I'm Back! Also, what are the Top 5 Regrets of the Dying?

So after a ridiculously long hiatus...I decided I should probably start posting more on here. I miss blogging and this is one way for me to do some "good procrastination" when I'm not feeling like doing my school work. I hardly expect to have a large audience following my posts and, for me personally, these posts will be fun to read in the future and see how things ended up.

So what do I have you today? I bring you a interesting article that I stumbled upon earlier this afternoon...

The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying

Just some food for thought.

Striving to be Perfect

Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." -John 5:14

I never realized the profoundness of this simple passage from the Bible. It's such a simple statement but the magnitude of the task that was asked to be performed is insane. Stop sinning? How is that even possible? Jesus is essentially asking us to be perfect and that's an ideal that I find to be contradictory with human nature. While I understand that not everyone understands my faith and why I invest so much in it, there is something here that I feel applicable to everyone especially for students like myself. 

I find this concept of being able to attain perfection a flawed idea. Perfection is aspect of humanity that is absent and I don't think we will, as normal human beings, be able to become "perfect." That's another problem, what is perfect? Perfection can be such an subjective ideology that it is different per person. Personally, I find the most troubling thing about reaching perfection is the fact there is nothing left for you to do after attaining it so the only logical thing to do is to be content with yourself. You've overcame all struggles and obstacles to become this personification of perfect. But that's the problem, I don't think there will ever be a time for us to ever say that we will be able to become this perfect person. It's ingrained in our nature for us to screw up and to be flawed. I'm not saying that we are all terrible people but I don't think we can ever truly say that we can be completely satisfied with who we are. We can lie to ourselves and make ourselves believe that all is well and life is perfect but then we are only denying what we know in our heart. These same thoughts made me wonder why Jesus asked/told a recently healed man to attempt the impossible and become perfect. Throughout the Bible, it is pretty evident that Jesus clearly understood the limits and faults of human nature yet He still asked this man to stop an aspect that is so ingrained in our nature. There has to be some deeper meaning to this statement that is initially loss when it is first read. 

Perhaps what Jesus was asking this man was to not be perfect but strive to be perfect. The pursuit of perfection is a much more practical and realistic goal than trying to force ourselves to be something we are not. It could be that Jesus was simply asking/telling him to not settle for what he has or for less but strive to be a better man than he was the day before. It's interesting to note that when Jesus healed this man, the man didn't approach Jesus to heal him nor did Jesus make some grand "Hey World, I'm Jesus and I'm going to perform a miracle!" gesture instead Jesus simply asked the man if he wanted to get better. There's a saying that we are our own worst critic and maybe our own criticism is something we need to listen to. Maybe what is necessary for us to get that much closer to perfection is acknowledging whatever flaws we have and attempting to find ways to right the ship. My realization that we can never be this perfect person that we all want to be deep down but we have the ability and opportunity to become pretty darn close to perfect is encouraging. While it is a downer that we will never see or feel what it's like to be perfect, I find comfort in the fact that there's always for improvements and life can always get better no matter how terrible it may seem. It is up to us put in the effort and time to constantly improve and never, ever settle for less. 

"The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection." -C.S. Lewis

Come All You Weary by Thrice

Come all you weary with your heavy loads
Lay down your burdens, find rest for your souls
My yoke is easy and my burden is kind
I'll take yours upon me and you can take mine

Come all you weary who move through the earth
Who've been spurned at fine restaurants and kicked out of church
I've got a couple of loaves so sit down at my feet
Lend me your ears and we'll break bread and eat

Come all you weary
Come gather 'round near me
Find rest for your souls

Come all you weary, you crippled, you lame
I'll help you along; you can lay down your canes
We've got a long way to go but we'll travel as friends
The light's growing bright, further up, further in

Come all you weary
Come gather 'round near me
Find rest for your souls
Rest for your souls

Come all you weary
Come gather 'round near me
Come all you weary
Come gather 'round near me
Find rest for your souls
Rest for your souls


-Thrice


What continues to amaze me about this band is the incredible depth and message of their lyrics. It haven't realized until now that these guys actually did help me a lot when I was struggling with my relationship with God and helping me understand things that I just couldn't understand. While the music may not have had a clear cut "you life sucks because of this" kind of message, it did help me retain hope and give me confidence I could see things through. This song in particular will probably be forever associated with my "troubled" second year of college. The song and lyrics are so simple yet the message is unique and powerful. It's comforting to know that regardless of what kind of struggles I may be facing, there will always be some form of support for me and I should never view any task as impossible, they just appear impossible to the rational mind. Which brings me to my next point, I need to constantly remind myself that there is no humanely way that I will truly be able to comprehend all the events going on around me. 

God Bless. 

The Return

Tumblr got a little too boring. No creativity left there, just people constantly posting stuff that other people re-blogged who re-blogged from another person who re-blogged from another person who got that info from a website or magazine (I'm guilty of this as well, but I tried).

Well, I've returned to a strange (sleek and sexy? maybe) blogspot. Back to writing more posts about my life.

....This already feels better.

Discovered a New Favorite Band

Explosions in the Sky is the name of the new favorite band. They are simply unbelievable and it has been a while since I heard music like this.

Untitled

Getting screwed over and letting your chances slip away f***ing sucks. Alcohol, you are about to become my best friend for tonight.

A Prayer Answered with an Answer to a Prayer

A couple days ago I was pulled over by a cop for making an illegal maneuver around 2:00 a.m. I was DD for the night and I was trying to get my friends back home safely and I freaking got pulled over by a cop. The entire time that I was sitting in my car I was either worried to death that I was going to get my second ticket or silently hoping that God would hear my prayers and let me drive away with just a warning. When the cop asked finished looking at my driver's license and vehicle registration she let me get off with a warning. God has heard my prayers; thank God.

For a while, I have always wondered if God would ever answer my prayer about how and when He answers prayers and now I know. He does it on his time even if it takes three, long years of asking.