Riding the Pendulum

I heard once that it is necessary to live unbalanced in order to be balanced. Although some would say to just "trust your instincts", I find that following instincts often hinders me from tapping into qualities that those natural instincts do not trigger. I end up living somewhat lopsided in the qualities that come natural to me. If I am outgoing I will always feed my charisma and approachable quality, if I am unorganized and spontaneous I will highlight my flexibility and willingness to change. Although I see the benefit in highlighting my positive attributes I also think that is important to go the opposite way and at times overemphasize attributes that I currently lack. With some aspects in our life it is necessary to counter our destructive habits with extreme actions/inactions that go completely against our instincts. This scene with George Costanza came to mind while I was chatting with a friend about this topic yesterday.

GEORGE COSTANZA - The Opposite



I wouldn't say that this is the most healthy method in curing toxic characteristics, but we all have to admit the courage involved in this approach. It sure isn't mediocre nor is it passive, and sometimes in life we need to act now, we need to push the envelope in dealing with our pride, fears, insecurities and our need for approval.

I heard recently that psychologists have now found it harmful to cure phobias by placing individuals amidst their most fearful situations. It pretty much means that sticking a young girl who is scared of spiders in box filled with them is not the most effective remedy, and I think we can all agree with that.

However, there is a great wealth of inspiration and hope that results from viewing our fears and deficiencies from a new light. And often times the only way to change your angle is to dive into an unknown realm, a space that in most cases are uncomfortable, unnatural and for a lack of better words 'scary'. For some, who find themselves always lacking courage, that realm may force you to speak up to those you disagree with, for others, whose opinions are usually heard a mile away, that foreign realm may demand silence and restraint. Many will need to step into the deep end, some may feel the need to speak in front of the class, others might have to start dating again, whatever positions you in a place of fresh perspective will help you overcome.

I echo my friend who writes at the end of every email "Do something everyday that scares you!"or my other buddy that tells me that "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." It could help to occasionally take moments to swing to the opposite side of the pendulum to see what we look like from the other side.

Door Prize

I had the honor and privilege of learning a new term last week. Here's the definition:

A "Door Prize" occurs when a...

CAR DOOR

intersects with a....

BICYCLE


CAR DOOR + BICYCLE = DOOR PRIZE

So last Tuesday I'm riding down Harvard Ave when out of no where this freakin door opens up in front of me. My front wheel crashes against the door bending it way back while my shoulder slams into the door frame. I was talking after to the bike expert guy and told him what had happened and he was like "chuckle chuckle..... you mean a Door Prize?". It wasn't very funny at the time :) Luckily I had no injuries, but poor Bertha suffered some severe damages to the front fork and tire.

It's now in surgery at the shop until Wednesday.

I really actually thought that I'd have the cat reflexes to dodge opening doors, but they really do come out of no where. It's a good thing Jules got me a helmet a few days before :) No need to worry mother, I'll be sure to just slow down traffic and drive in the middle of the road from now on.

Think Just Enough to Act

"In Hebrew philosophy, a belief was not a belief until it was acted on. And all beliefs affected community, because the actions they spawned affected every area of life. In Greek philosophy, belief could be separated from action. Thought and action suffered a painful divorce into upper and lower stories of existence.

Greek thinking led to dualism, a separation between the material and spiritual aspects of life. The material world -the realm of the senses and action-decline in value. The spiritual world-the realm of the mind and emotions-represented a higher plane of existence. The work of earning daily bread played second fiddle to the pursuit of philosophy. Greek thought infiltrated the early church and gave birth to a separate class of priests, clerics, and a host of monastic orders. This thinking still pervades modern society and the church in a variety of ways.

The Hebrew philosophy seems comparatively simple. No dualism. No separation. If you love someone, you will meet her need. If you meet someones need, you love her. Hebrews did not separate the heart from the mind, or belief from action. They were one and the same. What you believed affected all you did, from cooking a meal to building a city. What you did reflected what you believed. Therefore, work became an act of worship, and no vocation was viewed as more sacred or higher than another."

- The Ascent of a Leader

Currently, I am pursuing the goal of dismantling the disparity between thought and action, sympathy and physical assistance, or intention and fulfillment. It's amazing how we've come to the point where we need to reprogram our lifestyle to align the boldness of our thoughts with the courage of our hands. I've come to the conclusion that over-thinking is the cause. We predict way to often and continually remain in state of inquiry and assessment.

To tilt the scale back into a state of balance my weeks aim will be to think just enough to act.

We'll see how well I do :)

Encouraging to Note

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."

Albert Einstein

Warping His Image

"The loss of the concept of majesty has come just when the forces of religion are making dramatic gains and the churches are more prosperous than at any time within the past several hundred years. But the alarming thing is that our gains are mostly external and our losses wholly internal; and since it is the quality of our religion that is affected by internal conditions, it may be that our supposed gains are but losses spread over a wider field.
The only way to recoup our spiritual losses is to go back to the cause of them and make such corrections as the truth warrants. The decline of the knowledge of the holy has brought on our troubles. A rediscovery of the majesty of God will go a long way toward curing them. It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitude right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate. If we would bring back spiritual power to our lives, we must begin to think of God more nearly as He is."

A.W. Tozer - The Knowledge of the Holy

I was reminded this week of how little justice we bring to who God is. I believe that much of the issues plaguing our minds and bodies are caused by the warped and distorted view of our Lord. It is one thing to fix our eyes on Jesus, but another thing to know what kind of Jesus we are looking at. Some of us are fixing our eyes on a self-constructed God that mirror bare fragments of who Jesus really is. The issue is not the sincerity of our pursuit, but the exactitude of the image we are pursuing.

Let the Guy Sleep

These days, I am learning that God's promise to you will always come to fact no matter how difficult our situation may be in getting there. Faith occurs between the revelation and the destination for faith is no longer required when you have arrived. When reading Mark this week, we discovered an interesting point worth identifying in the story of Jesus calming the storm (4:35-41).

The question asked was "Why did Jesus think that the disciples had no faith?" The obvious answer would be that they questioned whether Jesus would let them drown (4:38). But the faith issue in this story is not that they did not believe in the power of Jesus to save them, but that they did not trust in His original statement that indicated that they would make it to the other side.

Think about it... Why would Jesus tell them that they have no faith if the disciples themselves went to Jesus in the time of need. If I was Jesus I would have said "Good boys! In times of distress you came to me because you had faith that I could calm the storm". But that was not the issue. Jesus was not concerned with the fact that the disciples came to him in the midst of a difficult situation, he was concerned about their faith in making it to the other side.

If the disciples believed they would make it to the other side, the storm wouldn't have even initiated a fear within them to begin with. Although there is an element of faith in acknowledging that God can calm our storm, there is a greater faith in the fearless assurance that whether the sea appears calm or chaotic, God will bring you to the other side. If God instills a dream in your heart, it will come to pass no matter how hard it is for you to get there. Therefore pure faith would have no reason to wake Jesus up.

We can wake him up to talk about how uncomfortable it is row the boat with wet underwear, or to ask him which direction to go because the waves have made us go off course, but there is no need to inquire whether we will drown or make it to the other side. That question is irrelevant to one who is certain about God's original statement that they would get there.

My buddy David summed this thought up nicely by stating that it is the difference between believing that God CAN and believing that God WILL. We all know that God CAN calm the storm, CAN bless our finances, CAN heal our sickness, and CAN mend our relationships, but we need not fear that he WILL bring us across the sea, WILL give us what we need, WILL be our strength when we feel weak, WILL give us the community that fits. God is faithful and his promises in our life will never be swayed no matter what the situations.

May we trust enough to fear not, row on and let You sleep.

My New Love

It's been a few weeks since I arrived in Boston and I have concluded that I love here. Maybe it's the fact that starting new is always exciting, or that my favorite season of the year starts in September, or that ministry has started off extremely well, either way I feel confident and sure of my place here in this city for this particular time in my life.

CARLESS

For the first time since I got that precious G2, I live in a city with no personal motorized transportation. I live on the other side of town from my bestest friend, attend 6am prayer meetings in a church that is a 10 min drive away from my home, and the temperature is rapidly dropping. This may be a walk in the park for some of you, but Jesse is spoiled when it comes to getting around town. His father drove him daily to a school which would have taken 7 min to walk to, his idea of a hand-me-down was an Acura Integra from his sister, and his family always asked HIM for permission before taking out the car that THEY actually owned :) So getting to morning prayer has its drawbacks for a guy like me.

But in the midst of such a loss, I have found a new love. Her name is Bertha... A Red 2008 DRAFT racing road bike from Laundry Bicycle across Boston University. There really is no better way to get to know your new city then to ride your bike around town. Whether it is riding down the Charles River bike path, or swerving through ridiculous Boston traffic, there is a thrill in moving through the city on two wheels.

So no need to worry mother, I've found my way to get around. We'll see how I deal with the Winter, but so far the Fall has been treating me well.

MEEK: Keeping Your Head Out of Their Game and into Your Own

Meekness is a beautiful virtue. It is a characteristic that maintains a healthy rhythm to the soul. It allows us to run at a steady pace. It keeps us undisturbed by the crowds and fixated on the finish line before us. Meekness silences the gossip that is around you, and keeps your mind at ease when competitors are ahead. Meekness helps you run the race you practiced to run.

Imagine with me for a moment the start of a competition among runners.

It requires great self control to direct the emotions, built up in the frenzy of a competition, towards feeding the adrenaline needed to gain an advantage in a race. The power and intensity of emotion at the start point of a race can either be your friend or be an annoying poking inside the walls of your head. For some reason, the run we practice before the competition is rarely simulated when the gun fires at the start of the race. We often permit the environment of the competition to determine how we run, we allow it to derail and alter the race we practiced to run. The chanting crowds and the cocky stares of certain competitors beside us distract us from the strategy we practiced many times before.

Our original plan was to start the race off slow, painting a false illusion of victory to our competitors we restrain our speed in order to allow their pride to be their fall. However, as the race begins, little do we notice the trap we fall into as our own strategy becomes a whisper compared to the overwhelming sirens of our own pride that refuses to allow our competitors to think, even for a moment, that they are better than I.

Our eyes and ears, which are the worlds gateway to our mind and soul, crack open just enough to allow the wind of public opinion to alter our inner conviction. We compromise the long term plan in order to please and satisfy our momentary emotional hick ups that more often than not sways us to a race we have no idea how to run. We know how to run the race we practiced, but this race - we were never prepared for. So now our plan has been changed and we find ourselves expending our energy into reclaiming the original strategy, but we quickly realize that the former strategy was designed for a rested runner at the start of the race. Here YOU are, at the halfway point with an energy level lower then expected, in a state of chaos trying to just play the next quarter of the race by ear. You pull off making it to the last stretch where you planned to be to find out that you've got nothing left to make that amazing last sprint that was to be the crown and jewel of your race.

How easy it is to abandon our convictions and plans in a world marked with competition. We become blinded to our own convictions at the sight of those who are ahead.

Many of us, including myself, are excellent in knowing how to "pull things off". We are experts in "playing it by ear". There is a beauty in being quick on your feet, but it should not be the foundation of your life's plan. It is effective and useful in moments of the unknown, however, it is more of a complimentary element then it is a center piece. We know deep down inside that" pulling it off" was never our initial intention. It is more recovery focused then it is a proactive approach. It is the consequence of compromised strategies in the past. It started long ago at the beginning of the race when we decided to "allow our skills, talents and abilities to bring us to places where our character could not sustain us anymore" (A.R. Bernard), it began the moment we let our emotions control our power. It's when we chose to forfeit our integrity to get ahead, when we dismissed our moral convictions in order to please friends, when we began to think in our heads that...

"If they cheat, why shouldn't I"

"If she talks behind my back, shouldn't I have the right to do the same?"

"Why would I forgive someone who never asks me for forgiveness?"

This rationale is dependent, this logic is solely reliant upon our environment and bases our restraint or release of good on how well the world treats us. This simply means that our actions are enslaved to the worlds condition and treatment towards humanity. We may think that the only fair exchange would be to receive before we are to invest, but then influence would cease to exist. Influence is activated only when you take the first step. Influence is made when investment proceeds reception.

We can only "pull things off" for so long. Playing by ear can only get us so far. They are actually attributes that irresponsibly distributes power. They act as bursts of power that get the job done, but leaves you with no energy for future goals. It's like drinking Red Bull to pull off an all-nighter for tomorrows test, you basically expend tomorrows energy tonight. You compromise your state during the test to be awake long enough the night before to accumulate knowledge. You may pull off that 73%, but you must be willing to admit that you abused the power of time days before when you chose to party it up instead of studying. Red Bull is our quick fix for solutions in life, it is the last resort we cling to when we realize that there's no more steam in our tank to finish the race. The issue is not getting the job done, the issue is how wise you are in controlling the power you have. Controlling your power creates a habit that will sustain you for those times when Red Bull lacks the strength to get you through. Habits are the reliable actions that need no dependency on last resort measures.

The solution is Restraint. Restraint has been highly underestimated. It is often more powerful to withhold a right you have then to capitalize on it. Meekness is a word that describes a power that has been tamed, a power that is nurtured and matured , a power that is under control. There is no honor in one who expends power as soon as it is attained. What can be learned from a teenager who splurges his first paycheque on useless rubbish.

The problem with us today is not that we don’t have enough power, we simply just don’t know what to do with the power we already have. Many of us know what we want to say but have no idea how to say it. Admit it men, you're a smooth talker in front of the mirror, but when it comes to conversing to real life girls, you're not exactly Zack Morris (writing this reminds me of Ryan Reynolds singing "I Swear" in front of his mirror in the movie Just Friends... anyone know what I'm talking about?:)

We go on stage with this brilliant presentation or argument and yet when the spotlight comes on we freeze, the words are there, but for some reason, combining those words together doesn't seem so easy. Controlling our thoughts so that we can effectively communicate what we think is completely different then having great thoughts. Influence is not attain through having wisdom, rather it is identified in the expression of that wisdom.

In the same way, our POWER and RIGHTS is actually only of use when we have the ability to control it. When we have the ability to know when to speak and when to stay silent, when to strike and when to draw back. A powerful army doesn’t send the whole batch of soldiers at once, there is always strategy in how they dispatch.

We must question the meekness in our own lives.
What do you do with power you have? What RIGHT do you abuse? Who ever said winning every argument makes you a winner? I challenge us all to examine who determines your pace. How many times have you picked up the speed simply to catch up to those ahead of you? When did you allow the gossip of those against you rob you from trusting those for you? How many times have you waited for gifts before you gave?

Consider for a moment who you submit to. I was personally shocked to discover how much influence my enemies have on me. It's time to reclaim what was lost and raise the volume of God's standard and direction in our lives!

I end this blog with a song that fits the theme :) Enjoy!

It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart

Without saying a word you can light up the dark

Try as I may I could never explain

What I hear when you don’t say a thing

Chorus:

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me

There’s a truth in your eyes sayin’ you’ll never leave me

The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me if ever I fall

You say it best when you say nothing at all

All day long I can hear people talking out loud

But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd

Old mr. webster could never define

What’s being said between your heart and mine

ALL GROWN UP: The Illusion of Absolute Certainty

(Inspired by "deep" conversations with Jules)

Absolute certainty can be a dangerous stance. Have you ever observed the face of people in the midst of an argument or debate? There is this false look of confidence that they present in their eyes, a look that must be maintained in order to support the fragile argument they present. The appearance of certainty exists to mask the little boy or girl inside who knows that they are still trying to figure life out. It exists to present a mature adult who has gone through life and stands before you with a truth that we will one day come to. Absolute certainty is a way to show the world that we are all "grown up".

After going through childhood and adolescence fighting for the right to be heard, the idea of being all "grown up" is a dream we wish to achieve. We run hard and work tirelessly to gain the ears of our elders and peers so that we can reach a certain place where maturity and wisdom is evident in our speech and actions. We are a people who don't like to be portrayed as being "in the process". We want to be a finished product, a completed piece of art, a person who has it all together. We want this because we are tired of people telling us to "grow up".

Space for Change

To consider ones self "grown up" is to assume that our learning days are over. The problem with this is that a made up mind leaves no room for new ideas or information, nor does it have the space for necessary change. A.R. Bernard (the speaker I quoted in my last blog) states that "change is the essence of maturation" and that the refusal to change is destructive. We must realize that change can only be acquired through a mind that acknowledges that it is still developing. Change is the object that fits within the space we leave in our minds for the chance of something new. That space exists with the condition that we accept the fact that we are still in the process and that we need to continue growing up. Ironically, thinking that we're all grown up caps our ability to mature and limits the wisdom we need to face new levels of life.

This is why being like a child is so important to me these days. A child is innately humble. They acknowledge there limitations and are less likely to hesitate to ask in times of uncertainty. Although children are immature, being like a child during our adult years surfaces the humility necessary to cure our current condition of pride.

Run to Beat Your own Time

It would be to our benefit if finishing was not our goal. People who achieve beyond there own expectations tend to run hard past the finish lines of each stage of life and they break only to rest for further travels. They never break because they are ahead, for they know that their only competitor is the potential inside. There is no need to look at who is in front or just behind, they just run as if they have already won, they run to beat there own time.

Therefore, there is no need to be that finished product, there is no need to have it all together. There is no need to present to the world that you know all the answers and that you are certain about every subject there is to know. Embrace the process and understand the beauty of growing up.

Never be certain about assumptions, for certainty can only be found in truth. Life is all about the discovery of truth, it is the pursuit of the absolutes. It is fair for us to proclaim the absolutes we have discovered thus far in life, however proclaimed certainty is different then imposed certainty.

The Delivery of our Certainty

The imposition of certainty disrupts and robs others of the self revelatory process that is required in order for they them self to be certain. Proclaimed certainty simply provides others with options that are marked with conviction, that as they look upon the wall of truth presented to them throughout their life, they will not be able to ignore the stains of conviction YOUR certainty exudes. As they add to their pool of absolutes, their process of revelation will take your certainty into account. However, if certainty is imposed, the process of revelation will never begin for them. Imposition doesn't only mark a persons options with your convictions of truth , it erases all other opposing options. The elimination of option is what produces naivety. Those who are naive only know what they are certain about and have yet to take into account the options that were once taken from them through the imposition of others.

This simply explains the means in which we deliver our certainties and the way in which we can influence our world. Some believe that everything is self-discovery and that influence is manipulation, other believe that truth needs to be forced down the throats of those who don't have the ability to individually process what is given to them. This distinction provides the balance between the individualistic code of morale "you do what YOU want I'll do what I want" and the fundamentalist perspective "do what I say or DIE!".

With all this said, it would be safe to conclude that certainty is powerful only if it attained through self revelation and delivered in humble proclamation. We must be confident in the acknowledgment of our lack and humble with that which we are certain. We must trust that the truth will always prevail when we express it in meekness.

THINK BACK: A Remedy for the Complexities of Transition

I remember the adventure of childhood when risks were normative and leaps of faith were apart of daily living. Comparing with adults, think about the amount of changes that occur in the life of a child in such a short time span. Sure we change from high school to college, single life to married life, newlyweds to parenthood, but think about the rapid and extreme transitions in the life of a child.

I mean imagine the transition of birth! My sister is having a baby soon and for some weird strange reason I started thinking about what I would feel like as a new born. It's probably the most outrageous transition you have ever gone through in your entire life (the next closest being puberty of course :).

Think about leaving a nice moist, warm and provisional environment and suddenly having to adapt to a cold, painful world where all you hear is your screaming mother and all you feel is plastic gloves and dry rough cloths. Even being held in your mothers arms doesn't compare to where you once were. Imagine having to start crawling and the extreme liberty in getting around by yourself, picture taking your initial steps and the first instance of fear that comes with the idea of "falling down". Imagine experiencing, for the first time, jealously when you watch your mother holding another baby, or the feeling of inadequacy watching your new born brother getting the compliments once given to you. I was blown away when I went through all the possible feelings I would go through NOW if similar transitions took place in my life.

My current insecurities, limited faith and perseverance honestly would probably not be able to sustain me through the life of a child. It was as if from birth God gave us this supernatural ability to overcome the overwhelming complications and changes of childhood. He gave us the clarity of mind to trust the pure impulses inside that pushed us to endure the uncomfort and pain of birth, to overcome the fear of falling while taking our first steps, and to command our father to let go of the seat so we could ride without training wheels.

But the question is, why does transition become so much more complicated as we age? How could we lose the faith that got us through birth, walking and training wheels? What virtue was taken a way from our childhood character?

There is something about a child's character that can give us the remedy in dealing with transition.

As children we somehow had this confidence that our next transition was absolutely imminently necessary. As children we just knew that change is necessary, and that refusal to change would be destructive. We somehow accepted the uncomfort, pain and fear that came along with transition. Adults have become too smart for their own good in calculating the costs of change. They remain in mediocrity so they can avoid the risks. But the problem with this mentality is that change is no option. We've created this false idea that refusing to change wasn't going to alter our current state, that our boat would not be rocked if we did nothing at all.

We're Always Moving

A quote by C.S Lewis states that if we aren't growing closer to the Lord, we are in fact drifting away (paraphrased :). In the same way, life is either moving towards one goal or towards another. A life with no goal does not exist. The concept of being in 'limbo' is a made up construct to justify an undecided mind. Many think that they are NOT taking certain courses of action towards a destination when they are in fact simply living a certain way that leads them to an end point that they have yet to identify. Therefore, the unidentified end point is no less of a destination then one who is certain about where he is going. Indecisiveness does not make time stand still. The failure to know where you are going does not mean you are not moving a certain direction, it only means that you have yet to identify a goal.

The positive side of this thinking is that our inability to commit to one path is actually solidifying our committed to another. Explaining to others that you do not want to be a doctor, lawyer or dentist simply narrows the degree of your pathway. Many find there goals through the process of elimination. They catch themselves constantly bumping into the walls of their path until their road is finally narrow and focused. The bumps we call 'failure' eliminates the confusion of aimless living and establishes a firm stance on which directions not to go.

Capitalization on Change through Adaptation

A.R. Bernard states that "Change is the only constant in life". If we can understand the reality and inevitability of change, we will more rapidly come to terms with the difficult transitions we will have to face. Once we come to terms with change, we will discover the beauty of transition. We will observe the growth, maturity and power of being able to easily adapt to different settings, environment, people and occupations. There is a wealth of language in transition, a language that speaks to a wider audience and that comes from an exposed mind. There is a humility in transition that is attained by the constant enlightenment that comes with entering new paradigms and world views. Transition is a beauty part of the journey.

Transition should not be premature and should never be an escape from our current commitment, but that conversation is for another blog. Today I hope that I can encourage you all to break away from the fear of change and dare to step into transition if you are at the edge of your current platform. Be like a child again and break free from routine sometimes, make a mess, embrace change and stumble into a new world of possibilities that will expand you far more than job training can do.

I Envy Kids

"The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort."

A.W. Tozer

What I would give to be like a child, an innocent carefree soul that lives out his conviction without hesitation. I'd be rash and impulsive, stubborn and emotional, but there are such authentic and natural qualities that embeds itself into the fabric of a child's character that I can only envy.

In my eyes, diplomacy has made the "grown up" custom to lukewarm stances. I believe that it is possible to allow tolerance and diplomacy to drown out our inner conviction. We save-face long enough to allow our facad to become our image. And let me tell you, if our image to the world outweighs our actual conviction inside, what good is it to have an inner voice?

As I have said in my past few blogs, our problem is that we care too much about what others think. Our calculations of risk and public opinion paralyze us from moving forward in the direction of where God wants us to go.

My current solution... perceive Faith as a child would :). There is great wisdom in the clarity, innocence and trust of a child.

LIVING TO COMMEMORATE: The Freedom in being Driven by Gratitude

How easy it is to be consumed by the unconstructive murmur of the few. It is amazing how we value the input of those who care nothing for us. We work overtime to prove ourselves to those whose only aim is to tear us down. We run harder for our enemies then we do our advocates. We run so hard to only find ourselves still lacking in their eyes.

For so many of us, our motivation in life is to prove our self and compete with those just ahead of us. I've come to the conclusion that if we aim to prove our self to those around us, we will be defined by them. To prove ones self to the world is to live life in reaction to it. Our goals will reflect what the world demands from us and the fulfillment of those goals will makes us look exactly like what the world challenged us to be. The problem with this is that what people want from us usually does not look like what we want for our self. Therefore to live life with the goal of proving one self would be to look nothing like what we personally desired.

It is a waste of our life to live for the approval of man, for there is no end or satisfaction to such a goal. In fact no matter how much you prove yourself to one stage of life, you will always find more people please in new levels of your journey. If our habit in life is to play catch up, we will never lead, we'll never take hold of our own path and our steps will always shadow a world that runs in circles.

Ironically, it is more of an honourable desire to live a life that aims to prove nothing. In fact, there is a sense of freedom in having no desire to prove ones self. Motivations are purified and the rhythm of our mind and heart
is clear and certain.

This fantasy world I speak of, where man no longer is driven by expectations or competition, can only be grasped in the story of Grace. The only way to live in this freedom is to understand that Christ's work on the cross proved everything for us. Although many would say that Christianity is marked with laws and restrictions that determine our standing, it is actually absolutely the opposite. We have nothing to prove to our God. The whole point of the cross was to prove it all FOR us.

For those who know that they have nothing to prove to God or to this world, know the secret of how to have a radically different and liberating motivation. They live in response to the blessing, forgiveness and love they have received. They live with a motivation marinated in appreciation and gratitude. They react not to the mockery of those who oppose them or to cocky remarks from those ahead of them, they react to the love they have received.

We have nothing to prove because Jesus has proved everything for us. He has mastered life, conquered death, and disarmed the powers and authorities against us. Jesus finished it all on the cross, and has eliminated the idea of competition. We race not to compete but to simply commemorate His sacrifice. The race we run is not against man or even forces of evil, the race we run is in response to the legacy of Christ. Just as we run for breast cancer, walk for aids, or bike down the DVP for heart and stroke research, we run for Christ. Not out of obligation, competition or self-gain, but out of pure appreciation. We race to commemorate His legacy and to raise awareness of his cause.

To Go a Little Deeper

We sow not for the purpose of reaping, suffer now not to gain later, we sow in reaction and suffer in response. We once saw sowing as a cause to the effect of reaping, but when our motivation is appreciation, and our understanding is that we have everything we need in Christ, sowing becomes an effect and reaping becomes an afterthought, a bonus off our radar. When you know you have everything in the finished work of Christ, you don't waste time thinking about the reaping aspects of life. What you do think about is how undeserving you are to such a gift, and it is that reception of unconditional love you feel that creates this newfound reflex in your body to sow. If you are satisfied in Christ, you live out your thanksgiving in sowing. You sow in response. Your reaction to how satisfied and complete you are is to sow, is to give, is to suffer and live for Christ.

Treasuring what you have takes your mind away from complaining about what you don't have. A focus on our lack makes us fixate our attention on how we are going to gain, and in what way we are going to reap. Thinking we need to do more, or prove more to God and to the world only makes us focus on how we are going to reap, and it is this "lack" (we have been deceived to think we have) that is causing us to mutilate the concept of grace and the original reason as to why we sow and serve our Lord - that simple reason of comprehending His great love for us.