Have you ever wondered what you would do if you came across suck a situation? Can you do anything more than pass by and wonder? I was put in just this situation last week when I went to the Getty Villa with friends. The sad thing is all I could do and honestly wanted to do was take the picture. As a photographer I am not suppose to get involved with what is happening, I am simply suppose to document the event. But as a Christian can I just document the event when people are involved? Am I not called to help them? Or am I helping them by not doing anything other pushing the button and hearing that sound which I have grow so fond of? Does documenting events move others to action? Or must I take a greater part in the change that needs to occur? This leads to too many questions and not enough answers. This requires more reflection.

The light of your eyes

Jake's Eye
Originally uploaded by throughmylenses.

So I was reading in Luke 11 today. And I came across the verses 34-36 which say: "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you."
At times like this it seems like Jesus is very serious about what we allow ourselves to be involved in. I am reminded of Paul's saying "All is permissible, but not all is beneficial." This life is about our whole body, not just parts of it. We need to take this serious when we consider doing something that might be borderline or even against what we know is not right, but we justify it by saying "But everyone else does it." Basically what I am saying here is that we need to take a step up. We need to do things that are good for us, not bad. Jesus is advocating us to constantly be on the look out for bad things that might ruin our whole body. Sin in one area can easily become sin in another area. Now may you be on the look out for such things.

So I felt the need to inform everyone that I now have a Mohawk. Which according to some is the most amazing hair style ever. Other than that I need to apologize for my shotty blogging because I cannot figure out how to get rid of the double post from yesterday (actually this morning). I also wanted to point out that, thanks to Jared H, Merriam-Webster Online's word of the day for yesterday was Hobbit. If you do not know what one of these is they are a member of a fictitious peaceful and genial race of small humanlike creatures that dwell underground. We must thank J.R.R. Tolkien for these wonderful little creatures. On a similar not The Hobbit is possibly my favorite book ever. If you have not read it you should pick up a copy and join the adventure.

Yet again I am reminded that I have a lot of logs in my eyes. I am by far not perfect. Just thought I should add that in light of the previous post.

So this past weekend Pastor Tom spoke on Matthew 7:1-5 which reads

1"Judge not, that you be not judged. 2For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (Sorry for it not being the red letter addition).

And I just want to let you all know that I am by no means trying to ignore the log in my own eye. Much of what I say on here is for me too. So yeah thats about all I wanted to say. Know that I am searching out my own flaws and trying to change those as well. If you feel that we have the kind of relationship that you could point out my logs, feel free to do so. I give you full permission. Just know that I am trying to change us all for the better.

The month of October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

4 women everyday will die as a result of domestic violence.
43% of males report being the victim of domestic violence.

This needs to change, we need to start praying and start changing the world around us.

Father we pray that you will begin to intervene in situations were domestic violence is taking place. Let your Spirit bring peace into these places. Help us to be people that pray and act to change this situation. Bring awareness to this cause.

Man Shoots 11, Killing 5 Girls, in Amish School

Mike Mergen/Bloomberg News Amish men standing near Pennsylvania State Police outside the scene of a school shooting today in Bart Township, Pa.

Warning: This may be a theme that seems familiar, while it is I assure you it is different from what I have posted before. Just think about it.

So if you haven't heard, two days ago a man armed with a handgun walked into an Amish school and performed an event of tragic proportions (For more info you can read about it at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/us/03amish.html). I heard news of this event sometime in the past 24 hours without having much information on the actual situation. To be honest I just let it blow over, you know how we can just read over things and not even think about it. Even events such as these. Then tonight in class Ed, one of my Theology profs, was talking about freedom and how that is part of the concept of the Image of God, he actually brought up this event so its not all my own thoughts but in part some are my own. When God created humans he gave us the ability to choose whether it be good or bad. I continued to think about this concept after class due to a conversation I had with a female friend. She commented about something that happened to me over the past year. My response to this was “Well that’s life.” To which she responded that it was part of life but she still didn’t think it was right.

All this got me thinking about a concept of immense proportions. Now this is directed to my Christian brothers and sisters, but it can apply to the whole of humanity as well. Life here in America we find ourselves bombarded with choices; school, job, spouse, movies, music, food, all aspects of life are available for us to choose from. Some of these choices do not matter. Others do. But the type of choice I really want to talk about applies to interpersonal relationships. When we are in relationship (not only romantic, but interaction with any other human being) with others we have two choices we can make concerning that individual. We can decide to be one of two kinds of people in that person’s life.

We can

A: Be a person who brings life into the situation. When we spend time with this person we can breathe life into them and they will be better when we leave them. We can leave an orchard behind us as we walk through life.

Or

B: Be a person who brings death into the situation. When we spend time with this person we leave them destroyed. What follows us is a path of destruction. We can leave a burnt field that is worse off than when we encountered.

As we go through life we can leave others positively influenced or negatively influenced. The truth about it is we can be life givers or life takers. What will you choose?

Father I pray for the families of those victims of this man’s choice to be a life taker. I pray that you will bring healing to the community which now must deal with the loss of precious life. God help them to express their pain to you in a real way. Father this makes me angry that this happens, but Lord I trust that you are in control even when it doesn’t seem like you are here. God you are present to this situation. Let those families who have lost or been hurt be surrounded by life givers. Allow this event to remind us that we have the choice to do good or bad in every situation. Father, enable us to lament this loss, but also learn from it. Father gives us the strength to bring life. Amen

May you be a life giver in your life and plant an orchard as you walk.