it all, as I always hope, I learned a lot. My responsibilities at NTCS were as diverse as possible. In any given day I might lead junior praise time in the gym, help the Junior Kindergarten class with paper mache, take the grade 2s out for extended recess, teach grade 6 gym, spend a couple hours cutting grass, collect and move garbage, mark standardized tests, and end the day selling popsicles. But I loved (nearly) every minute of it.

I returned to Camp Ke-Mon-Oya for my fourth summer as a counsellor. It was definitely the best so far. There is little I can say now to do justice to such an experience, but I can say that what really made it great was seeing God work in, around and through me. I went into the summer with strong resolutions to be devoted to the Word and prayer even in the midst of such a busy and tiring evironment. With that as a central focus, I was hoping I would find myself with more energy motivation to really impact the kids' lives. Ultimately, I wanted to be more selfless, and in hindsight I really felt like I was empowered to be just that.

Cabin devotions are every afternoon. Some quick math tells me that I've led nearly 80 since I became a counsellor. Some quick remembering shows me that very few of those have been as effective as they could have been. I was really struck this year (much thanks to Tyler for this) by how important it really is to share the Gospel. In my knowledge of God and his plan of salvation I hold the greatest gift the world could ask for and only truth it needs. How can I keep from sharing such a thing everywhere I go? Additionally, I get campers every week who have never heard the Gospel message and who do not come from Godly homes. What an opportunity! So I began to share the Gospel (as well as I can) to all my campers, young and old. Long story short, I saw three 10-year olds (two from non-Christian homes) commit their lives to Jesus and 8 or 9 teenagers really delve into the Scriptures and explore their faith like they never had before.

The latter example saw me scrambling for answers to some really tough questions, but it also showed me that God desires those kids' hearts more than I can even understand. So often we find ourselves acting ashamed of the Gospel, not because we don't believe its message, but because we simply don't know what to say. Well, let us never forget that we are not alone, especially when we are sharing God's truth. He wants to speak through us and He does. I actually found myself learning just from the things that were coming out of my mouth in my discussions with some of my older cabins. One powerful example concerns a 15-year old that I had for two weeks. His only sister is a third-year philosophy student at U of T who completely renounced her faith last year and has since been harrassing him nearly non-stop for the family faith that he still clings to. In the midst of our discussions, God prompted me to share the story of Stephen martyred for his faith, where I stumbled across Acts 6:8. "But they could not stand up to his wisdom or the Spirit by which he spoke." We were both encouraged and reminded that we are not defending an empty faith or textbook list of arguments, but that the God of Heaven and Earth is on our side, empowering us with wisdom and a Spirit that cannot be defeated.

So from the riding lawnmower to raising 15-year old believers, I'd say I had my share of memorable experiences. And if a summer (or any amount of time for that matter) can be judged by what you learn and experience, then I'd say this was a good one. You could even say, "incredible."

All of this concluded, then, only a week ago. Since then, I've moved countries once again, exchanged one set of companions for another, and embarked once again on another life-changing journey through my sophomore year.

All the growth and learning I've experienced lately has got me asking, "Now what?" Everything I learn about God and the challenges I endure will be evidenced only by visible growth and change. My biggest question, then, is what does the life of a college sophomore on fire for God look like? The life of a Christian anywhere must be markedly different from the world surrounding, but even on a campus full of believers, there must be a difference between those who profess faith and those who live a faith that is alive. My faith is alive, because the God I have faith in is very much alive.

I watched a Paul Washer sermon the other day on being a man of God. As Christian men of God, he said, we are not made to live like other men. We are conquerors who must not rest while there remains a place that God is not worshipped. We were not made to sit in front of a television set. We were not made for passions of the world. We are to have a singular passion for Christ, and being made into his image.

I'll be listening to (and reflecting on) many more sermons in the next few weeks probably. It's going to be a good weekend, reuiniting with old friends and observing the freshmen in all their awkwardness, huddling together for social comfort and scouting every crowd for potential new friends. Oh, how I remember the day.

Anyways, I should move on to other things now. I've been working on this more or less all afternoon, constantly interrupted by a steady stream of new arrivals with vans ready to be unloaded and arms to be embraced. As always, there is much more to be said and much more to learn. I pray for time for both.

Be blessed, all.
jmb

Still Joshing

2009-05-30T16:07:00.000-04:00

Greetings, oft-neglected realm of the blog.

I've been putting this off for too long. To be honest, I've thought about writing a new post nearly every day for a couple of weeks now, but I just haven't made time for it. Not that I've had a lot of time, though. Well, I have had a lot of time, but it's been filled with work at North Toronto Christian School, time with Katrina and family, church commitments, catching up with old friends and trying to stay in touch with new new ones, etc.

Writing this blog feels different now. The incredible blur of growth and experience that was my first year has come and gone. I can't help but wonder if the readers that frequented this page to glean insight into a life unfolding will still stop by for a peek. Will those who loved to "read the sounds of settling" still humour the profound and petty musings of an adolescent mind?

Perhaps. Not to worry, though, because I write here as much for my own enjoyment as anyone else's. As usual, I've had plenty of shockingly insightful thoughts lately but my own selfishness has prevented the world at large from benefiting. Ha.. just kidding, but I do miss writing here, my personal repository of thought. Oh well. Enough of the regretful ramblings.

Life is grand. It was tough to adjust to life back at home at first. After a year of gaining independence and growing spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and a few other "ally's", it was a strange feeling to slip right back into the same routine I left. I drive to "work" with Emily and Sam, spend the day at the same school surrounded by many people I grew up with, come home to the same evening routine and dinner, then go to bed and do it all over again. Obviously there are a few major differences, but I sometimes feel conflicted trying to frantically "prove" to the world that I've changed, I really have! I feel like my perspectives, concerning both my faith and just life in general, have been enriched and widened in so many ways and it's discouraging to feel like it never happened.

That's all for now. Regardless of whether or not anybody reads this, I'll likely write another post soon. I have a lot of thoughts on facebook I've been meaning to "publish." It's fun to organize your thoughts in a public forum like this. It's encouraging to think that people care about your thoughts.

Oh. One thing quick. I changed my major from Communications to Psychology (Bachelor of Science). I'm just way more interested in people and why we do what we do than I ever was in Communication Theory.

Thanks for everything!
jmb

Tomorrow, Tomorrow

2009-05-10T21:18:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow it all ends.
The first year of the craziest adventure of my life comes to a close.
Am I sad? Definitely.
Am I eager to be home and greet all that awaits me there? Absolutely.

Thanks for bearing with me through it all. My time for reflection will be unfortunately brief this summer, but I'm sure I'll have plenty to say at some point.

Necesito estudiar para mi examen final de espanol. (That probably wasn't even correct.)

See you on the other side!
God bless you all,
jmb

Divinely Disturbed

2009-05-01T14:34:00.001-04:00

It's like God took an eggbeater to my ambition.

What was, only a few days ago, an evolving blueprint for college and beyond has become a disorganized mess of dreams and desires. All my self-guided plans for the next few years were finally starting to make sense, when God reached down with a divine finger and gently disturbed the calm that was finally beginning to settle. The funny thing, though? I'm more certain than ever of what I want.

It's all started with this book, you see. It's called Red Moon Rising, written by Pete Greig, one of the 'founders' of the 24-7 prayer movement that has been sweeping through colleges and churches around the world. It's part memoir, part devotional, part historical, but it's ALL inspiring. He recounts his own meaningless wanderings through Europe, as an ambitious and skeptical university grad -- a trek that finally led him to the cliffs of Portugal at the most southwestern point in Europe. There he encountered God in a way he never thought he would through a vision of thousands of young men and women around the world praying with arms outstretched. The book is the story of the fulfillment of that vision (a process that is far from ending), from the moment it was birthed almost 20 years ago to the present.

I found the book when I impulsively decided to swing by the campus prayer chapel a few weeks ago with a couple friends. We prayed about the issue of conflict diamonds in West Africa and then separated to wander around the room. The dimly lit basement room is sparsely furnished and small, but I love it. To me, it feels alive. It's like an underground cavern where busy college students can retreat from their hectic lives for a moment of quiet before the cross. There are papers for scribbling prayers, a kneeling bench, lamps, chairs, an miniature prayer wall, paintings hung on the walls, and, best of all, a table with a few scattered books and Bibles.

The first time I picked up the book to read, I was transported. I wrote a blog entry, actually, that very same night after reading and praying for nearly an hour. I never published it, though. It reads more like a journal entry, but I might post it sometime in the future when enough time has elapsed that I can look back with the wisdom of age and lightly mock the frantic musings of my youth. Anyways, I've ventured back to the prayer room a few times over the past couple weeks to read more. Drifting out of a group of friends to go read, I feel like a child sneaking to the cookie jar after the lights are off and Mom and Dad are asleep. I'm alone with only time for God to speak to me. And he has. What can I do, but offer this heart, oh God, completely to you?

Recognize those words? Nestled within one of my favorite worship songs, riding on a ponderous melody supported by clever rhymes, these words are finally starting to mean something to me. I can't recall how many times I've sung them, with never more than a passing thought to the signficance. Now, however, they seem to echo my own thoughts with profound clarity.

Honestly, what can I do but offer my heart to God. He is not just a crutch when I'm weak, a chum when I'm lonely or a doctor to heal me, he is quite simply the God of the Universe. Without him there is nothing, absolutely nothing. The Milky Way Galaxy, for all its billions of stars, is a speck in the universe. What am I, then? Physically speaking, I am a sack of flesh with opposable thumbs and inflated ego (as Dr. Schenk would say), but in God's eyes, for whatever unknowable reasons, I am somebody. I am a cherished child of God who finds all my hope and strength and being in him.

I struggle to really articulate these things, because this is really something developing within me: something that cannot be formulated or defined. All year long, I've been struggling to make sense of what God wants from me. 'Everything,' my upbringing tells me. Fine, but what does that look like?

It starts within, God's been telling me. It starts with a heart so in love with God that prayer is not a chore, it is a joy. Reading the Word of God is not a part of our daily checklist, it is our glorious opportunity to delve into God's heart and hear him speak. How often do we cry out to hear God's voice when we have a book of his own words gathering dust on our bookshelves?

I've felt simultaneously discouraged and encouraged at times this year to hear of the growth and spiritual maturing taking place in some of my friends lives, often in the midst of great hardship, as my own life glides forward and a wonderfully comfortable pace. Where are the results in my own life? I've asked God.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing," he tells me. So I'm a branch and I would like some fruit. God's the vine and he can supply the nutrients for more fruit than I can handle. What does he require? For me to be connected, not by a few dangling threads or periodic devotion, but solid and unmovable.

I hope that you don't think I have all the answers from reading this. On the contrary, even my own writing is challenging me. All I'm really certain of right now is that God is stirring something within me. He used a half-hearted visit to a prayer room and a book I'd only heard of to begin to shake me up.

My peers and friends have challenged me too. The stories and faith of some inspire me, while the apathy and spiritual complacency of others spur me to be more radical. For example, the other day I woke up for chapel that was not required of me. At breakfast, people asked why I was going, and when I told them it was just because I wanted to, I was met with quizzical stares and skepticism: "Oh.. really? Why?"

Personally, I don't see what is so terrible about gathering with other believers to worship and be fed from Scripture and teaching. Sure, it may be boring at times, but if I learn even one thing, or sing one word and mean it, or hear one Bible verse in a different light, is it not worthwhile? I'm not trying to spiritually elevate myself above my peers, but I hope that maybe my own enthusiasm for corporate worship and fellowship might encourage someone else.

If you came to this page looking for a factual update on my activities and are, as of yet, still not satisfied, I partially apologize. I would not and cannot change what has been happening in my heart, and am powerless to prevent such things from overflowing. I will, however, try to update briefly.

School is wrapping up. My first year of college is sighing its last heavy breath before a tidal wave of obligations fills the void. (I hope you enjoy reading my confused metaphors as I enjoy composing them.) This past week has actually been pleasantly light in comparison with the previous few weeks, at least in the homework department. The Spitfire Grill (the musical on campus for which I was playing the in the pit band) ended on Tuesday night amidst many bittersweet tears. I really had a blast participating and I'd love to do it again. However, as disturbed as my plans currently are, I still doubt I will be around for another musical until senior year.

I realized I never really explained myself earlier. Let me try to do so briefly, although I will undoubtedly revisit the topic soon. I've always really longed to travel. Admittedly, I haven't done a lot of it outside North America, but I've always fancied myself to be the fearless travelling type who will someday play with orphans in India before disappearing like Aslan to emerge alongside indigenous tribes in the Amazon. Though this is highly unlikely, it's something I can't really ignore. I feel like many people have a desire to travel and experience other cultures and they do ignore the urge, living the rest of their days in regret.

Well, now more than ever I feel that call, and now more than ever I have the capacity to respond. There's a budding excitement in my heart about one place I've never been and will probably never have the chance to go again: China. Stay tuned.

As you can see, my attempts to explain myself as if from a third-person perspective never work. I've been busy, but not too busy. I've been learning a lot. I've been challenged. And this, as always, is only the beginning.

Love and thanks,
jmb

A Brief Report

2009-04-19T21:12:00.000-04:00

An update...

Today was Messiah's annual Service Day. There are no classes, and students are encouraged to join an on- or off-campus service project. I helped out with the Special Olympics, hosted here at Messiah. I was "buddied" with a little boy named Byron. He was a bundle of energy and a lot of fun to be with all day. His parents were around too and were incredibly nice. If I get a chance, I'd love to write more.

Tonight is also the opening night for the Messiah Spring Musical, The Spitfire Grill. I am playing acoustic guitar in the pit band. We've had three dress rehearsals this week and there are six performances ahead, every day until Tuesday.

The day after our closing performance is the night of the Men's Ensemble concert. This afternoon will be our last practice, right before my call time for the show at 7.

Going in the other direction, Friday night was the Relay for Life here at Messiah. It was 12 hours (7 pm - 7 am) of walking and deteriorating coherency. By morning, even the notion of breakfast got us into furious fits of giggles. Thank you so much to all of you that donated. I raised over $100 dollars!

Saturday night The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was playing on campus. It was a vast departure from F. Scott Fitzgerald's original short story of the same title. A highly romanticized tale as much about the emergence and decline of Brad's beauty as the tragic story of a man utterly alone, it definitely worked wonders on me. Cate Blanchett is amazing.

Classes are going well. I was really busy with schoolwork the past two weeks, but this week, finally, is not too bad.

What I have been missing, however, is sleep. I'm practically dozing at the screen right now, so I'm going to hop in bed and have a quick nap before my busy evening. Opening night, here we come!

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the irregularity.
jmb

April Showers...

2009-04-01T14:04:00.000-04:00

I used to think that April showers brought May flowers. Then I moved to Central Pennsylvania. Here, showers and flowers appear simultaneously. What do you know!?

Anyways, the rain is pattering on the window, birds are chirping gleefully, and some malfunctioning alarm is screaming across the parking lot. I'm writing, in part, to give myself a break from the unfortunate amount of schoolwork I've been subjected to this week. I was about to write a post on Sunday, but I made a list of upcoming assignments/tests instead. As the list grew longer, the Sunday blog faded further into oblivion. Since then I've been chiseling away at the list little-by-little, and I finally have a moment to relax a little.

If your interested in seeing the fruits of my labour, check this out. I've been working on this website for the past few weeks, but it was due on Tuesday.

Music In Toronto -- A Website Designed by Josh Boden

Modest, I know, but I don't profess to be gifted technologically or artistically. I also had a short Magazine piece due Tuesday, an essay and a large Spanish assignment due this morning, another Computers assignment for tomorrow, and lastly, like icing on the cake, I have two major tests on Friday.

Why do I write all this? Why, so you will shake your heads and click your tongues in sympathy, of course! Actually, I'll confess that I really don't have much else to write about this time around.

*(Hold on. I'm running down to put my laundry in the dryer.)

Life is tough sometimes... especially when you're on your own. Moms help. Everything is better with moms. They're free too. Around here you have to do things yourself and pay for them. God bless mothers.

Work at Phonathon is going pretty well. To be honest, I don't much look forward to going to work, but every time I get there I enjoy myself. When I'm not cordially coercing alumni and parents into donating, I'm chatting with the other callers over the repetitive drone of rings and answering machines. There are some calls that can be quite unsettling, though.

Last night I called a gentlman by the name of Bruce Hoyer. He picked up sounding tired and disinterested, immediately causing me to assume he was either going to politely decline my first ask or just hang up before I got there. As it turns out, his wife was on her deathbed in the next room. She'd been suffering from severe esophageal cancer and her throat was closing up. The man was one of the most kind and sincere people I've talked to, but his heart was just broken. He politefully answered all my questions and explained his situation as I stammered condolences and affirming sighs. Near the end of the call he actually started praying: for his wife, his daughter, and me. Suffice it to say that when it came time to ask for a donation, I asked quickly for any possible support and then hastily explained that he shouldn't feel obligated. Surprisingly, he said he'd think about it and asked me to call him back tonight. I told him I'd pray for his wife; by all means, you can pray too. Her name is Shirley Hoyer. I'll let you know what happens.

Ahem.. so, shifting gears here:
On Saturday I went to New York City again on an honors trip. Why is it significant that it was an honors trip? It's not, actually.

Tangent:
In fact, I find this whole "honors" label to be problematic. There's this silent distinction between 'honors' kids and everyone else. At honors meetings, you run into people who will say things like, "I had no idea that you were an honors student! Wow!" I have yet to figure out what that means, but in the meantime I've felt like the label can produce some form of intellectual snobbery. In reality, I know many people who work harder and arguably seem more intelligent than an "honors" student. I've even heard a few honors kids saying things like, "I know I'm more intelligent than most of my class, so I'm not too worried about this test." Give me a break. Many people asked me why I was going to New York and why they hadn't heard about the trip. Gingerly I explained that the trip was for honors students only, soliciting responses as diverse as a soft sigh and look of admiration or a bold, 'So you're one of them, huh?' The only distinction, as far as I can tell, is a slightly higher SAT score and much more pressure to succeed.

Resuming post:
So this trip was really fun. I spent the day with a few guys that I don't often hang out with, but they're all really great guys. We wandered through Times Square and surrounding area, ate in Little Italy, bought sunglasses in Chinatown, wandered through Soho and NYU, strolled through Central Park, browsed the massive gift shop at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and ate at Applebees in Midtown Manhattan. Yours truly was the trip guide. Beats my why you would trust a Canadian for directions in New York City, but I sure enjoyed it!

Friday, after my two tests, is the big spring dance (aka. Spring Fling). On Saturday our floor is hosting a big party (just for the heck of it) open to all students. We're not sure how we'll fit 200 people (or more) in our lounge, but if you're planning on making an appearance (yes, all of you are invited), dress lightly and remember it's "A Black and White Affair."

Okay, it's time to get back to work. I'm sorry if you found this sort of dull, but my striking brilliance and witty charm will only go so far when the fodder for my post is bland. You can really only write well about things you experience, so when you're experiences are limited to computer labs and textbooks, your writing takes the hit.

Alright, take care everyone.
Love you all dearly.
jmb

p.s. I'm growing quite fond of my personal following of nitpicky copy-editors. I didn't look over a single word of this post. Happy pickings!

Here It Goes Again

2009-03-23T15:45:00.000-04:00

Not too long ago, I was sitting here responding to some emails and laboring through some homework when I was suddenly overcome with nagging guilt. I really need to update that blog, I thought to myself, but I'll do it... later.

I began to mentally revisit all my experiences of the past month, burying myself deeper beneath heaps of shame. I thought remorsefully of you, my loyal loved ones, eagerly checking the page for a new post, but as the days turned to weeks, your fingers seldom brought you back. My life has blasted onwards, but nothing of it has remained for you to read. I regret that the days of my blogging bliss are long gone, when I could write two posts in a week on even the most mundane things!

As with all my hobbies, such feverish devotion cannot last. You, however, mean more to me than any pastime. So here it goes again.

Okay. Enough rambling. Here's what you came for.

The month of March has been marvelous. As with all of you, I'm sure, there has been plenty to keep me busy. Friends have been friendly, teachers have been teaching, and schoolwork has been steady but not overwhelming. I've played in a few chapels (more on that later) and been challenged in a number of ways.

I went to an alternate chapel a few weeks ago in which we watched a movie entitled, The Day My God Died. Depressing, you think? Pretty much. The movie was an International Justice Mission production documenting the stories of girls trapped in brothels in Bombay (Mumbai), India. In essence, it was the same terrible story I've heard many times -- young girls kidnapped by family friends, sold to traffickers in Bombay, housed in unbearable conditions separated from all friends and family, beaten into submission, and forced to "serve" dozens of men a day. The girls in these brothels (there are thousands of them) refer to the day they were abducted as 'the day my god died.'

After the movie and short discussion, I waited until the auditorium had emptied and approached the man who had been leading it. I didn't really have anything to say to him, but I just couldn't bring myself to enter into the lives of these girls, talk about the hopeless existence of millions of women, and then saunter back outside to my friends and comfortable bed. I feel like now, more than ever, I have the opportunity to do something or get involved somehow. So I did, to an extent. Right now I'm on another mailing list, waiting for more information. But what else can I do?

I mean, is it wrong to live as I always have when I am very much aware of the conditions that others are trapped in? I don't know. Probably not. But I do think it's wrong to pretend that everything is okay. These girls are abducted as young as 8 years old, raped until they agree to cooperate, and cannot escape because they have nowhere to go. If they get pregnant, they endure hasty and unsanitary abortions and head right back to work for the next customer. They either die in captivity or are rescued and ostracized by their former communities.

And I get upset when I'm out of laundry detergent...

I have no conclusions to draw from all of this. I'm pretty convinced that God doesn't want these girls to be living like that, but he has yet to extend his mighty hand from the heavens to alleviate their pain. That, I believe, is where we come in. Somehow.

Oh boy. Everything else I was going to write now seems trivial and trite. Bear with me.

Well, on March 8, I went to New York City with a few friends on a school-sponsored trip. It was a college kid's dream excursion: we paid only $15 to get there, ate bagels stolen from the school cafeteria, and entertained ourselves feeding ducks in Central Park. Who says you have to spend money to have fun!?

As previously mentioned, I've been asked to play in chapels more frequently as of late. Any of you familiar with the Contemporary Christian Music scene might know the name Charlie Peacock. He's a producer and artist who has worked with everyone from Switchfoot to Amy Grant to DC Talk. He came to Messiah as a guest speaker/worship leader and yours truly got to play with him! Here's the best part: my favorite DC Talk song is In The Light, Charlie Peacock wrote the song back in the 90s, and he performed it at a Messiah chapel service with me on guitar! Thank you, thank you very much.

In other news, I just returned from Spring Break in Florida with my lovely family. We spent 5 days at Disney World doing everything the park has to offer and a few days at Grandma and Grandpa Goodman's house. We ate copious amounts of delicious food, walked many miles, and even kayaked 7 miles down the Weeki Wachee River. Anyone interested in more information should talk to Mama or Papa. They were there too... and they have lots of pictures!

My favorite part was, oddly enough, doing my homework. Now, before you gasp in shock (or swell with pride), let me explain. My final article for Magazine Writing is supposed to be 2000 words on something completely unrelated to Messiah. When I told Dr. Larry Lake that I wouldn't be going home until Easter and had absolutely no leads in Grantham, PA, he asked me what I was doing over Spring Break. From there, I developed a proposal for an article on the "faces behind the magic." At Epcot's World Pavilion, I interviewed four international employees to explore what it's like to work for America's largest theme park, and how/why they travel around the world to represent their countries to tourists in Florida. I talked to a Canadian, Norwegian, Japanese, and Morrocan. I left with an incredible appreciation for the diversity and culture found in this corner of a theme park, eager to write my article. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

There was more I wanted to say, but I have to head to an "All Callers Meeting" for Phonathon. I have no idea what it will be about, but it's absolutely mandatory. I'll keep thinking of things and add to this post as I remember.

Thanks for everything.
Out of time to edit.
jmb

Spell check?

2009-03-02T20:59:00.000-05:00

I am a Martin Scholar.

I am a recipient of the Lloyd and Lois Martin Multicultural Scholarship, awarded to those who exhibit significant leadership and service in their communities and who promote ethnic diversity and reconciliation.

The requirements for those who receive this helpful financial support are somewhat ambiguous. I have heard next to nothing about the status of this scholarship since I arrived on campus, and I have, on occasion, felt slightly anxious that dear Mr. and Mrs. Martin had forgotten me.

Thankfully, the dreadful silence was finally broken when I was invited to visit a nondescript boardroom to write and sign a Thank You card for the Martins this afternoon. After classes and a hearty lunch (no use writing a card on an empty stomach), I descended into the depths of Eisenhower Campus Center to locate the appreciation party.

Upon entering the room, a jolly middle-aged woman approached me and asked me my name. She then handed me large envelope and explained its contents. "These are the instructions for writing the card and some information on the scholarship. This is a reminder about the Martin Scholarship Dinner in April. This is the card itself, and this is a blank piece of paper."

Before I had a chance to inquire about the presence of scrap paper in such a neatly organized packet, she winked at me and laughed, "Spelling counts!"

Needless to say, I was somewhat surprised with her lack of faith in my writing skills. Where did she expect me to err? "Um, excuse me, Miss. How do you spell 'thank you' again?"

Nevertheless, I took my seat next to a number of fellow "Scholars" already in progress and began to write. Admittedly, I actually found the scrap paper quite useful as I painstakingly crafted what I hoped would be the most eloquent expression of gratitude Mr. and Mrs. Martin would ever receive.

A short time later, I heard some whispering to my right. I looked up to see one girl leaning over asking another, "Umm... is "truly" spelled "t-r-u-e-l-y" or "t-r-u-l-y?"

As the first girl stammered between nervous laughing that she is a "really bad speller" I listened for the correct answer. To my dismay, the second girl paused for a moment and leaned back in her chair to think. "Um, no. Yeah I think it's the second one. Right?"

I mean, I can understand that some people are naturally bad spellers, but "truly"?

Oh, wait. There's more.

After resolving the first great dilemma, the second girl smiled meekly and said, "I'm really bad too!" A pause, and then, "Um, does completely end in 'e-y' or just 'y'?"

At this point, I was staring shamelessly; though, I doubt they would have noticed, so intently were they thinking. Of course, the other girl didn't know either, so the two of them, relieved to have found a friend with similar 'disabilities', began to chuckle softly. The girl who asked stared into space, clearly trying to picture the word with all possible spellings and evidently getting nowhere. Her partner-in-literacy-crime was scratching away furiously on her (now essential) scrap paper, but also gaining no ground.

Finally, I could take no more. Out of the goodness of my heart, I reached out and rescued them from their soon-to-be spelling purgatory. For all I knew, they might sit there for eternity, guided only by whatever modest and rudimentary spelling education they had received. I could not let them suffer so.

"It ends in a 'y'." They both looked up, their expressions a mixture of shame and intense gratitude.

"Ha ha. Is it? Alright, thanks!"

I finished my card shortly after and went on my way. I guess the skeptical assistant-lady really knew what she was talking about after all. Who am I to think that college-educated Americans should be able to spell with nothing but a pen and paper? Stripped of our self-correcting word processors and online dictionaries, can we really be held accountable for whatever atrocious spelling errors we commit?

I don't mean to sound too negative. I'm sure those two girls are wonderful people, and, for all I know, they could be excellent writers. I just think something is wrong when we become functionally illiterate in the absence of our gadgets.

Somehow, I don't think Lloyd and Lois would be impressed.

How to Read the Sound of Settling

2009-03-01T17:24:00.000-05:00

Some of you have inquired about the new title, so let me explain. This most mysterious of monikers is, in fact, a clever concoction of my own loaded with multiple layers of meaning... sort of.

One of my favorite bands is Death Cab for Cutie. One of my favorite songs of theirs is called The Sound of Settling.

I am a poor and lonely college student stranded in a foreign land, forced to fend for myself and forge my own path in the world. Well, it's not quite that dramatic, but all this new-found independence leads me to ponder some of life's biggest questions: What am I doing here? How can I make the most of these "best years of my life?" Why do I feel pulled in so many directions? What does God want from me in the midst of this safety and fun?

This blog, therefore, is simply my personal-yet-public thought-receptacle. I'm trying to "settle" into this new environment and ... adjust to a new life, if you will. All the confusion and rambling that results could be described as "the sound of settling."

As for the reasoning behind the full title, I just figured that in visiting this blog you are "reading the sound of settling." Ha, but of course it's impossible to "read a sound" -- that part is just a product of my brilliant wit.

Anyways, there's the story. I'd also like to post a little heads-up that I will probably be writing about things outside my mundane daily activities. Expect to find a plethora of trivial musings and rants, a few responses to noteworthy experiences, and perhaps the odd tidbit of insight.

While I'm at it, I might as well give you a little update on some things.

So I haven't had any tests all Spring semester. Great, right? Sure, until I have two big tests on the same day. Ever wonder why work seems to cluster and attack in waves? I do. Tomorrow I will write a Spanish unit test, sit through an hour of riveting Philosophical discourse, and then take our first of three CCC exams. If you get this in time, I'd appreciate a quick prayer! Or even if you don't get it in time, I suppose you can still pray about it, seeing as God exists outside of time and all that.

In other news, I had a great weekend. I watched a movie or two, hung out with friends, ate a lot, made $40 at work on Saturday, did plenty of homework and studying, and got caught up on some sorely missed sleep.

On Saturday night two friends and I went to a virtually empty on-campus theater to watch "Bigger Faster Stronger" -- a documentary on steroid use and American perceptions of male body image. A shockingly depressing two hours later, I left in silence, scratching my head and thanking God that I'm not American.

Ha, well that's not entirely true. Clearly the problem is with the West in general, and it is a grave problem indeed. The film aimed to present the use of Anabolic Steroids not as a problem in itself, but as a 'side-effect' of American culture. There was cause for laughter at everything from ridiculous Hulk Hogan commercials telling kids to "eat your vitamins and say your prayers" to the juxtaposition of G.I. Joe in the 1960s with the unrealistic, strapping beast that he became in the 90s. What are kids supposed to do when their lifetime heroes are bodybuilders and pro-wrestlers that spend most of their adult lives pumping iron and steroids (often in equal proportions)? And what are they to think when those heroes shamelessly admit that they use performance-enhancing drugs and still rise to the top? (Case in point: Arnold.)

But why do steroids receive such a negative reputation? What about Tiger Woods and his laser-eye surgery that boosted his eyesight to 20/15 in both eyes? Is superhuman eyesight in golf any less of a performance-enhancer than anabolic steroids in body-building?

In conclusion, the whole thing got me thinking about body image in general. I can't stand another Bowflex infomercial, with their professional body builders and highly doctored "before and after" photos. Even more appalling is the fact that these ridiculously contrived advertisements are somehow effective. People still drop hundreds of dollars and hours on gym memberships and the latest and greatest "legal" enhancers. The film profiled a 50-something "gym rat" living in his van and spending everyday at the legendary Gold's Gym that was once home to Arnold the Great, and a 30-something weightlifter who has sent dozens upon dozens of audition tapes to the WWE waiting for his contract and his shot at "happiness" -- he is rejected every time. For these two men, all they know is muscle. They have no means of defining themselves apart from their benchpressing records and dreams of stardom. Unless something changes, they'll die even more miserable than they already are.

I guess I'm just glad I have something more to base my life on. I have a shot at a great education and a chance to make a difference in the world. I have a family and friends who care about me and want what's best for me. Best of all, I have a relationship with the God of the universe -- a God whose love for me has nothing to do with the size of my biceps (thank goodness for that). It's a depressing thought for me to think that people spend their entire lives obsessing over how they look on the outside, when God has given us so much depth and beauty to enrich our "insides." I have no problem with people who like to work out or lose weight, but just how much of our time and energy should be spent on something that will turn to dust one day anyways? How much more valuable is the beauty of God's creation -- in the arts, music, knowledge, nature itself, and, most importantly, in each other?

There is an unending amount of knowledge out there, and more beauty on earth than any one person could ever lay eyes on. I get so excited about the potential of all I can accomplish and experience if I just turn my focus off myself. With eyes on things above and outside ourselves, I think God can really use us to impact and restore the world.

That's all.
jmb

You Found It!

2009-02-25T16:27:00.000-05:00

Welcome!

Well, this is it, folks. How do you like it?

First off, I'd like to apologize for my inexcusable negligence the past two weeks. Actually, I have excuses, but I should have made time for this... no, I should have made time for you.

But to make it up to you, I've completely changed everything! Haha, like it or not, I figured the time was ripe for some modifications. Additionally, I felt pressured to appear more technically savvy and "virtually hip" in order to maintain the interest of my readers. I know you all have very high standards when it comes to reading blogs -- you don't read just any old thing!

Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of time right now to write a lengthy update, but I will try to skim over some recent developments in the ever-exciting life of me.

Two weekends ago, my swimming season culminated to a grand finale. It was bittersweet, to say the least. I had a blast, only swimming one event on Friday morning and spending the rest of the weekend cheering and becoming better friends with all my teammates. It's sort of funny, I realized, that after an entire season, I still didn't really know my teammates very well. Ha I guess that's the inevitable consequence of a sport that requires you to spend all your time with your face in the water. But we all had a ton of fun bonding and it was surprisingly painful to wish the season farewell.

The Men's team placed 5th out of 10 teams -- an excellent finish for a first-year team! My race was pretty awful, but I was just really grateful that I could go. I definitely missed a lot at Messiah, but the change of scenery was great. That said, coming back to school I was actually sad to the point of considering swimming next year too. Sure, the practices are painful and pervasive, but it's just so fun to be a part of a team. However, I waited a few days to let the sentimentality dissolve and now I've decided that I won't be rejoining the team. Part of my reasoning is that I am planning on going to Philadelphia campus next spring... and then there's the fact that I want my time back. It was a great experience, but I never planned on being a varsity athlete for four years at college. Moving on...

Four very busy days later, I woke up on a sunny Friday with a huge smile on my face and a bounce in my step. Why, you ask? Well... because Katrina arrived at Harrisburg International Airport at 2 pm! Wooohooo!! Although she was sorely separated from her luggage, it was so nice to have her here! The weekend that followed was better than I even imagined it would be! We spent two and a half days meeting/hanging out with all my friends, eating a lot, doing all campus had to offer (on-campus movies, museum, mini-concerts, etc), talking, eating tons of cheap and delicious ice cream, shopping, enjoying the Central PA sun, an awesome church service at CLA, a wonderful afternoon of playing/praying in a practice room, and the list goes on!

You want to hear a joke?
Q: What do you get when you cross Josh's favorite place with his favorite person?
A: More fun than any weekend can handle!

ha.. I guess that wasn't very funny.. or even a joke at all...sorry...
Anyways, you probably get the picture. It was pretty crummy to say goodbye again, but I'm so happy she could come! As expected, everyone here loved her and can't wait for her to come back! :]

Ahem.. moving on.
All the freshmen recently completed their Created and Called for Community (that mandatory course) Creation Projects. It was really fascinating to see how everybody has a different way of expressing what God's glory and the vastness of creation means to them. Chris Dodds and I did an "instrumental reflection" on the Creation story. It's just this messy ambient song with a bunch of different layers, added with each of the seven days. Ha we were pretty proud of it. I'm going to put it on a site for you to listen to if you want.

Last thing: I got a 98% on my final Theology paper, with a raving accolade along the lines of "theology needs you!" Suffice it to say I was surprised, but I'm not complaining! :] I'll find a way to get that to you if you care to read it.

Alright, I'm off to work.
I'll probably write another post to fill in all the gaps this weekend.
Thanks for... everything!

Love love love,
jmb

The Start of Something New

2009-02-08T15:18:00.000-05:00

Que Pasa?

This might seem odd, but the only way I could aptly title this blog was to borrow from one of the great musical classics of our time -- High School Musical. No shame.

Anyways, my reasoning is two-fold. Firstly, this week was a tough one to get through at times with all the major changes taking place, and secondly, your favourite website, yes, the one and only "Just Joshin'" will most likely be going through some significant changes. We at "Just Joshin" headquarters are just getting a little weary of the juvenile moniker and simplistic layout, so we're looking to revamp the image. After all, what's an internet persona without some 'cutting edge' personality?

But don't worry, I'll keep it all very easy to find and user-friendly... that is, if I can figure out what to do. (We're still at the drawing-board.)

So. How was this week, you ask? Well, like I said before, it was tough. I find myself to be partial to routines, so adjusting to an entirely new one can take some getting used to. I'm pretty excited about most of my classes, but the workload is going to be much greater than last semester. For every Mon-Wed-Fri, I have a Spanish textbook assignment, a Philosophy reading, and a Created and Called for Community reading/reflection. And then there are all of my magazine writing major projects (which will inevitably seem a little overwhelming) and my Computers assignments. But, I guess that's college for you. Last semester was a walk in the park -- a smooth, gentle introduction to college. We aren't messing around any longer.

My Philosophy class should be a good one. My professor is your typical absent-minded genius. He shows up to class in a T-shirt and sneakers everyday, and, like clockwork, walks into class huffing and puffing five minutes late. He's always in need of a shave (and maybe a little less coffee) giving the impression that he was up all night wrestling with the Problem of Evil. But all idiosyncrasies aside, he's actually a really good teacher with a brilliant mind and a great sense of humour. I'm looking forward to this one.

My other classes are nothing special in themselves. The Magazine Writing class is composed of English majors and upperclassmen, of which I am neither. It's a good thing I like a good challenge, because I've found one in this class. But I know I'm going to learn a lot. Although these blog entries are not exactly magazine feature articles, I'll try to incorporate what I learn. Let me know if you notice!

Spanish is a LOT better than last semester. My teacher is an American lady, which makes her a lot easier to understand. We have way more homework, but I guess that's a much better way to learn than cramming for tests. Pretty soon I'll be writing entire blog entries in Spanish for my Costa Rican grandparents! (haha.. not any day soon, though)

So those were my classes. But this week was busy because of much more than new academic obligations. I was asked last-minute to play acoustic guitar for Common Chapel on Tuesday morning -- something I'd never done before. So Monday night I had practice for chapel, then I went to bed, then I woke up, ate breakfast, and went to chapel, then I went to Mag. class, then from Mag to Computers (all with a guitar and a backpack on my shoulders), then from Comp to the lunch to the room where I did homework for 30 mins, then I went to swimming, to dinner, then finally back to the room to finish homework and, at long last, relax. Thursday was more of the same... except that I overslept and ran to chapel in a tizzy -- not a good way to start a very long day.

I hope you like run-on sentences as much as I do.

This will be the last time I talk about swimming for a while (except to mention results next week), because we have our big Conference meet this weekend. We leave very early Friday morning and then swim all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The funny thing about that, however, is that I'll only be swimming for a total of 24 seconds in a 3-day meet. Oh well. We don't arrive back on campus until late Sunday night with a few hours to sleep before classes on Monday. So I regretfully must inform you that there will not be a blog entry next weekend, although if I get a chance to type it up and then post it later in the week, I will. Stay tuned!

There's only two more things I wanted to mention, and I'll do so briefly. I met for lunch on Friday with an acquaintance of mine (he's a senior); we've chatted briefly around campus a few times, so he suggested that we meet up for lunch sometime. He's a really nice guy and when I first met him back in October he said he'd be happy to help me out as I got connected around campus, recalling how hard it was for him to adjust to college life when he was a freshman. Anyways, so we finally got to sit down and talk, and it was one of the best lunch conversations I've ever had. Seriously... I'm starting to think that my ideal career would be one where I just sit down and talk with people, preferably over food. Journalism? PR? That could work... Anyways, I learned a lot from this guy, and I can tell you more if you're interested (just email me) but let's just say that he really gave me a new perspective on certain theological doctrines.

The last thing is that Katrina and I celebrated our BIG two-year anniversary on Thursday. I sent her a little something, and she's bringing me a little something when she visits (in less than two weeks!!). I also recorded a couple songs and I felt like posting them for you to enjoy. There's no simple way to do this, so I've posted a link to all the songs I've recorded with people. The first two "Hallelujah" and "Open Eyes" I just recorded, but the others are all with lovely friends and family of mine. Feel free to check it out!

Well, I guess that's all! It's currently 50 degrees outside (er... 12 or 13?) and wonderfully sunny. People are outside in shorts! Ha.. but here I sit, loyal to those who are so loyal to me. Thanks again!

I'll be back with more soon!
jmb

(CLICK ON THE LINK TO THIS BLOG "THE START OF SOMETHING NEW" TO FIND THOSE SONGS)

Happy Groundhog Day... Eve

2009-02-01T14:18:00.000-05:00

You came back! Thank you!

I really do appreciate you taking the time out of your day to peer through this window to my life. Without you, I'd just be spewing nonsense into cyberspace, blindly assuming that it will be received. So thanks for giving my keyboard-happy fingers some direction and purpose. I'll try to keep the view exciting.

Well, I write to you now at the conclusion of J-Term break. Four days ago, I watched a mass exodus of my peers departing these hallowed halls of education for home-cooked meals, a few days of rest and recuperation, and an enviable change of scenery. BUT, a part of me was actually looking forward to some solitude and rest, and in hindsight I can see why. They say time flies when you're having fun (who are "they" anyways?), so the fact that the return of the masses came way sooner than expected probably means I was having fun. In fact, a few of my stranded comrades and I were remarking that we aren't really too eager for everybody to get back.

I'm sure you're dying to discover how 4 days of virtual isolation and time to kill were spent, so I'll tell you. First off, I got to know myself a little better over this break: one, I really do love time to myself, free of distractions and noise, and two, I'm better organized than I thought I was. Within a few hours of everyone's departure, I had already made a list of things I wanted to get done, mentally mapping out how much time I would actually have to accomplish these tasks. As it turned out, I didn't really have very much free time. Thursday and Friday were pretty much the same: swimming practice from 10-12, a few free hours in the afternoon, dinner and team party/hang-outs in the evening. (In case you forgot, the reason I stayed here was for the swim meet on Saturday.)

The remainder of my time was spent talking to my lovely lady, recording/listening to music, reading a little, writing a little, studying a little Spanish. I hadn't really given much thought to the meet on Saturday until dinner on Friday, when the assistant coach's personal pep-talk got me thinking that I really could qualify for the regional meet in two weeks -- Mid Atlantic Conference (MACs). So, a slight body shave and tons of nerves later, I was ready for the meet. And wouldn't ya know it!? I made the cut! Ha! I shaved (literally) 1.5 seconds off my 50-yard freestyle time to a lean 24.1 seconds, making the qualifying time by 0.3 seconds.

So there you have it! Though I'm a long shot from winning anything at MACs, at least I can say that I was good enough to go. It will, unfortunately, extend my season another two weeks and continue to absorb lots of time and energy, but I'm actually okay with that. Work doesn't start up again for a couple more weeks, so aside from a whole new batch of classes, things will carry on as normal.

Speaking of classes, I'm pretty excited to start fresh. This might sound sort of dumb, but I almost don't even remember how I balanced work from 5 classes last semester after focusing so intently on just one for the past three weeks. But I'm sure I'll figure it out again. I'm taking:

Mon, Wed, Friday: start @ 9, end @ 12:30 (amaazing!)
- Spanish 102 (yikes!! :| )
- Intro to Philosophy (*strokes no-longer-existent beard..)
- Created and Called for Community (a mandatory Messiah course)
Tues, Thurs
- Magazine Writing (challenging but rewarding!)
- Problem Solving with Computers (get my math credit, and finally learn how to use Excel!)

So that is that. People are trickling in now, and the noise is already starting to bug me. Ha.. I feel like a grouchy old hermit; maybe I should open the door and welcome people home now. Yeah.. I'll go do that.

Oh! But before I do, I wanted to give some mention to church this morning. Two friends of mine still here for break (Andrew and Tyler) decided to drag our weary bodies out of bed for church after a foolishly late night watching Shawshank Redemption. But I'm really glad we did! We weren't sure if the church buses would be coming, seeing as the school was out of session and everything, but we figured it was worth a try. Shortly after 10, and just before we lost hope, the CLA bus pulled up. The service was excellent, as expected, and the message was one of the best I've heard there. To put it bluntly (as Pastor Wayde did not hesitate to do) the new series is all about sex -- defending virginity, sexual sins, sexual predators, etc.

At first there was plenty of awkward laughter rippling throughout the 1,000+ person congregation, but that gradually subsided as the subject matter got a little heavier. Ha but there was an elderly lady behind me who clucked her way through the service with plenty of "Oh!"s and "Ha!"s. The message, entitled In Defense of Virginity, was compelling to say the least. The service ended on a more subdued note as we were reminded of God's forgiveness around Communion and the hope that we can find even when we must live forever with the consequences of our actions.

Reasons for staying pure (emotional bondage, diseases, quality of future marriage) were coupled with powerful anecdotes like this one:
Said the girl being harassed for her virginity, "I can become like you whenever I want, but you can never become like me."

Tip of the Day: Save sex for marriage.

Anyways, thanks again for your prayers. There will be a lot of major changes in the next few days, so I really appreciate all your continued support.

Love squared,
jmb

Galatians 6: 9-10

back to basics.

2009-01-25T13:11:00.000-05:00

Hello!

It's Sunday afternoon, meaning only one thing for me and my horde of faithful readers -- another addition to this building saga. Where it will end, only God knows...

It's been another good week; nothing all that remarkable happened. It went by really fast, which is always nice. Class is great. I'd love to say I've learned a lot, but it would be more accurate to say that I've just gained some fresh perspectives on certain theological topics. Enthusiastic teaching and inconclusive class discussions can only get so far before we need to put down our pens and acknowledge the ultimate inferiority of our own intellect. That's not to say, however, that theology is a useless pursuit; rather, it is just one field of study that necessitates complete humility. God is so vastly beyond all our understanding that no one could ever claim to come close to comprehension... but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

I'm currently (well, when I'm done this) working on our one-and-only essay for the class. It's an exegetical paper on any passage of scripture, written from the perspective of one of the theologians we covered in class. I'm writing a theological analysis of Psalms 12 with the voice of Gustavo Gutierrez (a Latin-American professor and father of 'Liberation Theology'). In other words, I'm analyzing God's promises to overcome injustice from the perspective of the poor. It really is interesting to contemplate the Gospel from the position of the world's oppressed and suffering. Try it sometime.

Work! Yes, I've worked 6.5 hours since my last post. If you recall, I was really nervous to start, and I was especially nervous before/during my first call. BUT I survived... and, actually, it went really well. I raised $65 for my fellow students! I still have to get more accustomed to our 'scripts' and all of that, but my first two days of work were surprisingly fun. Thank you so much for prayers and encouragement and all that good stuff! I'll start working a full 10-hours a week in February.

*scratches head and tries to remember other matters of significance*

Oh! Swimming is almost over. We'll have practices this week and then our final meet on Saturday. Depending on how well I do there, I might have another month of practices and meets, but I'm not planning (er...expecting) to do very well. It's been fun, but I'm looking forward to moving on.

J-Term will be over on Wednesday, which means by Wednesday night pretty much everyone around here will be gone, save a few athletes and friends from faraway. So I'll have a quiet few days until classes resume on Monday. Maybe I'll blog earlier...

Church this morning was good. We went to a different church down the road, called Country and Town Baptist, to support Elise (she was playing in the worship band). The small-town church experience is a lot different from the regular CLA mega-church service, but I liked it. The message was about the importance of church, and how, well, Christians should go to church. "If we miss church and do not 'miss' church, something is wrong."

Hmm.. well, that's pretty much been life lately. Still waking up late, still doing devos, still going to class, swimming, eating, and now working. I'm excited about the start of Spring Semester, but also a little apprehensive about my workload.

Thanks so much for ... everything!
I hope I've once again quenched your thirst for details, but if there's anything you'd like to know more about, let me know!
J.M.B.

added later:
I just realized I never said anything about what I've done between the regular chores. I wouldn't want you thinking that my life is void of fun... oh no, not at all.

Some extracurricular highlights this past week included a trip to a Salvation Army Thrift Store, movies, and waffles. The second semester has found many students scrambling for jobs or pinching pennies more than ever. Wednesdays at Sal-Val (as it's known) are 50% off most items, and it was interesting to note the number of Messiah kids browsing for vintage T-shirts and flannels.

I watched a few movies this week, the highlight being The Secret Life of Bees in the campus theater on Friday. Getting seated after the lights had dimmed caused me to miss the slightly embarrassing girl:guy ratio. Oh well, I have no shame. It was still a really intense, powerful, moving, heart-warming, movie... and I see nothing wrong with that.

After the movie, a few of us went out for late-night waffles. Nothing hits the spot like a very early morning breakfast. But don't worry, Mom, we got back and were lying snug in our beds by 10:00 pm (give or take a few).

Okay I think I'm really done now.
I'm off to the Fiction Family concert. I'm ticket-taking; it makes me feel important.

Another Day in the Life

2009-01-18T16:56:00.000-05:00

Dearest beloved readership,

It's only been six days since the last entry, and I'm back with another! By now, I hope all your fears of your favourite weekly reading slipping into irregularity have been silenced. You can now put those nights of fitful sleep behind you, resting assured in the hope of a new blog every Sunday.

This week went by fast. Actually, truth be told, I don't really remember much of what happened. My class doesn't start until 1 p.m., so the days go by pretty quickly. I wake up late (around 10), do my homework for that day's class, go to lunch, sit in class for three hours, head to the pool at 4, run up to dinner at six, sit around in Lottie for a long time (to avoid the frigid cold outside), and then busy myself with a whole host of fun activities come nightfall.

Class is going really well. If you don't remember, I'm in Intro to Christian Theology. There's been a lot of homework, but it's really educational and interesting.. so it's not so bad. We had our first exam (of three) on Tuesday. I got an A, which, I'm sure, comes of no surprise. We have another test on Tuesday.

This weekend is of the long-variety, thanks to a certain Martin Luther King Jr. I was supposed to spend a day in Harrisburg tomorrow volunteering, but no one offered to take my work shift. So, unfortunately, I'll be sitting around all day (just kidding, I'll be productive) before going to my first Phonathon shift from 5:45 to 9:00. I'm done training (all five hours of it), but now I'm just nervous about remembering everything. Think of me Monday night, sitting in a swivel-chair, glued to a computer screen, trying to move a mouse with sweaty palms.

Continuing completely out of chronological order, Friday night I went out with some friends (a different group -- the 'usual crew' had all dispersed for the long-weekend) to see Defiance -- a new movie about Polish Jews during WWII. Based on a true events, the story of three Polish brothers that shelter Jews in the woods of Belarus could have been told more powerfully. It was still really good, and very informative, but it just .. missed something. I'd recommend seeing for yourself.

Here's something that is of no real relevance... to anything, really, but will give you another glimpse into the hard-knock life of a college kid:
After the movie, we faced a most terrible of circumstances: we were hungry. And if that wasn't unpleasant enough, it was almost 1 AM. Surprisingly, there are very few places to get food at one in the morning. When fast food proved to be out of the question (Eat great, even late? ... psh, whatever...) we turned, in desperation, to the only thing we could find: a gas station. Suffice it to say that a dozen powdered donuts and 3 bags of chips later, we were satisfied. Yet still I ask myself: what is this world coming to when a band of 7 hungry youth can find nothing to satiate their appetites in the wee hours of the morning?

Anyways, swimming season is wrapping up. Work is starting up. J-Term is awesome. Volunteering will start up soon (still waiting to figure out my Spring schedule, including work, before I commit). Devotions have been as consistent as my ice-cream consumption (in other words... they've been daily)... (but, then again, I haven't been eating nearly as much ice cream these days... I guess there's just no time for ice cream with all this time spent in the Word)!

In other news, the Philadelphia Eagles just lost the NFC Championship Game. Most people around here are carrying dejected expressions as everybody's favourite birds just lost their shot in the Super Bowl. I'll admit I was a tad disappointed too; enthusiasm for these things is quite contagious.

So that's life: class, homework, fun, friends, God, work (not, by any means, in that order). Thanks again for all your prayers.

If you want anything from me, just ask.
J.M.B.

aannd ... we're back!

2009-01-13T21:29:00.000-05:00

Dear readers,

It’s been way too long. A new semester has brought a new schedule and new activities that seem to threaten the regularity of your most beloved blog. For this, I apologize. But I assure you that I’ll be back into the swing of things soon.

Since we last spoke (or.. I spoke, you listened), I spent two and a half wonderful weeks at home for Christmas and fun with family, friends, and a little special someone. It actually felt like a vacation. When I was younger, I’d hear Grandparents staying at our house say that they were on vacation, and I could never really fathom that spending time at 1 Dalecroft Circle could feel like a vacation. But that’s exactly what it felt like for me! No schoolwork and plenty of time to spend with the people I love most. And then there was Christmas and New Year’s! Jinkeys, it was grand!

One of the greatest things about the break, actually, was the little digital recorder that I received for Christmas. I recorded a good five or six songs over the break with a whole bunch of talented people. (If you’d like to request a copy of any of these acclaimed cover songs, just send me an email. Go for it… ask me. They might be worth something one day. ha..)

But, as a wise (and seemingly pessimistic) person once said, “all good things must end.” So I left all the joys of home behind and looked forward to all the joys of school ahead of me. … Now, before you spill your coffee or knock something over at reading such a paradoxical proclamation (“joys of school”), I just want to assure you that I do, in fact, find joy in my schooling. Yes, you may gasp, laugh in my face, or call me a liar, but I will not deny that I really do love school.

I’m currently in the midst of J-term, which is essentially an entire semester crammed into three weeks. We take one class for three hours a day over 15 days. The homework abounds and the reading is unending, but I’m taking theology and learning a lot. Classes consist of a lot of deep thinking and inconclusive discussions, but my teacher is great; he’s only 25(ish) and really enthusiastic about the material.

I’ve also started training for my Phonathon job. I have one more session later this week and then I’ll hopefully start working next week. I’m pretty nervous, though, about my first few calls as there is a lot to remember and a very high likelihood of rejection… So I’d appreciate prayers for that.

Speaking of prayers, I feel like I should dedicate at least a portion of this blog to something very exciting that’s been happening recently. Basically, I’ve really started to focus on spending more personal time with God. It’s one thing to spend your college years in a wonderful, safe, nurturing environment, but it’s quite another to try and live your faith actively. And actively is how I want to live. I’ve been more faithful with my devotions than ever thanks to a very reliable and encouraging accountability partner (thanks, kk). I went down to the Agape Center with a friend the other day and collected some ‘literature’ on serving opportunities around the community; I’m planning to fit some volunteering into my schedule for the Spring. I figure my priorities have been shamefully self-centered recently and that definitely needs to change. Which gets me thinking…

A lot of people say college is the “time that people define themselves.” I can attest first-hand that this is true – people fill their time with all sorts of things (everything from video games to dance classes) in hopes of solidifying their identities. But I’ve talked to a few people who feel really discouraged with this new college lifestyle, that it’s not as fulfilling as they’d expected. Admittedly, I felt myself sharing many of those sentiments earlier on this year. I was busy, but I was feeling sort of aimless; I’m in a perfect little bubble, surrounded by the nicest people and given the greatest opportunities, but it doesn’t feel quite right to spend all this time and energy focused solely on myself. I mean, the goal of ‘tertiary’ education might be to beef up my resume and gain lots of valuable experiences, but I don’t think that my greater purpose as a Christ-follower needs to be compromised in the meantime. On the contrary, I feel like all of my goals for college (good grades, lifelong friends, rewarding experiences, adventures abroad) need to first be rooted in a desire to seek God and see his work accomplished through me. And if I can do that and have a fulfilling, enriching, and challenging experience at college, then this mammoth investment called Messiah will be worth every penny.

So that is that.

In other news, swimming is great. Well, truth be told, I haven’t been going to any morning practices lately… but it’s just so darn early. I just barely touched out another guy at our meet on Saturday to win the 50 free. There was no one really good in the event, but it was still pretty fun to win something and to add points to the team’s score. And I got a personal best time, which is always fun.

Class is going well; we had a test today that was way easier than I expected it would be. Or maybe I was just surprised by my own razor-sharp intellect. Yeah, I’m going with the latter.

Anyways, I think I’ve pretty much summed it all up. As I said before, if you want to hear those songs I recorded (there’s one each with Mom, Emily, Sam, and Katrina), just let me know. And if you want to know anything else about anything, there’s not a lot I don’t know. Haha.. just joshin’.

Love,
josh

p.s. the mysterious aforementioned accountability partner, enigmatically dubbed “KK,” is actually Katrina Kobayashi… who is actually my girlfriend.

You Are Not Forgotten

2009-01-12T11:51:00.001-05:00

Hello!

This is just a quick posting to say "hi" and "I'm sorry." It has almost been a month since my last posting, and even though I am back at school now, I couldn't find the time yesterday to write up a posting. I apologize. My negligence is completely unacceptable. If you are reading this, then I feel especially bad because that means you have been checking the page and seeking the usual riveting tales of adventure that characterize my life. And I have failed to deliver.

Right now, I need to run off to class and lunch and everything, but hopefully I can start on a full post tonight.

I have not forgotten you, my devoted readership. Stay tuned!

j.m.b.

Having Fun Isn't Hard... When You've Got a Library Card

2008-12-14T14:54:00.000-05:00

Why, hello!

I write to you now at the conclusion of what was probably my busiest week for schoolwork... ever. Well, actually, I've had equally crammed weeks in the past and I'm sure to have more, but it was just a little overwhelming, especially this close to the end of the semester. Oh yeah! That's right, this was the last week of classes!

That said, I apologize for the lack of adventure and intrigue in this week's entry, (I sure make a lot of apologies in these things...) but if you're still interested, read on...

Disclaimer: this entire paragraph is completely sarcastic...
So once again I refrained from interfering with weekend fun last weekend. There will be plenty of week days in my life, I figure, so I might as well make the most of my exciting weekends. Abstaining from productive activities on weekends has afforded me many wonderful opportunities since entering college. Save homework for Monday, that's my motto. And remember kids, abstinence is key.
Just joshing...

Ha, but even though I did, in fact, do work on the weekend, I still had a lot to do on Monday. And so it began.

Due for Tuesday, I had a self-evaluation report based on my speeches throughout the semester (that was fun to write...) and the final draft for that last Amish paper. So that occupied a lot of Monday. And I have a confession to make. Normally I am really diligent with editing my papers before I hand them in, but I did all of my editing on the computer this time, printed it off, stapled it, and handed it in without a thought. Well, as it turns out, somewhere along the way page 4 slipped out of the pile, causing me to unknowingly hand in 4 pages of a 5-page paper. Suffice it to say I was shocked, nervous, and a tad embarrassed when my professor told me. Thankfully, however, this story of a dumb mistake does have a happy ending. "I can still tell this is 'A' writing. Good work," was the comment next to the grade. There are good people in the world, after all...

Speaking of the Amish, we spent our last two weeks in classes discussing the Amish school shooting in Nickel Mines, Lancaster County, PA back in 2006. You might have heard about the tragedy on the news, and if you'd like to hear more from an expert... ahem.. just send me an email. Ha, but really, if you want a really interesting read about the tragedy and the ensuing (and immediate) forgiveness offered by the Amish, pick up Amish Grace. Good book, very fascinating subject, co-written by my very own professor, Dr. David Weaver-Zercher.

Well, how about I move on recounting the excitement. Wednesday morning consisted of a Spanish presentation and an Intro to Wellness final exam. Neither were really that hard, but both required a frustrating about of preparation. Lame. But they went well.

Wednesday night was a diamond in the rough. I worked for a while in the library on a project due for Friday (more on that later) and my Thursday morning Communications test, and then went to a concert committee meeting. We discussed upcoming shows, and there was even a little heated discussion concerning the pros and cons of bringing a worship concert to Messiah. Some people want to do it, other people think that is the responsibility of Student Ministries, other people think Concert Committee has a lot better resources to get a good worship concert, other people think we should use those resources to get a good artist into the school that could give the school an even better name in the community, and so on. Personally, I'd love to see a worship concert at Messiah. But we'll see.

I left the meeting early, got some work done in the Union (sort of) and then got ready for Wednesday night's B-sides. If I haven't mentioned this before, every Wednesday there is a free concert in the Student Union featuring some smaller local band on tour through the area. Sometimes the acts are nothing extraordinary, sometimes they are a little too extraordinary, and sometimes the artists are amazing! This week featured one of the latter. The band is called Farewell Flight; they're just a local band from the area, but they are actually doing really well for themselves. They've been featured in a bunch of music magazines and have a full-length album out already (which I hastily obtained). A friend of mine from the area (that I met through another friend here) came to the show with a bunch of his friends too, so I got to enjoy an awesome concert and make some new chums along the way!

Now, I bet you're on the edge of your seat dying to hear about Thursday. What will become of the ever-increasing workload? Will it culminate to such a great height, threatening to engulf poor Joshua in the rising tides of unrelenting pressure? Will he survive the crashing waves of academia as they pound upon his fragile mind? I'm sure you are begging for answers to all these questions and more, so read on, my faithful followers... 'followers' in a virtual sense, that is.

Thursday was primarily spent working on the biggest project in the history of projects. Yes, that's right, completing the task required loftier ambitions than those required for petty tasks like the Great Wall of China or the Pyramids. Basically, it was a 6-part portfolio for my Intro to Communications Seminar class. It was one of things that we (theoretically) work on throughout the semester, but ... well, some of the terribly irresponsible students in the class procrastinated to the last two days. Tsk, tsk.

I conducted two interviews, created a fully updated resume, did several self-assessment quizzes online, collected 'artifacts' from the last couple years to include, wrote conclusion and introduction sections, and, of course, wrote dozens of 1-2 page reflection papers. Ha, I'm starting to get pretty good at throwing down random 2-page personal reactions in 10 minutes flat.

I'm getting sick of talking about all this homework, but I will say that I also wrote my written COMM final on Thursday and realized during the exam that I had over-studied. What a beautiful realization.

I dropped off that portfolio on Friday afternoon and felt an immediate bounce in my step. With my renewed vigour, I walked back to my room only to be evacuated immediately due to some smoking light bulb in the basement. Oh well. It happens. Then, like a true American, I joined a game of football on a nearby field with some friends.. and a bunch of older (bigger) guys. It was really fun, but let's just say that tackle football really stresses your body in ways that swimming laps does not. I'm still sore...

A quick shower and some dinner later, we were ready for Christmas Tradition. What is this Christmas Tradition, you ask? Well, it is quite simply the big Christmas Formal dance, held at the Hershey Lodge. Yeah, it's a big deal. It was a fun night, lots of pictures and laughter and dancing and smiles and pictures and dancing and fun. Had I not been aching from head-to-toe already, I might have lasted a little longer on the dance floor...

After the dance, we did what all hungry people do at 1 AM: we went to a diner. There's nothing like breakfast in the morning -- very early morning. Saturday, for me, was spent sleeping and enjoying some well-deserved relaxation. I also dragged my worn and weary body to the arts building and ended up playing around on a piano for two hours. So that was fun.. and a very satisfying release.

I had a rockin' good time at the Swim Team Christmas party last night. After the gift exchange, I ended up with a new drag suit for practice (aka. a pair of women's underwear... hardy har har..). This morning I went to CLA with my friend Dave. He's got a car and a nice hat. What else can I say? Ha, he's a really great guy.. and I've eaten breakfast almost every day this semester. Church was pretty good. The children's choir was singing (all 300 of them), so that was a delightfully joyful little Christmas treat!

Now I'm going to study a little Spanish for my final on Wednesday. Whoever said I don't work ahead was .. wrong. I don't have any exams tomorrow (thank goodness!), but I have Psych on Tuesday and Spanish on Wednesday. Then I leave Thursday morning for the Great White North. I know it's only been three weeks since I was at home, but I just can't wait to be back and see friends I haven't seen since the summer. And then it's Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas, I don't know when I'll update this again. If it's not before Christmas, Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a Good Night!

Oodles of Toodles!
Josh

FaLaLaLaLa... LaLaLaLA!

2008-12-07T18:17:00.000-05:00

Hi.

I'm sorry I haven't updated in two weeks. No, really, it's actually been bugging me a lot -- sort of a subconscious nagging to feed the starving masses the information they need. I can tell you that a lot has been going on the last two weeks, but doing so also causes a pang of guilt for leaving you in the dark. I shudder to think of all my faithful readers that have turned to other sources of college confessions in my negligence...

Anyways, I should get down to business. Here it goes:

Well, for those of you who did not know, I went home last week from Nov. 26 to Nov. 29. You might be wondering why I made no mention of such a significant event... Well, the plan was to surprise Katrina, so keeping it a secret was a natural part of that plan. And it was awesome! Haha... I'd never seen anyone so utterly speechless before! So if you want more details on that, feel free to send me a note or give me a ring or something.

So it was also Sam's 13th birthday when I got home, so it was great to be able to celebrate that with the family and help him design his new (my old) room to exact specifications. It was a very nice three-ish days at home with the family and the Katrina, and it also helped me find a simpler way home. I'm going with a friend to Buffalo and then taking a bus from there to Toronto. Much cheaper too... So, yeah. It was a very nice little break. I loved being home, but I was also very excited to go back. Perfect situation, if you ask me.

So a week ago today, I made it back to campus after another long day of travel. I had nothing due on Monday, so I figured I would take it easy over the break and save the schoolwork for school. The only problem with that plan was that I had a speech to present and an essay to hand in.. both on Tuesday. So, around 5 hours on Monday were spent in the library.. and a lot of last-minute revisions were made Tuesday morning, but it all worked out quite nicely in the end. I delivered a 13 minute persuasive speech (only 5 minutes too long...) on eugenics that went really well. It's easy to deliver a good speech, I feel, when you are talking about something you really care about... and it definitely helps when your audience is on the same page as you. The speech was basically all about designer babies and the future of human genetics, including modern genetic tests and some schocking statistics (namely, that 86% of couples that discover their infant has down syndrome choose to abort). Even though the topic is a tad frightening and admittedly depressing, it was cool to be able to simultaneously educate and persuade my class on a really serious issue.

Then there was that paper. Oh boy... this was a fun one (and I'm not being sarcastic at all). We had to compare two movies featuring the Amish for their educational and factual credibility, writing as informally as we liked. And informal is what I like. We were comparing the Harrison Ford action-thriller Witness to a much lower-budget documentary called Devil's Playground. I argued in favour of the Ford flick, and if you want a copy of the paper (before it gets published.. ahem.. ) then just let me know.

In case you were wondering, I try and jot down notes throughout the week so I can return to them later when I sit here scratching my head trying to remember what on earth I've been doing. So my notes tell me (in all CAPS) to mention DECK THE HALLS. Every year at the beginning of December, there is a campus-wide decoration competition for the best Christmas decor. The men of Witmer 3B (aka. Sparta) rose to the challenge and created A Spartan Christmas experience. We had shepherds, angels (I was one of these), a Mary, a Joseph, a baby Jesus, Spartans, narrators, etc. People entered and were led through the Christmas story with a little twist. Anyways, after a lot of work the hall looked really sweet and was full of shirtless men wearing bedsheets. We did probably 10 performances to get all the people lined up through the hall and.... WE WON THE BEST HALL FOR THE FRESHMEN MEN! Someday soon we'll get a pizza party, and it will be the happiest, merriest, most festive Christmas party ever!

The next night Messiah's SAB (Student Activities Board) hosted a Christmas party in the Student Union. We donned ugly Christmas sweaters as we decorated cookies and ornaments, took pictures with Santa, and listened to special guest Rosie Thomas (you haven't heard of her.. but she's amazing). So that was a very fun night.

As usual, just fill in all the gaps up there with lots of swimming and school stuff.

I am writing late on Sunday night at the end of an awesome weekend. So you'd like to hear about it, EH? (yes i still say "eh"). Well, Friday afternoon Austin, Isaac, Lauren, Jess, Elise and I hopped into Lauren's van and set sail for New York City! We stayed at Lauren's house about 45 minutes outside the city in New Jersey.. but really all we did there was sleep. After a brief bite, we boarded a bus bound for the big ... apple (nuts, I ran out of alliterations). Basically, it was amazing! We just wandered around, soaking in the sights and sounds like the inexperienced college kids we are. A few hundred photographs later, we made it to the "big tree" at Rockefeller Center... and continued to gawk and giggle. As expected, the city was absolutely jam-packed. But, in a sense, that almost made it more exciting just to be part of all the excitement like that. We also went ice-skating at Bryant Park, stopping at the Charmin' Restrooms along the way (a stop I would definitely recommend to any NYC tourist) ... you'll have to see for yourself.

So NYC was awesome! Man... I don't think I've ever seen so many people (and open stores) at midnight! We got on a bus back to New Jersey and, or course, felt very hungry. So we went to some renowned 24-hour diner and had pancakes and Canadian bacon (yeyeah!) at 2 in the morning. Then we slept for a long time, ate some more, and left to make it back for the Men's Ensemble dress rehearsal. Oh, and later on we watched Burn After Reading (aka. the WORST movie ever). It was a movie about nothing that made zero sense and was just really depressing. ha.. how's that for a movie critique? Then we went out to downtown Harrisburg basically because we had a car to take us there. We parked and wandered around, warmed up in hotel lobbies and bought junk food. Good fun.

Today I was basically out all day. We left for St. Lawrence Cathedral in Harrisburg right after lunch, rehearsed, waited around, performed, got back to school, ate, sat around, went to the chapel, warmed up, performed, and finished. The performances, if you're wondering, went really well! The one on campus was especially fun and now we're singing at chapel on Thursday.

Annndd then I went back to the room, changed, and 'creeked' Isaac because his birthday was on Saturday. He put up a fight, let me tell you. I guess something about the fact that it's only 15 degrees (or - 10 Celsius) outside made him a little hesitant to jump in the creek. But we got him!

And now I am sitting here writing, watching the clock creep dangerously close to midnight. The problem with midnight on a Sunday, you see, is that I must drag my weary body from my bed into the pool at 5:30 AM on Mondays.

Now, I'm sure you all just breathed a heavy sigh of sympathy, and I appreciate that. But worry not about my well-being... because I am being quite well, thank you very much. I hope you can see through my objective story-telling just how much fun I'm having. I really feel so blessed every day to be here and to be surrounded by all the people I've been getting to know. It's soo great and I'm really thankful for everyone back home who still cares about me. And I'm assuming if you are reading this that you thought about me at some point as you clicked your way to my page, so I just want to thank you for all of your support and prayers. They mean a lot and they've helped in more ways than you know.

ATTN: Mom, don't read this:
Alright, I'm gonna go adjust the time stamp so it looks like I'm not up as late as I really am... I'm so clever...

Okay, all, thanks for reading. I hope your thirst for information has been quenched. Aunt Ingrid, I'm sure you had a miserable Monday morning last week, so I'm here once again to help!

Love love love love,
Josh

P.S. Guess who's out of time to edit again!?

Now or Never

2008-11-23T14:26:00.000-05:00

In the wise words of the great bard of our times, Mr. Troy Bolton:

This is the last chance to make our mark
History will know who we are!
This is the last game so make it count, it's
Now or Never

Well said, Mr. Bolton, well said. I have no real reason to have included that above, except perhaps as a tribute to the greatest High School Musical movie I have ever seen. Yes, I'll admit it -- I am a fan of High School Musical. I liked the songs in the first one, loved the songs in the second, and as one critic named Emily Boden raved, was "blown away" by the third. Take a winning formula of ridiculously catchy songs, a romance for the record-books, and a perfect world in suburban Albuquerque where high school kids party with their parents, give it $30 million and you've got a box office hit! So that is my take on the new HSM, which I am sure you were all greatly anticipating.

Back to reality, this week was a good one. I was very busy with homework and lots of other things, but that just makes this little entry more interesting for all of you! How about we go in chronological order this time? And for the sake of some practice, I'm going to use a little Spanish.

Lunes - Thus began the busyness. I had a major Psychology project due on Friday that was supposed to be based on an interview with someone who "works with people." You'd assume that everybody works with people, but we were supposed to find someone who could provide further insight into some of our course material. I interviewed my admissions counsellor, Cindy Blount. It went really well and I learned a lot about her and different psychological concepts. She has basically spent her entire life travelling the world, so she had a lot of valuable things to say. Later that night I went to an honors credit movie thingy. We watched Bonnie & Clyde. The title of the series is "Films that Changed America," and this one is definitely worth the label. The story was just really well done, and the characters and acting were excellent. You could just tell how ahead of its time it was they way that the violence was portrayed. To audiences in the 60s it was a major controversy, but to our polluted vision the fake blood almost looked silly. I give it two thumbs up. The last Monday highlight was throwing Zach (fellow swimmer) in the frigid waters of the creek for some birthday well-wishes.

Martes - Chapel had a gospel theme. Although any authentic gospel choir would probably laugh, the attempt was well-done and very entertaining. We watched the Harrison Ford movie, Witness, in Amish seminar that afternoon. It's a movie about Harrison Ford being himself as a hardened, brave, smart-mouth cop who goes undercover to protect an Amish boy from some sort of villain, seducing Amish women and causing all sorts of trouble along the way. We analyzed it for its portrayal of the Amish, which was not at all convincing. I spent the rest of the night at Men's Ensemble (Christmas performance in two weeks!), an audition for tonight's coffeehouse, and lots of homework in the library.

Miercoles - Starting to feel the pressure of imminent due dates fast approaching, I decided to get my priorities straight. I spent the day in classes and working, all in order to prepare for the week's main event -- High School Musical Tres! It was three guys (myself, Austin, Isaac) with one girl (Lauren). I wouldn't let that slight gender imbalance deter me from my goal, however, and as embarrassed as I felt asking the girl at the counter for a ticket to HSM, it was totally worth it.

Jueves - In short, I finished an Amish essay, handed it in, listened to the HSM 3 soundtrack, worked on a big Spanish assignment, wrote a 8 page report on the aforementioned interview, and had a wonderful phone-date with my wonderful ladyfriend.

Viernes - one word: SNOW! It wasn't a lot, mind you, but it was enough to get the whole campus bouncing in their seats. It was Friday, my work was all handed in and behind me, the weekend was ahead, the snow was on the ground, and everyone was happy. I had a nice long talk with Momma and Papa -- always a pleasure -- and watched Messiah Women's Basketball destroy Eastern University. Then I went to sleep, because on Saturday...

Sabado - Swim meet! To be totally honest, sometimes I am not all that enthused going into these events, but this one was actually a lot of fun. It was a really nice pool and I felt really good. I broke some more personal records, including down to a 57.5 in the 100 free, which, for me, is a big deal. I don't know if I've mentioned this about our meets before, but our team is determined to make a good impression at all our meets, and what better way to to do that than to pray before and after each meet. The school we were facing has a particularly obnoxious (and vulgar) cheer when they enter the pool, so instead of staring at them and being intimidated like they expected us to, we made a circle and all took a knee in prayer. And then after the meet we invited them (if they were willing) to join us as we prayed for each other and our future meets. We do that with every school, and it's just really fun to be on a team that has that sort of focus.

Domingo - All I've done today is church and the blog, so I'll tell you about church. It was amazing again. The emphasis of the service was on healing. And as I mentioned last week, my expectations were for some classic charismatic preaching and a call for heavenly healing on everything from paralysis to cancer. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised. The service had an extended time of worship, and then a panel discussion on the stage with just a few members of the congregation. They talked for a little bit about a few joyous and miraculous healings they had witnessed and then moved on to spend the majority of the time talking about a painful reality -- when people of faith are not healed. It's all great when God comes down and miraculously heals people with all sorts of ailments, but I really appreciated how they emphasized the fact that sometimes God just doesn't answer those prayers for healing. It doesn't mean the sick lack faith or have lost favour in God's eyes, it just proves we'll never understand how God works. Some real-life testimonies of church members with chronic illnesses really sent the message home. It was somber, but it was still a celebration of faith through the hard times.

And that is that. For the sake of reducing redundancy, I've deliberately omitted all mention of daily classes and swimming practices. But don't you worry, they are always there to absorb any free time that might emerge in a day.

Now I'm off to a sound-check for the coffeehouse tonight. I'm doing a song called "Save" by The Rocket Summer. Should be fun!

Love you all,
Josh

p.s. once again, I'm out of time to edit...

Reaction

2008-11-16T13:20:00.000-05:00

Buenas Dias!
(that's Spanish -- the language I am still working hard on learning...espanol es muy dificil.)

I think this time I am going to begin with the most recent events and work my way backwards through time. That said, I hope you will forgive the diminishing factual integrity as the blog goes on... in other words, I have a hard time remembering all that's gone on in a week, but I'll try my best to keep you all in the loop.

I'll start with this morning. Church, as usual, was excellent, but probably better than ever. I really like this pastor (Wayde Wilson is his name). The focus of the service was on the Holy Spirit, and though I feel as if I have heard many-a-sermon on the Holy Spirit, this one was probably the most enlightening. I was really eager to hear what he had to say, seeing as this church (Christian Life Assembly) essentially has its roots in the Pentacostal denomination. I half-expected a passionate and emotional appeal to all of us to burst from our pews and fill the sanctuary with cries of praise in a hundred unknown tongues. His focus for the message, however, was a Biblical look at the gifts of the Spirit.

Acknowledging that gifts of healing, prophecy, and tongues are controversial subjects, he said up front that anyone who reads 1 Corinthians 12 cannot accept gifts of knowledge or faith as valid and reject tongues and prophesying -- they are all listed together. That said, however, he spent much of the sermon focusing on the importance of discernment, including instances where he has had to awkwardly confront people to say they are not really hearing from God so much as themselves. He also spent a while stressing the importance of what Paul claims to be "orderly worship" in 1 Corinthians 14. Speaking in tongues is a gift, the Bible says, that should only be used to instruct or encourage the Church.

Anyways, I could go on for a while talking about all of that, but I will say that when he closed the service with an opportunity for all of us to just call out on our own to have the Spirit fill us, I felt a much clearer understanding of what we were really asking for -- not to be filled so we could become the resident religious radical on campus that people could seek out to find healing, but to be simply open to the Lord working through us in any and every way, whether that be a momentary glimpse of holy wisdom, or an encouraging word from the Spirit to a friend.

Alright, now I think I will juggle time a little here and jump back to Friday and let the tape roll forward. I had a big Psychology test on Friday that I think I did pretty well on, but we'll see. Weekends are peculiar around here. Come Friday, the place is alive with excitement and energy as people are all around making plans and just taking it easy, but come Friday night, the busy-bodies and chatty Cathy's are all gone. Normally there are a lot of people around still, but the crowds seem somewhat elusive. Usually, that's fine by me; there's just that much more for my friends and I to busy ourselves with. This weekend, however, a bunch of my closer friends all left on Friday for home or tournaments (including Austin). But that wasn't really a big deal, except my entire floor went camping on Friday night, but I couldn't go. So that forced me to call up some acquaintances and make them... better acquaintances.

The reason I couldn't go camping was because of our much-anticipated swim meet on Saturday. I slept 10 hours (happy, mom?) on Friday night to be well rested for our meet against Elizabethtown. Long story short, it was a fun day, everybody swam really well even though the pool was pretty crummy, and we came out on top!! That's right, first win in Messiah Swimming history, brought to you by our little inaugural, motley crew of a team. Go Messiah! (Oh and that reminds me, visit www.gomessiah.com for results.) I cut 5 seconds on my 200 freestyle and 1.5 seconds on my 100 freestyle!

Saturday night I returned to campus ready to party. A bunch of guys on the floor, however, had left for the new James Bond movie, so I called up one of my friends (Brian) to see what he was up to and guess where he was going? James Bond! Thinking quickly, I snagged a seat in the car and had a great night with Brian, his girlfriend, and my other friend Chris. We got pretty lost and ended up at WalMart at 1 AM, but I'm always up for a good adventure! The movie, if you haven't seen it, was only decent in my books. It was James Bond, so obviously it was entertaining, but I just thought the plot was sort of weak.

Hmm.. where to next? How about just an overall summary of Monday through Thursday... sound good? Overall, this week was pretty uneventful. Lots of swimming, a pretty decent amount of work, a decent amount of sleep, copious amounts of food to supplement all the swimming, and... hmm.. let's see. OH! I got one.

Monday night I went to an alternate chapel Honors Congress event thingamajig with Dr. Christine Rosen. Who is she, you might be wondering? Well, basically she is just this really smart lady who writes a lot of books and does a lot of speaking about one of the most controversial (and yet largely ignored) issues in modern society -- eugenics. Eugenics, and I can thank my English teacher, Mr. Collins, for my knowledge of this, is the study of improving human genes. The discussion covered everything from 'designer babies' to abortion. I left that talk fearful of the future of our society, but glad that I was equipped with new knowledge.

For those who might be wondering what all the kafuffle is about, pretty much all I can say is that almost all doctors now expect that if a fetus tests positive for any genetic disorder (i.e. Tay-Sachs, Downs), the mother will abort it for the "sake of society." It has gotten to the point, however, where we can test for genetic 'defects' in a baby that might lead to them developing colon cancer in their late 50s. Should the mother be held responsible for bringing a person into the world that could potentially suffer later in life, or should we just kill any infant that could ever suffer or not fully contribute to society? Those are the terrible questions people are asking these days. And there are other issues that seem much more trivial, but are problematic on other levels. For instance, a woman wanting a child can now go to any sperm bank and practically 'design her baby' -- gender, eye colour, physical attributes -- and the methods are getting more accurate every year.

So, enough of all this depressing stuff. I am very excited for Thanksgiving Break. Work has been picking up a lot and it just feels like the break will be very much deserved. BUT, it's been good times as usual. I'm excited for another week. I have a big Psych. assignment due that is based on an interview I have to conduct, a persuasive speech to prepare for Communications (about eugenics), and a paper due for my Amish seminar. We have another meet coming up this Saturday, and even though I don't think we'll be as successful as a team, I'm looking forward to shaving some more time off my personal records.

So I think that's all for now. I guess this has been a little more brief than my previous entries, but I've got a bunch to do this afternoon. The Men's Swim Team meets every Sunday night for devotions and it's my turn to share my testimony. So that'll be fun. I'm also growing a massive beard. Well.. it's not really massive, but I do think it's longer than it's ever been. Why? No-Shave-November, that's why.

Alright, once again I love you all. Feel free to contact me if you want any additional info or just want to talk!

J.m.B

p.s. I think you'll find a few errors in this one, Mom.

Chaos

2008-11-09T15:00:00.000-05:00

Dear World,

What a week. It was busy, productive, eventful, exciting, and, of course, fun. What could have caused such a plethora of experiences, you might ask? Well, let me tell you.

There was a lot going on around here this week with the election and different convention-type things (including the Missions Awareness Emphasis this week), so that made things really exciting. Monday was greeaatt. It was actually the perfect way to start off the week. I went to Spanish, finished early and wandered around the mission organizations area. There were some really interesting things there, but it is sort of hard to plan missions trips when you're in college. But Messiah has a lot of really great opportunities for missions through the school for people interested (myself included). Anyways, from there I went to check my mail, and was thrilled to find a wonderful package from Katrina, including a package of encouragement cards from people at church. If you are one of the people that wrote me a card, thank you soo much. It was really moving to realize that so many people are still thinking about me and praying for me back home.

Continuing with Monday, I visited the annual Career Expo that afternoon. They basically just fill one of the gyms with booths from all sorts of employers (big and small) and graduate schools from all over. It's an excellent opportunity for juniors and seniors, but I figured I would check it out anyway. Nothing leapt out at me. From there I headed to my advising session for Spring semester. I had a few ideas of courses I wanted to take, and my advisor basically just said they were good choices. I have to wait a while before I'm allowed to register, so if I can get into what I want, I'm basically just going to take more General Education courses.

Tuesday? hmm.. Tuesday was an exciting day, alright. Election Day in America, for one, but also the day of my job interview! I went to classes, filled out the application form, and then headed over to the main office building (which I've never really explored) for my interview. They call the building Old Main, and rightly so. It's nice inside, but also very old. Up on the third floor, you can actually feel the floor drooping to one side as your walking down the hall. Oh well. If that building is as old as the school, it will be 100 years old in a few months.

Anyways. The interview went smashingly! It was long -- almost an hour -- but I felt really confident, and the lady was really nice. We talked about her, we talked about me, we talked about the Student Impact Fund, we talked about Messiah in general, we talked about things that could go wrong during a call, we talked about how I handle stress and rejection, we talked about how nice it is to be paid $10/hr, and finally she told me I could start as soon as possible! That was actually really nice of her, because the min. number of hours Phonathon callers have to work in a week is 10, but she said I could start with however many hours I could fit into my schedule; if that was 0 until the Spring, she said that's fine too. So that was really exciting! I had just been offered a position on the spot with the highest paying student job on campus!

From there, it was too late to go to swimming, so I headed up to the church just off campus and cast my ballot for the ill-fated Republicans. Oh well. They tried their best. A lot of people around here were pretty upset when Obama won (and a lot were really excited). Whatever. He seems like a nice enough guy, and there's no point getting all upset about it now. Haha, but it was funny how a bunch of my friends were saying to me, "We're moving to Canada." I then informed them that if they are really trying to flee raised taxes, universal health care, pro-gay marriage, and pro-abortion legislation, they might want to look elsewhere.

Wednesday was a long, work-filled day. I had four classes, a presentation on anxiety disorders in Psychology (that actually went really well), and two big assignments due for Thursday. Not very much happened that day aside from a lot of work. Oh, but it was mine and Katrina's big one-year, nine months! Woohoo! Ha.. but I spent probably over three hours preparing for a five minute speech on Wednesday. I could have (and should have) picked a topic much smaller than 100 years of musical history, but hey, it was very informative and I learned a lot in the process of preparing it. I worked until 12:00 that night, and then woke up five hours later for swim practice.

Exhausted, I delivered my speech in Comm (and it went really well), ate, and then ran back to the room. I also had a 1000 word book review due for 1:20. So lots of reading and 995 words later, I clicked "print" at 1:10 and ran to class. But I was really happy with the final product (and it was only the editing that I finished before class, Mom, don't worry. I'm not slipping into procrastinating ways just yet...). After class, I came back, played guitar for a little, and then took a solid three hour nap. Oh man, it was nice. Other Thursday highlights included: late dinner, a really great Powerhouse (thursday night worship service), and watching a scary movie with Austin before bed (BAD idea).

Friday was nice as well. We had two really interesting visitors to our Psych. class. Tying in with our chapter on Psychological disorders, one of these guys had schitzophrenia, and the other had been abused as a child and had bad hallucinations and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They were both really articulate and extremely interesting to hear. So that was really neat. Then I enjoyed a nice, relaxing afternoon, went to dinner down the street at my Professor's house (the Amish seminar one). Then I ran back to campus and helped out with ticket swiping for the big Conor Oberst concert. Woohoo! Long story short, it was an incredible show with really energetic performances and TONS of people. We sold around 1300 tickets, and probably 1000 of them were kids from off-campus. What a night!

Yesterday, I had a nice, light Sat. morning swimming practice, then off to a service project at a local nature reservation with the team. That was definitely a great bonding experience that really made me glad I'm on the swim team. I might have to drag myself to practice sometimes, but there are a ton of bonuses to being on the team too. Austin's dad was here yesterday so later last night we threw a surprise B-day party for him... he loved it. Basically, my dinner yesterday consisted of two slices of ice cream cake, some pecan pie, brownies, and some oatmeal cookies to round out the meal. Then we all went to the regional soccer championship game, and, of course, Messiah Men won 7-0. NCAA here we come!

I was really tired last night, and even though I really wanted to go to church, I ended up sleeping in until 11:30. Oh well, it was much needed rest. I've got team bible study later tonight and I'm really looking forward to that.

Yup. So that is that. As you can see, a LOT happened this week, and I didn't even include all the alternate chapels and various other things I got to do this week. This has taken almost an hour and a half to write, so I should get on to studying for my Spanish test tomorrow. You are all very important to me, and if you want to know anything else, or you just want to contact me personally, I'd love to hear from you.

Love you all,
Josh

p.s. I didn't get a chance to read over this again, so please pardon the blaring errors.

It won't be long

2008-11-02T17:00:00.000-05:00

Hola!

A week just does not seem complete without another blog entry. Thus begins another attempt at extracting a few special gems from a whirlwind of a routine...

Presently, my mind is occupied with a few significant thoughts/concerns. Tomorrow, I have my first-ever appointment with my academic advisor. I will enter the 15-30 minute meeting with a truckload of questions, and hope to depart with a substantially lighter load. Her job is to advise my course selection for the spring and hopefully help me map out my path for the next four years. There are two problems, however. One: I'm supposed to arrive with a list of courses I want to take in the spring. Two: I have no idea what courses I want to (or should) take in the spring. But I'm sure these advisors are used to helpless freshmen knocking on their doors, so I really hope she's ready for me. I have thought a lot about it, though, and here are a few courses I really want to take (whether these are the best choices right now, I will soon find out):
- American History to 1865 (this ought to cure my ignorance)
- Spanish 102 (while it's still fresh..)
- Problem Solving with Computers (get my math credit... and finally learn how to use Excel)
- Mass Media and Society (which one is to blame?)
- Created and Called for Community (a required course for all spring-semester freshmen)
- Problems in Philosophy (... still not sure about this one)

So I'm looking forward to figuring all of that out; it'll be nice to have some direction and start to plan how I'm going to do the whole study abroad thing. I also have a job interview on Tuesday afternoon. Yes, that's right, a job interview. Apparently I was recommended by someone, because I received an email from the lady who coordinates Annual Giving asking if I'd be interested in working for the Phonathon. Essentially, it's a telemarketing job, but everyone I've heard from says that it's one of the best jobs around campus. The pay starts at minimum wage but goes up each semester, and there are lots of bonuses for callers who do well. Basically, I'd be working ten-hours a week calling alum around the country asking them for updated information or important news and then asking if they could sponsor the Student Impact Fund (a fund that aids in scholarships and study abroad programs for students). To many of you, such an occupation might not sound too glamorous, but when you see most of the other jobs for students around here... let's just say I'm pretty excited. The plan is that I'll start in February (at the end of the swimming season).

Speaking of swimming, Messiah College hosted its first ever swim meet (against Gettysburg College) on Saturday. Over 200 people showed up to watch and cheer us on as we made history... and got utterly defeated in the process. Ha.. but it was fine. I, along with a lot of other people, beat personal records, and pretty much everybody that swam got to set some sort of school record. After that, we all went over to the Men's Soccer game against Elizabethtown. Some sort of bizarre school tradition dictates that everybody throw marshmallows whenever anything exciting happens. So after dodging sticky balls of sugar as Messiah defeated E-town 3-0, we went to a concert at the Union and heard this band from Maine that was actually really good! Check out The Wrecking if you're interested.

So that was Saturday. What about the rest of the week, you might be wondering? Umm.. well I watched a few too many scary movies, went out for dinner with Lauren's dad and the 'gang', swam a lot, did a bunch of homework, and planned some course stuff. I'm looking forward to two cancelled classes this week (back-to-back, no less), my two forementioned meetings, and Friday night. Only, the problem with Friday night is that I have a serious conflict between my obligations to the Concert Committee and the Conor Oberst concert on Friday and the swim team and our fourth meet at the same time. I'd rather help out with the concert .. and we do have 8 meets throughout the season... but I don't know. I'll let you know how this turns out.

Right now, I need to get on with some work. I also have a Men's Swimming devotional with the team later tonight. And I should probably start exercising some self-control with all this candy floating around everywhere. Thanks again for all your prayers. There is a lot to plan for right now with the Spring Semester and J-Term approaching.

Love you all and all my lovin',
Josh

p.s. I apologize for grammar errors, and thanks to those who help me spot them.

You Are My Sunshine

2008-10-26T16:18:00.000-04:00

hello all,

First off, the weather today is mighty fine. About 64 degrees (er... 17 Celsius) and sunny. The leaves are rustling in the cool Autumn breeze, Fall Fest is in full swing down at the student union, and I am in my room... sort of doing homework, mostly writing in this blog. I seem to have designated Sunday afternoon as my "write to friends, call home, update blog" time. However, there is always a small sting of homesickness that accompanies such times, so I apologize in advance if any of my writing is subtly melancholic. :]

Hmmm.. one thing I would like to say is that it is very difficult to put pictures up here, so if you have a facebook and can access my profile, please feel free to browse the gallery. However, if you do not, and you would like to see some pictures, please just send me an email and I can easily send some your way. (joshboden@rogers.com)

So I went to Philadelphia for the first time on Friday! In the evening, after classes and everything, a group of friends and I hopped in my friend's car (Chris) and drove two hours to downtown Philly to see that Copeland concert I mentioned before. It. Was. Amazing. ahah I was really shocked when we got there because the venue was literally a church basement. Just a big room with about 400 people and one of the greatest bands of all time. Their performance was one of the best I've ever seen, and the opening acts were excellent as well. It was a late night, but totally worth it.

Speaking of Philly, there's this little contest called the "world .. series" or something like that. Anyways, it's kind of a big deal and I must admit that I am, for the first time in recent years, actually getting pretty excited rooting for a team. To cheer for the Rays would be suicide, so I've joined this entire state in the charge: Go Phillies!! There was a Philadelphia Eagles game on after lunch, the Pittsburg Steelers game is on right now, and then the 4th World Series game starts in a few hours. Let me just say that the sports craze around here is a little contagious.

Classes are going really well. My workload has been very manageable recently. I had a few papers due this week, but just short ones. Also a couple tests, but they all went really well. Oh and I delivered an informative speech on Thursday morning about being Canadian. Basically, I took it upon myself to disillusion my peers in Communications class on the myths surrounding Canada. Ha ha it was a blast to deliver, and the class seemed to like it a lot too. One guy said, "You should be a Communications major or something." Well, seeing as I am a Communications major, I found that pretty affirming.

I played in the last of the first-year chapels on Thursday morning, as well. Now I'm just another member of the worship community, so it might be a while before I get to play again, but that's alright. I can wait.

In the meantime, I've been trying really hard to prioritize things. I am not unbearably busy, but there are lots of things (mainly keeping in touch with people back home) that can get neglected. So I'm determined to do that and also to work harder at doing regular and in-depth devotions. I'm going to join a small group on Monday nights and try to find a time in the week to join an outreach project. There are tons going on, so the onus is on me to find something that works.

I have a swim meet on Tuesday and another one on the weekend. So those will be fun, but truth be told, I've pretty much decided that this will be my only year on the swim team. While the exercise and visible improvement is a definite bonus, I can't help but feel like there are lots of other things I could be doing with more time .. maybe things that are more signficant. BUT, I'm not sure because being on an NCAA college sports team is pretty awesome.

Last thing: I really want to see High School Musical 3 this week. .. just had to get that out.

Alright, well, I've been at this for a while. Once again, thanks for reading. Please feel free to send me mail (electronic or not). I love you all. And those of you who are praying for me, thank you soo much. I would love to hear what is new with you, so please post comments or send me emails.

Thanks for everything,
Josh

What Do I Know?

2008-10-19T15:14:00.000-04:00

Hello World,

I write to you today at the conclusion of another wonderful week. Returning on Monday, I re-entered this familiar time-warp called college. Fall break feels like it was ages ago, and although I do miss it, I've enjoyed getting back into things here.

The week was relatively uneventful.. and I say 'relatively' because even an uneventful week around here is still filled with quite a plethora of events. There was lots of swimming and fun and work and fun and a few meetings and practices. Hmm.. maybe I'll just go through day-to-day activities. Monday was the day I finally got back to campus. I retold my story many times, and I'm already looking forward to the day I can tell my children about 'that time I was stranded in New York City alone.' haha.

Tuesday was terrific. I woke up early and hopped in a van headed to Lancaster County, PA. I sat in the passenger's seat and talked to my professor the whole time, which was pretty cool. He's the head of the Biblical and Religious Studies department, so I feel like I've got in with a Messiah big-shot now. Anyways, we visited an older man at his farm where his sons (all 6 of them) work the fields and he runs a window-well business. It was actually really cool to be talking to this people who, for us, have only been 'textbook objects' for a while. It was also really cool to see how, even though they don't use electricity, the Amish are incredibly technologically advanced. This man uses hydraulics and air-pressure to control a bunch of high-tech tools that make really high-quality products. We also visited a produce auction and a family that prepared lunch for us. The woman and her children then sang a few songs for us and answered some questions. She said something interesting after we all sang 'Amazing Grace' together about how we'd all be singing together like that in heaven -- people from all backgrounds united in praising God. That sort of surprised me because you'd think a group as 'radically conservative' as the Amish would never expect to find the post-modern, iPod-carrying evangelicals with them for eternity. But that just goes to show how humble and non-judgmental they actually are. Oh and the food was amazing.

Wednesday was wonderful. It's my busy class day, with four classes all spread out. And, seeing as it was my first full day of classes since the Tuesday a week earlier, I felt like there was a lot to catch up on. But catch up I did. I swam that afternoon, right after classes until six. Then I ate dinner, then I went back to the room to study for a make-up Communications quiz I had missed. Then I went to my friend's room and ate pie and pizza (in that order). Then went to a girls' rec-soccer game to cheer. It was fun. Then I went back to the room and basically went to bed by 10. Woohoo sleep!

Thursday was thrilling. 5:30 AM practice. Comm make-up test. Comm class right after. We're doing informative speeches in that class right now, and mine is this upcoming Thursday. I am going to inform my tragically ignorant class about what I assumed I know more about than any of them -- Canada. ha so I'm actually really looking forward to that speech. It'll be fun to write and fun to deliver. Umm.. so then I had lunch and then class again -- my Amish seminar. It was interesting. I handed in a (VERY rough) draft of a paper. Had a nice, relaxing afternoon swimming-free. Listened to a brand new Copeland CD. Copeland is a band and the CD is amazing. Dinner. Men's Ensemble practice. Back to room to do homework. Off to a meeting at 9 for Concert Committee, during which we discussed upcoming dates and what bands the school could get in for concerts. Then I went on a nice date with my lovely girlfriend ... over the phone, of course, but no less wonderful.

Friday was .. frightening..ly great! Homecoming weekend had begun. Classes were great. Afternoon was nice. I played guitar for a little bit and slept through the first bit of practice.. my bad. Homecoming dance was Friday night.. and although I didn't really want to go at first because a lot of my friends weren't going and I sort of wanted to go to bed early before my Saturday swim meet, I changed my mind last minute. And, boy, am I glad I did! Homecoming was a blast. There were still a lot of people there I knew, and thankfully not very many couples, so it was fun just all hanging out as a group. Probably the highlight was when Avril Lavigne's 'Girlfriend' came on, and the whole place sang every single word and went nuts, giving me a true sense of Canadian pride. Finally, around 11:30, I dragged my sore legs away from the dance and back to bed.

Saturday was stupendous. First Messiah College swim meet ever! It was just the Men's team, so it was really fun traveling as a group and getting to know the guys better. Truth be told, we didn't do very well, but it was just really exciting to be there at 'the start of something new' .. ahem. I swam some pretty tough races, but I made it through and felt better than I ever have at a swim meet. I broke 25 seconds for my 50m-freestyle, which is like 3 seconds better than anything last year. So even if we didn't win and I am still 4 seconds from a winning time, that was really exciting for me.

Right after we came back, I went to a jazz concert put on by Messiah's jazz band. It. Was. Phenomenal. Actually one of the best big-band jazz performances I have ever seen. There were a few soloists that were outstanding, but it was just the band as a whole and how tight they all were during really complicated songs that blew me away. Score 1 for my sense of Messiah pride. After that, I went to the Homecoming coffeehouse in the Union and just spent a long time chatting with people before heading off to bed.

This morning we went to CLA again, and I really liked it .. again. BUT I also really need to get work done. I've been at this for an hour, believe it or not.. with some distractions. Right now I'm also really excited because I just bought tickets for a Copeland concert in Philadelphia this Friday. My friend is getting his van for the weekend, so a bunch of us are driving down to Philly on Friday night to go to the concert. Whether that causes you to feel any sort of excitement or not, I am sooooooooooo excited. But more on that later.

Thanks again for reading. The detail might have been a little excessive, but I figured it would satisfy anybody with questions like 'so what do you actually do? So there you have it. I'm gonna try and get some pictures from Homecoming up. Oh and if there's anything else you want to know from this blog (details about various things) send me an email or leave a comment and I would be happy to oblige.

Love love love,
Josh

Where is Home?

2008-10-13T19:04:00.000-04:00

I just spent a wonderful weekend at home. And after two days of stressful travel I am finally home again. It's funny, actually, how people around here already refer to Messiah as 'home'. But I suppose it also makes sense. I, however, do not feel like I can really label either place as being home right now (after all, can someone have more than one home?) Hmmm.. i suppose this is sort of a trivial concern. The way I see it, I prefer to always find myself at home.

Anyways, three days at my Canadian home were wonderful this past weekend! I got to spend lots of time catching up with the famjam.. and many wonderful hours spent with Katrina. It was really nice to come home, and actually while I was there it almost felt like I had never left. BUT, leave again I did, and sad again I am. (i just felt like talking like Yoda..) However, even though when I left this time I knew it would be longer 'til I returned, I felt much more confident going into it.

I was really excited to get back to campus and having experience with all the long-distance relationships (not only with Katrina, but also with friends and family) helped me out a lot. Canadian thanksgiving with the family was excellent, I got to go to York for a day with Katrina, spent an evening with the family downtown, and had some good food with Emily and Sam. I felt really busy, and didn't even get to do everything I wanted, but it was a good 'first-attempt' at making the most of my visits home. Right now, I have a lot of work to catch up on, and I'm missing Katrina... BUT there are other matters to discuss:

SO, the plan for returning to Messiah was to catch a bus to Buffalo, then to Binghamton, NY, then to Harrisburg. Well, of course things did not go quite as planned. Actually, forget the 'quite' part. Things got totally screwed up. My first bus broke down outside Niagara Falls, so it was an hour and a half almost before we got another one. By the time I got to Buffalo, I hopped on a later bus that was going to New York City with instructions from the driver to get off in Binghamton. So I did. However, when I inquired about a bus to Harrisburg, the guy at the desk merely shook his head with a sad smile on his face (not exactly what you want to see when you are already confused and way behind schedule).

From there my only option was apparently to wait the night in Binghamton (the dumpiest city ever) or get on the next bus to New York City and go from there to Harrisburg. So, like thousands before me, I set off to test my luck in the Big Apple. Upon arrival, I was told that the next bus to Harrisburg did not leave until 3:15 am (who goes to Harrisburg at 3 in the morning!?). So that was when I did what all hopeless adventurers do: I called my mom. And thank God I did. Right before my cell-phone battery died, and with some incredible help from the home front, I got a room for the night (with a king-size bed and a view of the Empire State Building). Then I grabbed some food and went to bed, waking up at 8:30 to find the bus terminal I had been at the night before and look for a bus to Harrisburg. Well, I found one and made it back around 2:30 this afternoon. Yup, that's right. I left Toronto at 6:30 AM on Sunday and arrived on campus at 3:00 PM on Monday. Goooood times.

It's amazing the kind of wild (and stressful) adventures you can sum up in just a few sentences. Ha ha.. amidst all the anxiety of these past two days, however, I was thinking about how that night I spent alone in New York City will be a good story for years (and for my blog.) Grandpa Boden, if you are reading this, thank you SO much for that NYC trip this past summer. I would have been lost out of my mind if I hadn't been to the city before. And for all of you who have prayed for me at any point, it definitely helped last night!

So, now that both my home trip and trip home have come to an end, I am at the start of another busy week at Messiah. There will be a lot on my mind these next few days, but there is a LOT to do in the meantime. Here's a little glimpse at what will most likely happen before I get a chance to update the blog:
- field trip to Lancaster County to visit some nice Amishfolk tomorrow
- lots of homework, including writing a paper, a test, and a speech.
- Homecoming weekend (dance on Friday night, game on Saturday.. festivities throughout)
- First swim meet (yikes!!) on Saturday afternoon

And I'm sure there will be more. And speaking of swimming, I just got my 'gear' for the season (cap, warm-up track suit, new speedo, AND a massive winter parka that says MESSIAH SWIMMING on the back). So that's fun. I guess i should start going to practices then.. haha.

Okay, I need to get on with some of this work.
If you read all of this, I love you very much.
If you only skimmed it, I love you much.

Josh

The distance is what you make it..

2008-10-07T15:01:00.001-04:00

Just in case you were wondering, most of my blog titles are lines from songs...

To put it simply, I've been having a blast. Whoever invented this whole college thing deserves some major props... Friends are great, classes are (fairly) easy right now, weather is beautiful, stomachs are full, music is playing. Yup. Goood times.

A group of us spent this past weekend at my friend's sister's house in Frederick, Maryland. (The friend is Lauren and the sister's name is Jess.) It was sooo fun. On top of all the fun and frollicking, probably what made it the best was just the fact that it was a weekend OFF-campus. I mean, Messiah is pretty and everything, but the change of scenery was very welcomed. We sat around and relaxed a bunch (watching T.V., playing ridiculous games, throwing frisbees, watching movies, playing Nintendo 64) and ate A TONNE... literally. It was soo nice to get homecooked meals and desserts and eat beyond our heart's content.

Here are some pictures:

(Just so you know, the group consisted of me, Austin, our friend Isaac, and Lauren, Jess, Elise, and Cierra)

So there you go.. if you can access my facebook account, there you will find more pictures along with videos... including an impromptu song about jenga.

Currently I am just sitting at my computer, but as soon as I finish, I am going to run off to swim practice (last one this week, and we have our first meet next saturday!!), and then I'm off to Lottie for a quick bite, back to the room to change, heading to Men's Ensemble from 7-8, and then a group of us (probably the same group) are going out for dinner somewhere.. sort of as a final celebration before our long separation (.. nice rhyme). Because tomorrow marks the start of FALL BREAK!!

That's right, folks. Tomorrow I will meet my lovely family here on campus, give them a tour of my life these days, and then we are heading back North where I will frantically make the most of my only three days at home from August to December. I hope to see as many people as I can, but I still need to have a talk with that guy who invented college... some longer breaks would be nice.

Alright, maybe I should pack or something...

All My Lovin'

Josh

Rain... rain... rain

2008-09-30T16:09:00.000-04:00

There's a storm off in the distance. It's raining really hard outside my room window. I'm just working on some homework listening to the pitter-patter of rain and the sound of a practicing trumpet-player on the floor below me. It's very nice.

Now I am off to a private hors d'oeuvres reception with FOX News Political Analyst Fred Barnes (shnazzy, i know). But it should be pretty cool, as long as he doesn't ask me any questions about my political views...

haha, so there's a little update on the little things of life here at Messiah. It's raining really hard now, and I have to walk to the library. Jeepers.

Toodles!

31 Days Later

2008-09-28T17:43:00.001-04:00

I guess this is turning into a weekly thing...

Once again, here I am on a quiet Sunday afternoon trying to summarize an entire week at college. Only today is different. Today marks exactly one month since that fateful day our parents got back into their cars and drove away. So much has happened; so much has changed. In thirty-one days, I've made more acquaintances than you could shake a stick at, my body has survived almost 100 assaults from Hurricane Lottie (Lottie being the cafeteria), I've rock-climbed, played at one chapel and lead one bonfire worship night, redecorated my room many times, done laundry (three times, mom and dad!), eaten WAY too much, slept the perfect amount (..mom.), gone to many classes and stayed awake in all of them, missed my family, aced a Spanish test, listened to hours of music, spent hours trying to keep in touch with friends and family, received a few significant packages in the mail (including cookies, magazines, letters, shirts, and music), watched many movies, swum hundreds upon hundreds of lengths, played not-enough guitar, gone to church 5 times (thrice to the same one), played at one coffeehouse, explained to hundreds of people why I came from Canada (and sometimes where Canada is), left campus 4 times, gone shopping twice, missed Katrina many times, and made friendships that I know will last for years.

I feel as if I've lived a lifetime these past thirty-one days. It's almost as if I could just go home now and spend years recalling "those good-ol' college days." But I would never. For every awesome experience I've already had, there are so many more to come. I've started to consider my plans for the next few years, actually... which will probably include at least one semester in Philadelphia (maybe two), and one in Australia. And then there are other amazing opportunities awaiting me with music, concerts, worship, student activities, friends, trips, and even schoolwork. So even though it is tough at times to be so far from home with so many strangers, there is so much to thank God for and so much to look forward to. I've been blessed with so many great friendships and opportunities here, and even more comforting, I know I have many loved ones at home who love me all the same even when I am not around.

This past weekend Messiah College hosted what they call "Family Weekend." So, as the name suggests, dorms and buildings everywhere were full of smiling parents and curious children. As my family does not actually live in the same country as me (.. that's a weird thought..) they couldn't make it. But I got to hang out with some of my friends' families which was a blast. haha and when we went out to dinner my roommate, Austine, surprised me by telling the waiters of Texas Roadhouse that it was my birthday. So they came around singing, hoisted me onto a saddle and got the whole restaurant to yell "Yee-haw!" I just awkwardly played along..
And then this morning we all went to the same church as we have the past two weeks; our church-shopping endeavours didn't really last very long. I really like this church Christian Life Assembly, though, so it's nice to wake up every Sunday knowing that you'll be going to a vibrant church with genuine worship and passionate speaking. And any of you that can appreciate a rousing chorus from a massive choir would love this church. Boy, can their band play and singers sing!

Anyways, I think that's all I have to say for now. Other than a couple short fits of feeling sorry for myself (missing home and Katrina), things have been amazing. Oh, actually, on Monday Austin found out he has mono. So that was sort of depressing for him and startling for me. We've been really careful and he's been doing really well, but if you get a chance to pray for him (and for me too..) that would be much appreciated. Oh and swim team practices start up in full swing at 5:45 AM tomorrow morning, so that will be a tiny-bit of an energy-drain. But fear not, my faithful readers, I will not forget you! I will try to post again sometime this week (with pictures).
Okay, I need to go eat. Love you all!
-- josh

p.s. I'M COMING HOME IN A WEEK AND A HALF!!

Thanks to You.. I Still Remember .. My Favourite Book ..

2008-09-21T13:12:00.000-04:00

Hola!

Well, it's been an entire week since my last post. Time is starting to fly by.. finally. It still feels like I've been here for months, but at the same time, every week is over in a heartbeat. I think that is because I am starting to find myself getting pretty busy. I have swim team conditioning practices (hundreds of push-ups and thousands of lengths... roughly) every day for two hours. So that keeps me occupied.. and sore. Then there is Men's Ensemble, evening meetings for different clubs, lots of new friendships, and schoolwork. I also had the privilege of playing at a First-Year Chapel service this past Thursday morning! They threw together a little crew of First-Year students (freshman is no longer politically correct) including me on guitar and another girl on piano. We played a few hymns and a rousing anthem of "They'll know we are Christians by our love." Ha ha it was pretty nice to 'get my foot in the door,' so to speak.

Actually, something interesting did happen as a result of that. Right before the service, I got approached by the guy who heads up all the first-year activities. He told me that they are having a bonfire for all first-years on Sunday night with some worship. He then asked me to lead it. Well, suffice it to say that I was simultaneously thrilled and shocked. I mean, I was completely honoured .. er.. honored ... to have been asked, but shocked that I was asked. No one here has ever even heard me sing apart from one coffeehouse 3 weeks ago. But, regardless, I've picked some songs and practiced a little for a campfire worship service with potentially 500 people later this evening. If you read this before then, I'd appreciate some prayers!

In other news, there has been a major remodelling in Witmer B317. My roommate, Austin, and I spent hours yesterday cleaning and moving furniture. Frustrated with the lack of creativity in our default room set-up we went on an interior decorating rampage. We honestly tried every combination of furniture arrangements possible. Finally we settled on something that, quite inexplicably, just fit. Here's a picture of the room on the day we moved in:

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the room now. Feast your eyes:

I need to clarify: the picture does not do the room justice at all. The desks are in a prime location now, my stereo has a place of prominence (on my desk), the T.V. can be seen easily from both of our beds, the fridge is out of the way yet accessible, we bought a lamp for $8.99 from Target, and the beds are ... well, they are 'one.' Perfect for watching a movie with company, slumber parties with the boys, and those chilly winter nights! Ha ha and perhaps best of all, we got a new roommate!

Everybody, meet Leonidus the Betta fish:

He's hiding under the tree. Don't worry, he's well taken care of, he's just a little bit self-conscious (his face looks sort of squished.. we assume he was in a bad fight in his childhood. Little rascal.)

Hmm.. so this has taken a long time to write. I need to move on with some other work that is substantially less significant to me, but also terribly necessary. Right now I am listening to a mix CD from my lovely girlfriend in another country. That's right, she sent me a package in the mail with pictures and stickers and a novel-letter and two CDs of music special to us! So yeah, if any of you are privileged enough to see her any time soon, please give her a big hug from me.

In closing, things are amazing here. It's great to feel valued as more than just a number or a name, and I'm starting to feel like I sort of matter. I've been really encouraged this week hearing talks about the Philadelphia Campus and Study Abroad opportunities available to us here. I'm spending a semester (maybe two) in Philly, and another semester (maybe two) abroad somewhere. Ha.. but I can't very easily spend four semesters away from main campus when I'm getting so involved here. hmm.. oh well. There are worse predicaments to face.

Once again, thanks for the support and prayers. Feel free to tell your friends about this little blog. I have no idea who reads this, so I would like to send a shout-out to my two most loyal readers: Mom and Dad. :)

Love love love love!
J.M.B.

Writer's Blo...g

2008-09-14T19:18:00.001-04:00

What you are reading right now took me quite a while to write... and I can't even guarantee that it will make sense. I'm struggling to figure out what one is supposed to write in a blog. On the one hand, I feel like I am simply writing to myself -- in an online journal of sorts. But, in reality, anything I divulge is published and potentially revealed to millions of casual internet browsers. Now, I am not saying that any more than perhaps 5 or 6 people will read this, but the point is I am going to have to find the fine balance between writing about personal matters and providing what you really want to know -- the finer details of college life. ... but there I go again talking to myself. I'm just gonna start writing for real now:

It is Sunday night. The end of an all-too-short weekend, which was in itself the end of an all-too-long week. But I shouldn't complain. My classes are really easy, the homework-load is relatively light (so far), and all around, things have been consistently improving every day since I got here. I've made some pretty solid friendships and my routine is ... well, actually it's not much of a routine at all. My daily schedule always has an appropriate mix of work and play... and sometimes even a little bit of sleep... sometimes.

A weekend at college:
This weekend was pretty fun. On Friday a few of us took our friend, Lauren, to the airport for a wedding in Texas on the weekend. And then we just sort of bummed around.. watched 74 episodes of Friends...and then Dumb and Dumber. Classic. Umm.. and then Sat. morning I slept in until roughly noon (a new 'skill' I've just acquired), and then a bunch of us went shopping at a nearby mall. I bought some nifty little things... but I don't mean 'little' in size, Dad. And I used a credit card for the first time. It was pretty ... exciting, I guess. Except when I had to sign and my signature looked like something a two-year-old would draw.. with a crayon.. in their mouth. Oh well. I'll work on it. And then Sat. night there was a concert on campus featuring a singer named Ingrid Michaelson. It was really good, actually! It was a sweet performance and it got me really excited about the fact that I have four years of concerts at Messiah to look forward to! For only five bucks each!! Anndd then I got to talk to Ty and Dan (at Brock right now) and then Katrina for a little bit.. and then I went to bed. And it was only 10:30 ... ish.

Church was really good on Sunday morning. We went to a mega-church of sorts (Christian Life Assembly in Camp Hill, PA). I was skeptical at first, expecting another seeker-sensitive service with fake smiles and a feel-good sermon. I was, however, pleasantly disappointed. The worship was (amazing with a massive choir, tight band, and orchestra) really sincere and the message was, of all things, highly critical of seeker-sensitive mega-churches. Go figure. Here are some quotes from the sermon, which was one part of a series called "the Big Serve":

"Serving is love in action"
"Christians seem to like services more than serving... We like to be fed more than we like to feed."
"Serving, for a genuine Christ-follower, is NOT an option."
"Christian belief that costs you nothing is worth nothing"

So that was that. A great service. Great church. I'll definitely go back.. but I'll keep shopping for now.

Anndd then the afternoon was sort of rough. I missed Katrina a lot. There were visiting boy/girlfriends everywhere. Lots of reunited couples on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I smiled outside, seethed inside -- unfairly resenting the blissful lovers for no fault of their own. BUT I'm feeling better now. Anndd I will save the real gushy stuff for my own personal (and yet unfortunately neglected) journal.

Alright, I need to sleep now. And whatever the time stamp on this post is.. it must be wrong.
If you are reading this, I love you.
More on life later,

Josh

Here it Goes!

2008-09-12T09:01:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm a college kid now and, being such, I have many adventures to be had and stories to be told. Life is a whirlwind right now -- full of new and exciting experiences as I am beginning what many have told me will be the best time of my life. New friends are amazing, professors are genuine and passionate, and the school is constantly throwing fun events and activities at us from every direction. The way I see it, if someone is not having the time of their life here at Messiah College, it's their own fault.

So, you might ask, what could possibly be the problem with being thrust into such an incredible new community? Well, quite simply, it is absence of the everything I've known before now: my closest friends since childhood, my house and room and toys (a.k.a. instruments), my old job, the familiarity of church and the awesome serving experiences there, my amazing family, my amazing girlfriend, the routine and pace of life at home, things I used to do and places I used to go, and even (strange, I know) Yorkland. I miss all of it. In the frenzy of life people call college, we are all forced to adjust to a new way of living. And, although this new way is tremendously fun and admittedly inevitable, there is still something in all of us that wants to go back to the way things were... or at least in me. But I know I'm here for a purpose, and I know God has amazing things in store over these next four years; I've already caught a glimpse of some of them. I'm so grateful to be here, and I'm so appreciative of everyone who helped me get here.

So in light of the ever-present danger of falling out of touch with everyone and everything, I've decided to expand my communicative efforts to reach the broadest audience possible with the most information possible. I've never done a blog before, but I'm pretty excited, actually. (Thanks Mom for the prompt!) I will try to update it as consistently as I can, and feel free to comment or just to send me an email if you have any questions about anything. Thanks, Katrina, for the catchy title. You are still the cheese to my macaroni.

Thanks for reading this. I love you alll! Oh, and although blogging is a predominantly one-sided mode of communication, I still want to hear from YOU! So send me emails, write me letters, send me food, send me money (just joshin'...), or, if you've been inspired, start your OWN blog! How 'bout that?

More on life later,
Josh