Walking Up Escalators and Other Human Phenomena

I regularly ride the Metro to work. It is a fascinating place to spend time. I must confess that my early morning commute is usually one filled with sleep and, I am sure, occasional snoring. Having said that, there is an interesting thing that happens each morning once we depart the train. There is a short escalator ride up from the platform to the ground above. But this is an escalator ride with rules - laws that must be obeyed lest you suffer the glares and tuts of other metro riders who obviously passionately follow the rules. The rules are simple - if you want to stand on the escalator then you are confined to stand on the right. The left side must remain open for all those people who want to walk up the escalator. Now I don't know the person who invented the escalator but I am pretty certain that the idea of moving stairs was so people would not have to actually move their legs and climb the stairs. Maybe it is just me, but have our lives become so time pressed that we cannot stand on a stair tread that will raise us to our destination in a matter of moments? Do we feel the need to rush ahead and climb an already moving stair case? What is the hurry?

No doubt my observations are just a minor amusement to many, but how many of us have been asked by the Lord to just stand, "Having done all else, to stand..." on our stair tread as He propels us along. how many of us are focused on taking the next step on our own and climbing the escalator to get there faster?

There is something to be said for learning how to rest and wait on the Lord. To walk in His steps and follow His timing.

I wish I could learn that.

The truth is though, I want to learn it quickly and don't want to wait to learn it.

Therein lies the problem.

Jason

The Church's Inside Voice

My dad and I went to the Navy vs Wake Forest football game on Saturday afternoon courtesy of a friend of my dad's. We sat in the Captain's BBQ at a table with two couples whom we didn't know and struck up a conversation. Initially the conversation was about rugby, as one of the guys had a rugby emblem on his shirt. It wasn't too long before our accent was noticed and the conversation switched to us and why we were here and how beautiful Ireland is, yada, yada, yada. However, only a little while into that discussion and a question came that threw me a little bit.

One of the ladies asked me if there was a rise in Islam in the United Kingdom and Ireland. She followed that up with a question basically asking what my thoughts were on how to combat that rise. This was interesting for me because the latest research that I heard suggested that Islam was the fastest growing religion in the UK and that mainly it was the presence of absolute right and wrong within Islam that was attracting people. I brought this idea out and she was intrigued. I decided that I had pushed the boat out far enough now that it was either jump right in or fall in the water. I jumped.

"You need to go back to Abraham," I said, and then I retold the story of Abram, Ishmael and Isaac and talked about the son of the promise. Within about 30 seconds I was retelling my previous Sunday School lessons and explaining the animosity between Islam and Christianity to 4 strangers. I added in my thoughts that the church needed to stand up and present the absolute truths contained in the bible. One couple were all over it, the other were a little less excited but listened along.

At one point one of the gentlemen asked me if I had ever thought of becoming a priest. I laughed. Those few moments discussing the truth with a couple of strangers were the best few moments of conversation I have had in a long time. It was obvious that they understood and even knew the truth of the gospel, but still to have the chance to discuss these things was fantastic.

You know, it occurred to me that at this time for the church to speak the truth will, in some instances here in the US, be deemed a hate crime and punishable by jail-time. Should we therefore hold back the truth or only speak it in times when we know we are safe? I don't think so. As I spoke with these dear people I realised that this is the time when the church should rise up and bring the truth. This is a time when the church should be determining the absolute boundaries of life - based upon God's will and His Word.

I realised that this is definitely a time for the inside voice to come out.

Release Your Inner Monologue

So we have progressed from Xanga, to Myspace, to Facebook and finally we have settled on Blogspot. What an interesting phenomenon this whole blogging thing really is. For decades the hidden inner voice within each of us was confined to our own minds, or occasionally was released into the pages of a well guarded diary or journal. But this is a new day, this is a time when our inner monologue is released, and not simply released to our friends or closest family members, nah, we put it out for all the world to see.

I guess in some ways there is a freedom that comes from releasing frustrations to an anonymous readership, or a non-existent readership. Well, maybe I'll let my inner voice come out a little more regularly through the pages of this blog. One thing you need to know though, there are a jumbled collection of random thoughts wandering the hallways of my mind at any given moment - so I cannot promise what will come out will be logical, understandable or knowledgeable. Just my inner monologue spilling over.

God bless

Jason