So worried about the dumbest stuff.

Why can't we look to leadership that actually stands for something good? Leadership that won't make up stuff, that keeps "promises", that says one thing and then does it?

We have a leader that can do that. His name is Jesus. Duh. It makes me nuts that everyone gets upset about such black and white issues like how to spend money, who to treat equally, what places we should be spending most of our time. Why don't we just look out for each other, buy what we need and give away what we don't? Why do I waste my days occasionally just doing nothing in particular, wasting my time, doing whatever I want, disregarding my friends and my Lord?

The vice-presidential debates tonight were miserable, at least for the first 5 or 10 minutes I could handle watching them. Palin said "corruption on wallstreet" something like 8 times. What does that even mean? The sounds coming out of Biden's mouth reminded me of a pack of wolverines trying to tear through a chain link fence. Straight political aggression just spewing out. This person can do a better job than that person because of this reason.

Jesus laid things out pretty well. Love God, love others. Now we have to politic, prance around and say all this crap to get people to believe us, believe that we, fallable human beings, can possibly make the kind of national and international decisions that affect people everywhere. Can't we keep things simple...

Just love. We miss out on that so stinking much, because we get wrapped up in our lives, the lives that were given to us by God Himself, that we think we can control. We move through our so called lives, filling them with stuff! Stuff that distracts us from what God's plan is calling us to do. Stuff that pushes us closer and closer to loving ourselves and only ourselves, and moves us away from loving others and serving God. He gets pushed out of our equation every day.

Christ is the one we should be following, not the freaking talking heads on the television worried about foreign policy and where we'll get our energy for the next 50 years. That's not to say those things aren't important... but when we get the little things and the big things mixed up, life gets a whole lot more difficult and complicated.

Andy Braner once put it to me and whole bunch of other cats at K-CO like this... if you fill up a pitcher with say, 5 big rocks, 25 pieces of gravel, and a bunch of sand, what's the best way to do it? If you put the sand or gravel in first, then try to cram the big rocks in, they'll be pouring out of the top, and chances are only 2 or 3 of the big rocks will be inside the pitcher.

My friends are one of my five. My family is one of my five. School is one of my five. God is one of my five. Music is one of my five. I think school and music, and maybe even God sometimes, might not be fitting in my pitcher. So many other stupid things are fitting in this pitcher that aren't (in the grand scheme of things) important. If I put those 5 things in first, then the gravel, which will fill in the crack between the 5, then the sand, which will fill in every other crack, I might even have space at the top of my pitcher for something else.

The important stuff has to happen first. Loving God and loving others, not struggling to convince other people that we know what's right and what's wrong. The truth is, if our leaders aren't being lead by something good, then the only direction we as a country and as a people have to go is... I think you have the idea.

Geez, I'm sick of this politicking. I'm not telling anyone how to live their life... I just know that life gets a lot easier when we stop making such a big deal about little things. Like freaking video games and fantasy football. I'm an idiot.

Love you guys.

There's a time to fight, believe it or not.

I have recently come to the realization that I hate war. I absolutely despise it. I abhor it.

For some reason, I supported the presidents decision to go into Iraq and bring down Saddam. I figured what could be the harm in taking out a known tyrant? That kid in the picture up there, with tubes running out of his body, there's the harm. The man with the desperate look on his face, probably running to get help. This image sucks.

My great friend Carolyn Wanberg told me the other day that someone had gotten shot near her house. She initially told me at was a pellet gun, then it changed to an actual firearm. She asked me to pray for him, so of course I did. What the heck!

For those of you who know me pretty well, you know I talk about fighting sometimes. I boxed a little at kamp this summer and some of my kampers wanted to box with me. It's alright to defend yourself as far as I'm concerned, especially if some maniac just runs up on you and tries to mess you up. I'll fight anyone who comes up to me with the intention of hurting me. I feel like I should never start a fight, but always end it.

I don't know why I think that way. I just do.

I hope nobody thinks I'm a crazy person. I'll be honest... I let my old roommate David punch me in the face just so I'd know what it felt like. The last time I was in a fight, it wasn't even a fight. Some random 16 year old kid blindsided me while I was sitting in my buddies car, all because I told him earlier to step off for posturing at a gay friend I had in high school.

Maybe that's it. Maybe it's our intolerance, our fear of things we don't understand that leads us to become violent. There are certainly instances where violence can only be returned with violence... I'm not trying to walk away from someone trying to kick the crap out of me. Anyway... we need to stop being so intolerant. Why should we be afraid of people who are different than we are? If we're following in the footsteps of Christ, or at least walking along with Him, then we won't get anywhere being afraid of "different" things. Christ was hanging out with tax collectors, who were practically robbers back in the day. Jesus was kind to the Samaritans, who everyone regarded as crazy people. It doesn't matter if you're from Iraq, China, Russia, wherever. We're different colors, nationalities, and different believers.

Forget fear; we have the opportunity to serve an omnipotent God. Christ came to change the world; He's calling us to live a "different" lifestyle anyway. Don't harbor hate for your brother, and don't talk behind the back of your sister. Let's just love man. Unconditionally. That's the same love Christ poured into thousands. There's nothing greater.

...but seriously, I love a good fist fight. Just gets some stuff out, ha!

Love.