Incitement - Vox Populi

Did you ever believe?
Were you ever a dreamer?
Ever imagine heart open and free?

                  from "Vox Populi" by 30 Seconds to Mars

Something is happening.

I am inspired.  Stoked.  Excited.  Amped.

This is no euphoria induced moment of stimulated brain activity.  This is genuine, unadulterated inspiration.  And I have to say, it's about bloody time.  The past two years have been awkward and challenging.  But this post isn't about that.  I just want to make it clear that that I've been in some sort of quagmire.  My very own "Swamp of Sadness," if you'll allow a NeverEnding Story reference.

I've had moments of creative success.  Weighed down by a lot of life and other things.  Many were consequences of my own actions/choices.  I've no delusions about that.  I can be my own worst enemy sometimes.  I just don't know how to get out of my own way.  I'm stubborn that way.

Yet, here I am.  I feel as if I've been banging against the soundproof glass of my own hubris.  It's finally broken and the air is flowing again.  It's like a waterfall exploding life into my imagination.

This isn't just about creativity either.  At least not just in the artistic/writing sense.  But I'll get to that in a minute.

As for the creativity...I haven't written any poems in almost 2 years.  Not even bad ones.  I haven't worked on my "epic" for almost nearly as long.  Granted I've put another project ahead of those, one that I'm taking to the Baltimore Comic-Con in September.  But even that has felt like a burden, with moments of joy.  But all that is changing.  The rivers of creativity have broken free of the levee and are rushing wild and free.

I'm tired of sitting on my hands and worrying if these projects will make it.  Wondering if there will be a response to what I'm creating.  It doesn't matter.  They need to happen.  They need to be set free and let out.  It's time to stop waiting for whatever it is I've been waiting for.

I'm also done waiting for some specific 'ministry' to fit into my life.  Oddly, the comic Coffee with Jesus has struck me deeply today.  There is one where a guy promises to make changes in his life ending with spending more time with Jesus.  Jesus points out that he should start with that, and see how the rest pan out.

I hear ya big guy.  I hear ya.

The sad thing is, I know all this stuff.  But for some reason, after watching G.I. Joe: Retaliation tonight, and listening to Led Zepplin's When the Levee  Breaks, and 30 Seconds to Mars'  Vox Populi on the drive home, my mind, imagination, and heart lit up like freakin' Rockefeller Center at Christmas!  I don't know what that combination did, but it did.  Stoked.  Amped.  Inspired.

Make someone's day better.  Every day. 


I know, rivetingly original right?  But hey, it's possible.  This world is full of darkness and shadows.  We don't trust our government.  Doesn't matter what side you're on.  Everyone thinks politicians are hiding something.  Or even full out lying about something or everything.  There is distrust, hate, anger, fear and everything else running rampant in our streets and hearts.

But what good is any of that?

Damn right.  Not a single solitary bit.  I'm sick and tired of being afraid.  Tired of hiding behind excuses and misunderstandings.  I'm done.  Sure, I have no idea what tomorrow holds.  I could die in a car accident.  I could catch some disease.  Maybe something more horrific like a terrorist attack.  Maybe, someone won't like my clothes!  The horror.  Someone might laugh at me in a store.  Maybe I'll offend a friend because of my beliefs.

Done.  I'm just done with all of that.

You know what else might happen tomorrow?  Nothing.  Because I refuse to do anything.  We refuse to do anything.  Earlier this week I was a little off in my mood.  I was being a little short with a friend.  Not their fault, but they were getting my offishness.  After a good conversation I learned they had been having a really bad day.  Made my little problems of not enough sleep/bumping my head with a post not that big a deal.

We've all got problems.  We can wait for people to notice ours and be sympathetic toward us, or we can stop, look, listen for what's going on with them.  Go watch the movie The Impossible.  It's a gut wrenching tale of a family that went through the tsunami in 2004.  Despite fearing her children and husband were dead, a mother and her eldest son stop to help a small boy.  It went against basic instincts of survival.  But they saved that kids life.

What I'm rambling on about here is that I, no...WE must put ourselves off our own radar.  Before you get snarky with your check out person at Wal-Mart, realize they might be having the worst day of their life.  Or maybe breakfast just didn't agree with them.  What does it hurt you and me to be nice?  It might cost us a little pride, or pity, or whatever chip we might be carrying on our shoulder today.

Don't surrender to the easy.  The convenient.  The darkness.  Make a difference in someone's life.  Make someone's life better today.  Not to make yourself feel good (which you probably will) but because being nice is unexpected, and so uncommon.

I'm trying to incite a riot of kindness and love here.  Let's flip the day on it's head and make someone smile.  And don't just settle for family or friends.  Let kindness, hope, love and compassion grown in your heart like a garden.  Take the fruit and pass it around.  For me this comes out of my faith.  But it's not about earning points or following a dogma.

It's about seeing the folks around you as people, and not obstacles to get around or tools to get you what you want.  We are all at different places in life.  We can't expect everyone around us to be on the same page as us, or even in the same book.  But being kind, and genuine...that transcends languages, orientations, choices, politics, and just about everything.  Doesn't mean it's appreciated, or always noticed.  That doesn't make it any less kind or real.

So, be inspired.  In life, creativity, whatever.  Make someone's day better today.  Tomorrow.  Whenever.  Wherever

Ever want to just stop?
Do you want to surrender?
Or fight for victory?

Don't quit. Incite kindness and inspiration.  We the people, YOU and me, have a voice.

Even if no one is listening.

grace, peace + hope
-Jesse

True North

On Christmas Day I went to see the movie Lincoln.  It was an incredibly filmed and acted movie.  I'm sure it will win a few awards in the coming months.  But like many movies, I hope, it speaks to people.  That it will challenge them and spur them on in their lives.


One moment that really reached through the screen and slapped me in the face more effectively than any 3D presentation I've ever seen was when Abe talks about a compass and true north.

A compass will point you true north. but it won’t show you the swamps between you and there.  If you don’t avoid the swamps, and get bogged down, what’s the use of knowing true north?

Now, I don't know if this is something the president has ever said or not.  It's still an effective and powerful thought.  At first glimpse this idea could be seen as compromising your beliefs.  I don't hold to that opinion.

True North is a guide.  It's a way to know where you are and to check your bearings.  To know that you need to move more East or West.  To know where, when and how to correct your course to remain on your path.

Like the example of a swamp, sometimes you cannot simply press on.  You have to go around.  Or find your way through, at a much slower, and riskier path.  Maybe it's not a swamp.  Maybe it is a mountain in your way.  You can keep marching straight north if you like.  Perhaps you'll make it over the mountain that way.   Or, maybe, just maybe that path will defeat you.  Or claim the lives of those traveling with you.

More likely you will look for a pass, or a route that will take you quickly and safely over, or as close to those as possible, and allow you to pick up following true north on the other side.

Cause the only way to pass a mountain that is blocking your forward advance is through it.  Like a tunnel.  It's destructive.  To the mountain and those blasting through.  And you end up robbing yourself of the journey and experiences that wait in the struggle over the mountain.

For those who follow Jesus as their true north, remember this; there is room to move about.  Jesus gave a few very strong and specific commands, but they are also many broad strokes.  Sometimes Jesus will lead you to a mountain, or a swamp.  Don't blast through the mountain, or chop down a forest to build a bridge over the swamp.  Look for the detours and smaller paths that He will lead you to.

If you are at that mountain, it means there is a difficult bit of journey ahead, and you will be changed, challenged, and exhausted by it.  But you will come down the other side different.  Stronger, because your weakness allows Jesus to work.  Wiser, because your mistakes led to Jesus teaching you.  Better, because you spent that much more time in His presence, following where he leads.

No journey is a straight line.  (Unless you live in the Midwest where it's really boring to drive.)  Turning East or West does not always mean going off course and missing the mark.  Sometimes the road takes a curve or bend that eventually leads you back North.

Know where you are going, but discover the road along the way.


grace, peace + hope-Jesse

Home is Behind, The World is Ahead

Music gets under my skin like few things do.  And one band that delivers song after song right through me is, Mumford & Sons.  I can't find a thing I don't like about their latest album.  But this post isn't about a band.  But I wanted to post lyrics from their song Babel that are just ringing true this morning.

'Cause I know my weakness, know my voice,
And I believe in grace and choice
And I know perhaps my heart is fast,
But I’ll be born without a mask

2012 was not an easy year.  But why should it have been?  And I know my year compared to others wasn't that bad.  I'm not complaining.  But it was rough.  And 2011 wasn't a smooth year either.  Again, why should it have bee?

I moved from Illinois back to Pennsylvania in May 2011.  I left behind a lot of comfort.  A good job, a cosy home, great friends, and a clear defined roll in ministry.  It was familiar, comfortable, and for lack of better words, pretty much what I always wanted.  At least in some regards.  But a curious thing started in 2010, the things I thought I wanted began to change.  Or become redefined.  The comfort of where I was was not comfortable in my spirit.

That's not saying anything about or against any of those things.  For those of you who are on a similar journey with me, in following God, know that he doesn't usually let us settle in with comfort, ease, and familiarity for long.

So here I am, a year and a half later and I feel like every step that I've taken since then has been one hammer fall after another.  The ringing metal of a blacksmith at his trade echoing through my soul like a pebble falling into a canyon.

I don't want to be anywhere else.


Contrary to what many 'reality' shows, celebrities, movies, and other things tell you.  Life is not about living comfortably.  At least not if you want to follow Jesus.  Oh there will be times of rest, peace, and comfort, but it won't necessarily come from nice things.  It generally will come from an exhausting day spent giving of yourself to others.  Knowing that His love and hope have been poured into people around you.

Last night on returning from a New Years Eve get together my good friend asked me what my dreams of the future looked like.  It was a very good question.  One I do tumble about the old noggin frequently.  But I've not been asked to put words to it for some time.  I'm not satisfied with the response I gave, though I wouldn't say it was inaccurate, but it was a finger painting compared to what I really see in the fully detailed painting in my heart.

She asked what it looked like where I was, who or what was around me.  I rambled off a few things about traveling and working/living in various communities around the globe, particularly in Africa and Europe, and a few other things.  But when I got home and close my eyes this is what I saw:

I'm sitting on a small stool in a dimly lit room.  There are a few other people with me.  I can't tell who they are specifically.  One of them is family.  Be it one of my brothers, my sister, or maybe a wife.  Three of the others are people who live in whatever town/village/city we are in.  The remaining two are travelers or visitors.  I don't know where this place is, but it's not the USA.

We are sitting around this smallish room, not crowded, but tight.  There are remains of a meal on plates on our laps or tables and the arms of chairs.  I'm holing a cup of water.  Everyone is tired, dirty, and there are scrapes and bruises on all of us.  But we are all smiling and laughing.  I am happy.  Some one is telling a story and I nearly choke on my water.  (If you've been around me while I'm eating or drinking and funny stories are being told, you can easily picture this.)

Whatever we are working on is coming along.  There are complications and difficulties.  But all endeavors worth time, sweat, and blood have such things.  We have every right to be discouraged and frustrated, and there may be some elements of that, but we will tackle the project again tomorrow.  And the problems will be overcome.  The laughter subsides and well all grow pensive for a moment before the light flickers out and my image fades...I know that I'm at home.

 That's what I see in my future.  It's out there and I'm headed towards it.  I don't know when or where, but I'm putting one tired foot in front of the other moving towards it.

Like Bilbo Baggins, we sometimes rush out the door without our handkerchiefs.  Thing is, the journey we are on may not give time for the comforts of a handkerchief.  Gandalf wisely replies to Bilbo's query on whether he can promise that Bilbo will make it home:

"No... and if you do, you will not be the same."

At first that is too much for Bilbo and he refuses to go.  But he knows that he must.  And he does.  And as soon as he leaves his door he begins to miss that which he was leaving behind.  It starts out as a point of weakness.  But in time his longing for home, allows him to become empathetic toward his companions lack of a home, and his goal is to help them get one.


Home is behind, the world is ahead...


grace, peace + hope (always hope)
-Jesse

71/72 - A Song That Will Linger/Take Me Deeper Now

Another dynamic duo day...and quite late in the day.

This first song came from a movie.  Well, I came to it because of a movie.  Last week I posted about Cameron Crowe's movie, We Bought a Zoo that mainly featured music by Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi.

Crowe is known for choosing excellent music for his movies.  And I first really noticed that in Elizabethtown.  I know it got horrible reviews from critics, but I love this movie.  Perhaps it was the timing of when I saw it to where I was in life.  It just really struck me.

It was my first year living in the Chicago area.  I only knew a few people.  My housemates primarily.  (Congrats to them, they just had their first child, a beautiful little girl the other day!)  It was early days living there and hadn't really taken root in my church/work places yet.

I had picked this movie up cheap, and watched it.  It really struck a chord in me.  And after watching it a second time later the same week I looked for the music.  It's a great soundtrack.  One song leaped at me more than the rest.

Song 71
        "Hard Times" by Eastmountainsouth

In writing this post, I've now discovered that this song is a version of a "parlor song" from 1854, by Stephen Foster.  The content certainly fits that era.  And, sadly, it could easily fit in today as well.  It's not the happiest of songs, but it is beautiful.

Starting out with light instruments, and carried mainly by the duo's vocals.  It has an almost magical blending in their voices.  It almost feels as if one person is singing with two voices.  I also think this particular song opened my heart up to "folk" ish music, and bridged the gap that I would eventually cross to enjoy the likes of Mumford & Sons, Elbow, and more.

The tone, and feel, and era that this song suggests (especially now that I know it's origins) really takes me into the darkest parts of this season.  Like a cold, wet forest in late November.  Maybe ice on the ground and your breath clinging heavily to the still air.  Not a lot of sound drifting about.  Just cold, still, and grey.

This song just hits hard as it's tittle suggests hard times.  The lyrics are moving and powerful.  It describes a longing for better days, and for the difficulties to cease.  It something I think many of us can relate too.  Maybe on different levels, and for different reasons, but there it is.  This line has always haunted me...

Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave
Oh hard times come again no more.

Take a listen, and check out the both Elizabtethtown albums!

--

This next tune comes to us all the way from the last year of the 20th century.  Or for you commoners 2000.

I was still in college, and washing dishes in "the caf" at Evangel.  I had hear one song from this album and went straight out to buy it.  Downloading wasn't really a "thing" then.  Well, not legally anyway.  I remember hauling in a mini cd player so I could listen to this album repeatedly while I worked.  Several song's really hit me, and this one in particular.

Song 72

        "Everything" from the debut album No Name Face by Lifehouse

I'm not going to launch into who this song is directed at definitively.  It could interpreted as a song about God as easily as it could be about a girlfriend/wife/whatever.  That's the thing about releasing something into the world, is that everyone will take their own view on it, regardless of your intentions for it.

Ultimately, it's about someone who cannot deny the presence of someone in their life.  And that someone saying that just being together is the best thing possible.

It's a beautiful song however you want to hear it.  And it's sweeping build from mellow instruments to the huge climax later in the song is just moving.  The strings are what really pull me into Autumn on this song.  I love the sound of cellos and violins.  I'm not sure what is in this, but I think I hear them in it.  And the cello really pulls me into Autumn.  It just has that deep woodsy voice that seems like an ancient tree telling stories from a different era.

With that, I leave you for today.  What's left of it!

grace, peace + hope
-Jesse 

66 - Truth Spoke in Whispers Will Tear You Apart

I had to go to Africa to hear this song.

Don't let that confuse you though.  It's something you can find easily on iTunes.  And it's not African.  Not in the sense that it was made there or by someone from there, or with any influences of Africa.  I suppose music theorists could...but that's neither here nor there.

I heard this tune in our vans whilst driving across the landscape of South Africa.  We would take turns sharing music as we bounced and jostled our way around.  Taking in views of vast plains or huge ridges looming on one side of the vehicle or the other.  And since it's winter when we go, it's usually barren and chilly...like our Autumns.  Well, for the northern states anyway.  One of our team members had this, among other songs, on her playlist.  I'm quite glad she shared.  It has stuck with me since the first time she played it.  (Thanks Patsy!)

There is just a sweet sentiment running through this, and it is quite a calming, and...well, humbling song.

Song 66
       "Humble Me" from Norah Jones on her album Feels Like Home

Funny.  Until I just looked at the album name to search for the link, I never took note of title.  It warmed my heart on this chilly night, as Africa certainly feels like home to me.  I can't believe it's been 4 months since I was there.  It feels like an eternity.   I'm longing for going home to stay. 

All in good time.

For now, this song. 

Songs that have a message of faith or genuine pleas to God, especially when from musicians you wouldn't expect that from, tend to surprise and get me to listen.  The simple guitar that picks and strums it's way though this song just instantly set the mellow mood.

Jones' lyrics come in with an earnest gentleness.  And she just pulls me in.  I generally have to skip this song on a playlist if I'm in the wrong mood, because it just strikes me so hard.  And sometimes I want to stay in that mood.  I should probably not skip this song at those times.

The picking of the guitar just echoes what I've said countless times on here about painting imagery of falling leaves and barren trees.  It's just a quite plea from this woman for help...that somehow strengthens her.  At least that's how I hear it.

Be humbled.


grace, peace + hope
-Jesse

49 - But in the Dark I Have No Name

Two ideas, thoughts, things I cling to with all my heart are:  Hope and Wandering.

Hope is a powerful concept.  It can give you wings to soar through the sky, or give you the grit to put one foot in front of the other when you have nothing left.  Then do it again.  It will surround your heart with joy at the goodness that you encounter, or bolster you up when the darkness threatens to engulf you.

Hope is the warmth of light in the good times, and the flicker of illumination in utter night.  I'm not going to preach but there is a specific hope I have that supplements all the rest I have.


Wandering is something altogether different.  I can find hope in wandering.  I don't like staying in one place for too long.  I get the appeal of putting down roots, and settling in.  There is a part of me that desires that.  But the larger part of me needs to keep moving.  Not because I am compelled to, or feel driven to, but a desire to see and experience something...different.

Wandering give you the chance to just keep going, keep seeing, and keep meeting new folks and places.

Today's song catches both those ideas.

Song 49
        "Hopeless Wanderer" from Mumford & Sons latest, Babel.

There is so much in each of their songs.  It's been hard to not just do every song off this album.  And their first.  They are pretty much definitive of the season for me, but also work year round too.  The intro piano just hooks me in like a current.  Before you know it the river is pulling you further and faster, until you hit the chorus that turns into thrilling white water.

I love the lyrics in the bridge the most:

So when your hope's on fire
But you know your desire
Don't hold a glass over the flame
Don't let your heart grow cold
I will call you by name
I will share your road

For me this feels like someone else is speaking.  Encouraging and challenging the voice of the rest of the song.  There is such a hopefulness to this song that just lifts me up, and pulls me a long...depending on the day.

grace, peace & hope
-Jesse

39 - The Nights are Hot and Black as Ink

I'm not one of those people who has an issue with classic songs being covered by current artists.  Especially if they do an amazing job with it.  This is one of those songs.  For me, I didn't know the original.  So this cover version introduced me to it.  And, to date, I don't know if I have ever checked out the original.  Mainly because this version just does it for me.

And, I have to respect a musician who doesn't just agree to do it because it'd be cool.  I read that the singer made sure to get approval from the original artist before agreeing to do it.  That's a level of class and respect you don't often hear about.  At least I don't.

The song appeared at the end credits of the movie for which it was recorded, and named after.  The movie, stars Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle.  It's a moving story about a man, Sandler, who lost his family in the 9/11 attack on New York, as he reconnects with his old college roommate, Cheadle.

The performances are chilling and gut wrenching.  There is humor, but the movie is a drama and has a heavy story.  Sandler is captivating and Cheadle plays a great everyman.  It's not a movie I can watch repeatedly.  But it is powerful and worth the watch.  The movie is:  Reign Over Me.

Not a film for kids.  It has an R rating for language and sexual references.

Song 39
        "Love Reign O'er Me" from The Who, as covered by Pearl Jam from the movie sound track, Reign Over Me.

The Autumnness of the song comes from the driving tone of the song that starts out much simpler.  Like many songs on this list, it's the dramatic build up that takes me into this season I love so much.  There is a passionate chill in Vedder's voice as he belts out the lyrics in this song.  He doesn't hold anything back.  For someone just hearing this song, I wouldn't have known it was a cover.  His energy behind his singing made me think this was something coming right out of his soul.

Only love Can bring the rain
That falls like tears
From on high

Love, reign o'er me
Reign o'er me, oh rain on me
Love, reign o'er me, rain on me
Rain on me

The imagery of love falling like rain, and having reign takes me to thoughts of God and what He has done in my life.  Like the cold wet rain drenching the East Coast from Sandy, (or any other rain) we can either accept that we will get wet, or run and hide like it is going to ruin our day.

It's rain.  Water.  Aside from violent storms like Sandy, rain is a healing, healthy thing.  It restores life to dry lands.  So in the latter aspect of, love raining, it is a refreshing of love to heal the land or soul that is dry and barren of love.  Be it that they no longer feel it, or it is not shown to them.

As for the reigning thought...well, what greater cause is there to live for besides love?  I don't just mean the romantic chocolates and flowers kind of love, but real, deep blue hero stuff.  The kind of love that sends a father rushing to the side of their child at the thought of danger.  The kind of love that spurs on the single mother to get up every day to take care of her family.

That kind of love that is instantaneous and also a deliberate daily choice.  We could all stand to have some more of that in our lives.  Rained down upon us, and reigned over us as a law of life.

So go rain a little love on someone today.

grace, peace + hope-Jesse

29/30 - Catch a Cannon Ball/In a Room Full of Emptiness

Another double post.  Should be back on track for Monday.
 
This first song, I don't remember when I first heard it or where.  It's from before my time.  I'm sure it was in a movie, but I don't know which one.  Regardless it takes me to Autumn.  The lazy guitar intro and gentle gait of the song.  It's a nice relaxing tune.  One I could have really used yesterday, perhaps that is why it came to mind for the post.

Song 29
    "The Weight" from the band, The Band, on their debut album, Music from Big Pink.

For me this song is more about the feeling the music generates, than it is about the lyrics.  When I read a little about what the song was about, it makes for an interesting concept.  I'll spare a recounting of what I read.  Just go to wikipedia and read the comments from the writer himself.  It is a song that helped me appreciate music from an era before me.  So, that stands for something.  Right?

Like I said, the gentle pace of the song makes for a nice relaxing atmosphere.  It makes me want to put on a light sweater, grab a good book and sit on the porch at my folks house while watching the leaves turn and fall.  It's just a laid back soak up the beautiful day, it's sunny, but with a chill in the air.

So, if you can today, or in the near future, just take a listen to this tune, and relax in the beauty of Autumn!
-----

The next song is a little more involved.  It was a few years after that "golden year" I've mentioned a few times.  It wasn't the best of times for me.  Mainly because of choices I had made.  I was far away from friends and family, and pushing myself further.  I was especially far away from one of the most important relationships in my life, Jesus.  Yeah, that Jesus.  I know now that he was always right there, but I wasn't looking.

Then one day I hear this song on the radio.  Back in those days I didn't have an iPod to block out the radio yet, and my discman wasn't always as reliable as one would want.  So I'm driving to work, and this song comes over the airwaves.  And it captivates me.  Mainly because I recognize the voice.  Chirs Cornell.

Song 30
    "Like a Stone" from the incredibly Audioslave on their freshman, self-titled album, Audioslave.

I would soon remember that I had really liked an earlier song from this album, Cochise, and found myself in a music store purchasing a copy.  I really love a good rock album and having the band from Rage Against the Machine with the vocals from Soundgarden team up...GOLDEN!

Like a Stone really struck a chord in my heart that day in the car.  The lyrics might be a bit cryptic, but some things really hit me:

In your house I long to be;
Room by room patiently,
I'll wait for you there, like a stone.
I'll wait for you there, Alone.

For me, in that feeling of distance from God, this song spoke volumes.  I'm not saying that's what the song is about.  But that is what I felt in it.  It felt as if the lyrics were my soul uttering what I didn't want to admit to myself.  And on an Autumn day like this, (gorgeous, sunny, chilly) I get reflective.  Not just on those days, but reflective in general.  And this song does a lot to encourage that mind set of reflection and remembrance.

So, with all this to ponder and think about, I leave another day.  And one behind. 

Enjoy!
-Jesse

08 - The Less I Give the More I Get Back

The Concept:  Feature a song a day for every day of the most magnificent season of Autumn.  The songs are ones that capture the thoughts/ideas/images/feelings of the season for me. 

It's my "Autumnal Playlist" if you will.
Today's song was one of those happy things I stumbled on because a friend posted a link on the facebook.  (Props to Nina Ferry!)  It was some time in February or March of 2012 when I saw her post/comment about this band called The Civil Wars.  I thought, "What a strange name for a band."  But I listened to the song (can't remember which, possibly the one I'm featuring today,) and just loved it.  It was another one of those that I sampled the album and downloaded the whole thing on the spot.

Song 08/Day 08

Today's Song:  "Poison & Wine," from The Civil Wars debut, Barton Hollow.

While the song entered my life in the damp, wet, and chilly months of late winter, it had me longing for Autumn.  Once again the instruments remind me of falling leaves and rain.  There is this steady, intermittent beat that feels like wiper-blades smacking hard across a windshield.

There is a mournful heart to this song.  Just the lyrics themselves bare the souls of the voices.

him:  You only know what I want you to
her:  I know everything you don't want me to

There is  a dichotomy to love that this song addresses so brutally and beautifully. 

him:  I wish you'd hold me when I turn my back
her:  the less I give, the more I get back

The feeling I get when I listen to this song is that of a love that needs to be fought for.  That there is this deep connection between the singers (their "voice" not the actual musicians,) that keep getting block by their own actions.  They want so badly to love each other that they are practically screaming it at each other so loudly that they can't hear the other person.

One of my favorite lines is:

I don't have a choice, but I'd still choose you

 There is something so beautifully committed about that line.  I know it's not about God, but I can't help but feel that's how God feels about us.  That while there is a choice, there is no questioning that his choice will always be for us.

There might be the ability to choose, but the choice will always be made the same way.

I hope to love in that way.  Not just in a relationship, but in life...period.

The final lyrics that really follow me are the words of the chorus,

I don't love you, but I always will

I know it's an enigma, confusing thought...but I love it.  Maybe it's the I don't love you (right now,) but I'm always going to choose you.  I don't know.  That's another reason I love this song.  It's not a clean get away.  It's messy and thick.  Just like life.

And life is worth living.

Enjoy!

So journey down to Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars on iTunes and check out Poison & Wine

-Jesse

07 - When All I Knew Was Steeped in Blackened Holes

The Concept:  Feature a song a day for every day of the most magnificent season of Autumn.  The songs are ones that capture the thoughts/ideas/images/feelings of the season for me. 

It's my "Autumnal Playlist" if you will.

Every so often I come across a song that just completely lifts my soul.  Today's song is the most recent.  It has a quite humble beginning, but works into a soaring ballad of triumph.  At least that is where it takes me.

This song makes me want to fly.

Song 07/Day 07

Today's Song:  "Below My Feet," from Mumford & Sons sophomore offering, Babel.

I don't think there is a song on the album that I don't like.  But on my first listen through of the whole thing, this song struck me.  And it has stuck.  Every time it comes up I just get this contented sigh, and feel that it's time to knuckle down and push on.

I can't say what the song is really about.  It's one of those songs that seem to have different meanings for each listener.  For me it somehow makes me think of the Prodigal Son.  And that story always makes me think of Autumn.  I cannot explain that one.

Just the thought of that son, out in the world realizing he made mistakes.  Then returning home.  The build up in the music is his heart pounding as he approaches his father's house.  The big swell on the final chorus is the father appearing and running to his son.

This story became very important to me about eight years ago.  It became personal in where I was in life.  I felt like the lost son, because frankly I was.  And it was my choices that took me there.  But I knew that God was there, waiting for me to get out of the pig pen and return to him.

The funny thing is about the time I was experiencing this, I also was watching a little show that had just started called, Lost.  Imagine that.  It wasn't until that series ended that I had a profound life revelation.  But that's a blog from a different day.

So the Prodigal Son makes me think of Autumn.  The time in my life I associate with that story, was in Autumn (as TV shows start in the Fall,) and now this song which deals with the "speaker" being lost.

But the part I love most about this song is the hopeful upswing of the chorus

Keep the earth below my feet
For all my sweat, my blood runs weak
Let me learn from where I have been
Well keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn
Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn

Keeping the earth below his feet could take on a few meanings.  For me the two that stand out the most is that he wants to stay grounded in reality, or he wants to keep living.  Or a combination of both.  He wants to learn from where he's been, learn from mistakes/choices.  And offers his eyes to serve and hand to learn.  Eyes serve by keeping watch.  Looking out for something.  Hand learn, by doing.

That's where I take it anyway.  Rather, where it takes me.

On a completely different level, I could see this song used as a music video for a deep/thoughtful Superman story.  Perhaps "Man of Steel" will deliver that story next year.  That moment in the song that swells into the chorus seems so fitting for Clark taking off or embracing what he can do.

So take a swing by Mumford & Sons on iTunes to check out Below My Feet (and the rest of the album!)

-Jesse

Out of Steam?

Sometimes is feels like we get all excited about something for a short period of time and then fizzle out.  Like this whole revolution thing.  Let me assure you, that as far as I am concerned this is just getting started.  I know there are many of you out there who share this idea.

Where are you?

Let us hear from you.  This is not about me.  This is not the Bear Show.  I'm blogging and writing because I have the time and this comes relatively easy to me.  Your story should be heard as well.  Tell us what you are doing.  Not as bragging, but a way to share what God is doing in you.  How he is transforming your life, and how that could be effecting others.

The Church is a community.  A body of believers.  Let's build that body up any way we can.  Some of you may be in other parts of Pennsylvania, or the other side of the country.  Some may even be on the other side of an ocean or two.  We can have community through the web.

Let us encourage one another!

For me today, I will say this.  Temptations.  They jump out at me all the time.  Some are new.  Some are old.  Habits, addictions, attitudes.  Things I thought I had walked away from.  I'd be lying if I said it was getting easier to turn them away.  To not give into them.  And they come everyday.  To buy more stuff that I don't really need.  To go to that website.  To get angry and lash out, or say hurtful things.

It's not easy to refuse them.  But the more I get to know Jesus.  The more time I spend learning the Father's voice.  The easier it is to run to him.  To cling to his words, the Word, and in doing so not give in to the temptations.  It is him who protects.  He is the Shield of Faith that puts out the fiery arrows of the enemy!

Please hear what I'm saying there.  It's not about me.  This is about God's work.  What he does in us when we draw closer to him.  And I for one have a very long way to go.  But his promises are true.  He is good.  He did give us the Comforter to help us and guide us.

When we run out of steam, it's because we're trying to fight sin with our own strength.  And that is like trying to out run a speeding train.  It's impossible.  But with God, all things are possible.  He is our strength.  Our deliverer.  Philippians 4 (12-14)

I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.

It doesn't matter if we have everything we need in life, or nothing.  Jesus is who we need more than anything.  And a supportive body of believers doesn't hurt either.  Paul says he knows how to survive, to carry on, but he encourages the Philippians for helping in his difficulty.

So, today, if God is doing something in/through you.  Share it.  With a humble heart to encourage us.  If you are struggling, or going through a difficulty, Share it.  At the very least (which isn't the least at all) we can pray for each other.

Have a day, be a blessing to those around you.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

When the Stars Fell Like Rain (a poem)

Just an old poem of mine today.  Enjoy!

When the Stars Fell Like Rain

 

I heard the Night sky to me

As a sailor hears the sea

A piercing cry in the stillness of the dark

I stretched out below her

Gazing up at her brilliant form

Her children, the stars, sang out with her

Echoing her song

I let my mind carry me past the homes around me

Past the street lights trying to wash out her glory

In their song I hear the melody of God’s design

As chorus and verse waxed and waned

Harmony and rhyme washed over me

Like waves upon the shore

The song softened

My soul stirred as I’ve not felt before

A ghost of a whisper

The voices continued

Steady and precise

The beat pressed on

Subtly the volume increases

The crescendo bursts forth

A waterfall of joy

Drowned me in its deluge

To the East

Three stars flare and fall

Their voices lifted in praise

To the South

Two stars flung themselves across the horizon

Their song a song of triumph

The Earth joined in the song

The stars fell like rain

A sound the world has never known was heard

God sang to us that night

His love for us in every thing

And the stars fell like rain

Washing over me, cleansing my soul

I cried out in worship to my King

Bowing before His awesome wonders

His love enveloped me

And the stars fell like rain


grace, peace + hope

-Bear

Seedless, Part II

So what's the big deal with seedless fruit?

There's nothing wrong with it.  Right?  I mean it doesn't cause mutations or anything like that in the people who eat it.  Well, I hope not.  But, fruit was designed to produce seeds.  It's how they reproduce.  You know a fruit bearing plant is healthy when it produces fruit that contains seeds.  That way, it will continue on.  God said it was good for this to happen.

But my real issue isn't with items in the produce aisle.

It's with myself.

And others like me.  People who say they are followers of Jesus but don't really produce fruit.  Or if we do it's just the stuff that tastes good but doesn't result in more fruit.  Jesus was pretty specific about this.  In John 15, where he talks about being the vine and branches, he tells the disciples this;

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

He cuts off every branch...that bears no fruit.  Jesus was talking to them in words that were very clear.  They were understandable references.  It shouldn't be that hard for us to understand this.  But I suppose in the "church" there has been a tendency to over complicate the Bible.  Everything gets really deep and super spiritual.  There's lots of flavor, and no hard bits to really work around.

Sure there are the tough subjects, but they don't relate to me, they are about someone else.  And thanks to this speaker who has had years and years of training and education, I am now more enlightened about this issue, topic, what-have-you.

We can go to "church" every week and learn more and more about Jesus and never really change.  No change in us, no change in the world around us.

Seedless.

What does it matter what you know?  What does it matter what I know?  Knowing isn't enough.  Knowing didn't spare those who mocked Noah.  They laughed at their impending doom.  Knowing Jesus died for us, that he showed us how to live in the kingdom now doesn't count for a hill of beans.  When we hold all that knowledge in, were like the servant who buried the gold because he was too afraid to invest or take a chance with it.

You remember what happened to him?  What he had was taken, and he was kicked out.  Or to use the words of Jesus from John 15 he was a branch that was cut off.  Please don't misunderstand.  I am not talking about money, tithes, or offerings.

This is about life and not sharing it.  My life.  Your life.  Jesus' life.

Think about this.  Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road when Jesus sees a fig tree.  When he sees it doesn't have any fruit, he curses it and it dies.  Sounds extreme right?  But there is a lesson in this that is easily lost on a culture like ours that doesn't understand the created world we live in.  Jesus' actions have a reason.  In the scripture the fig tree was said to have produced leaves.  And based on the time of year of this story, a fig tree with leaves should have had fruit.

It didn't. 

A fruit bearing tree without fruit, when all evidence suggests it should have, is pretty much worthless.

Do you have leaves?  Do I?  Am I producing fruit?  If I do, it's not enough.  I'm working on that.  I can't keep going to "church" whether it is in a home, a coffee house, or million dollar facility and gorging myself on another good sermon or series. 

Something needs to change in me.  How I look at what it means to really follow Jesus.  This isn't just a rant about "mega-churches" or that sort of thing.  This is about the body of Christ and how we live.  Rather how we don't live.
 
It's time to change that.  It's time for a revolution in the Church.  A transformation in the Body of Christ.  It's time we start bearing fruit with seeds in it.


to be concluded...


grace, peace + hope
-Bear

White Man

No big post today.  Just sharing a video for a song I recently heard.  The video is brilliant.

The song is "White Man" by Michael Gungor Band.

Enjoy!

"White Man" Music Video

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Light the Fuse

Control.  It's an illusion that none of us can seem to separate from reality.  Parents think they have control over their children.  Governments assume they have control over their people.  Religions think they have control over what ever it is they think they have control over.

Ok, so maybe by strict definition they do.  But control can be resisted, removed, rescinded, refuted, reneged, you get the idea.

This is not me supporting anarchy.  I am not anti-control.  Depending on where the reigns of that control rest.  I don't want to get too deep or off course and delve into the semantics and politics of all of that.  What this post and revolution are primarily concerned with is how we conduct ourselves no matter what "control," is over us.

As far as I am concerned, there is only one ultimate source of control.  One authority that will take all our decisions and actions into account.  The choices we make yesterday, today, and tomorrow will be laid out before us some day.  How we handled those choices in regards to that sovereign authority will be our undoing or remaking.

Let me make this perfectly clear.

There is one God.  His name is "I Am."  He sent his only son Jesus to redeem the whole world from death.  He speaks to us, now, today, through his Spirit.  Here and here alone rests the final authority for all life.  For me, that is irrefutable fact.  It is upon that authority that I rest all of what I believe, say and do.

If you are starting to wonder what any of that has to do with this revolution.  I've been alluding to, well here is where they meet.

Those who claim to follow Jesus (I would be among them) as a whole, have been lulled into a crippling illusion that going to a building on Sunday in nice clothing, singing a few songs, putting money in an offering, and spending about an hour and a half together, is what he imagined the Church would be.
 
I will not apologize for thinking we have bastardized his dream.

The Church is not a building.  It is not a program or a pulpit.  The Church does not succeed or fail because of a board of directors or a philandering pastor.  It does not rest in the man made authority of pointy hats, white collars, or tailored suits.

The Church is people.  The guy in the corner of the coffee shop.  The woman across from you on the train.  You.  Me.  The Church succeeds because Jesus is it's authority.  It will grow in the soil full of the best crap.  The Church doesn't fail because Jesus doesn't fail.  (What fails is us, or our expectations.)  It's authority rests in the safest place.  The nail scarred hands of the Messiah.

The Church is so much more than we mortals have restricted it to be.

The revolution is to become the Church Jesus wanted us to be.  To feed the hungry.  Quench the throats of the thirsty.  Make the stranger a guest.  Clothe the naked.  Care for the sick.  Visit the prisoner.  To look after orphans and windows.  To remember his teachings, and make disciples.To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

It starts inside each of us.

Get on your knees.  Cry out to God.  Ask him to strike the match, and light the fuse.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

My Thanks

There are so many things to be thankful for.  Trees.  Laughter.  Stories.  Family.  Friends.  And so many other things that could fill books upon books.

So today I'll lean on the words of someone else to say what is in my heart.  A last born son who tended sheep and later became a king.  (Emphasis mine.)

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.  He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 Psalm 23

So continuing a thought from the last few days, revolution.  I'm thankful that with this in mind that David's ancient words, "I will fear no evil," bring great comfort.  To know that despite the presence of evil, or enemies, God will be with me.

For that I am thankful. 

It doesn't seem to be a big enough word.  But it's all I have today.

Thank you.

grace, peace & hope
-Bear

Identity (a poem)

carried on a whisper's breath
a simple word
with a complicated meaning
layer under layer
each uniquely different, yet the same

said one way it means nothing
said another, and it is the world

it summons you
surrounds you
fills you with life
it is who you are
what you are

it is yourself
your name

do you respond with pride?
do you respond with awe?
with shame or even fear?
do you even respond at all?

your name

what you are known for
how you will be remembered
when someone speaks your name

to hear your name on someone's lips
to feel it carried by their voice
the truth of who you are
what you could be

it does not matter what you call yourself
remove the labels and the tags

the only name that carries weight
is what God breathed in your name
at the dawn of all things

take on the mantle of His design
in the lee of His whisper
embrace your name
become what you were born to be

-Jesse Arnold (03.28.11)

Can't Get Out of the Rain

My title comes from a song by Between Thieves "Privately" from their '94 self-titled album.  I was driving home after seeing a movie with a friend and another one of their songs came on my iPod.

"Security in frailty (Your touch I have found,) In brokenness I am made complete (I will lay it down)..."

If you're wondering, "where is he going with this?"  Trust me, there is a point.

I think.

God is doing a lot in my life.  Most of it I like.  Some of it, not so much.  But I know that the not so much will be good for me.  I need all of it.  This is the "lay it down," part.  I used to have a clear defined path of what I wanted my life to be.  What I wanted to do for God.  I even started writing a series of books in high school and college that mapped out (via a "version" of me) what that life would look like.

God has been slowly, and sometimes painfully stripping that vision away from me over the last 15 years or so.  What my imagination came up with only pales in comparison to reality.  Not because my life is so fantastic, but what God has done in me is beyond what I could hardly even have guessed at.

While I'm very aware of the changes God has done, I pray now, that others would see him more than me.  That I am; where, what and who I am...because of God.  Without him, well, I don't want to think about that.

Ok, I was getting to the laying down part right?  If we don't lay down what we cling to so dearly, even good things, things that God gave to us, we can not participate in the future/present he wants for us.  Think of Hannah finally getting her son Samuel.  God answered her prayer, and she only got to hold him long enough to wean him.  Then she gave Samuel to God for all his days.

Or Abraham.  God allows him to have a son with his wife, at last!  Yet while Isaac is still young(ish) God asks Abraham to sacrifice his child, to God.  (If you don't know the story, Abraham obeys with a heavy heart, but in the last moment, before he kills his son, God provides a ram instead.)  

God wants us to let go of the things we want the most, because we are what he wants most.

I don't have a son to sacrifice, or a son to offer to God for all the days of his life.  Right now, all I have is dreams.  And I don't know how to give them to God.  Dreams of a family, dreams of writing, of serving Him, of so many different things.  I don't want to loose them.  But I need to be willing to loose them or they get in the way of my relationship with God.

Like Moses and the Israelites, I've tasted the freedom from slavery, I've left Egypt at long last.  But now I'm standing with the Red Sea before me, and the chariots of Pharaoh bearing down behind me.  I want the Promised Land, but I still have a journey to go before I can get there, and then I will be ready.

I have no idea what the future holds.  I don't think I want to "know."  Sometimes I wish I was there already, but I don't want to miss the journey.  So I need to surrender my dreams to God.  I need to set aside what I think makes me strong.  To be frail, and broken.  Because like the song says, "security in frailty, in brokenness I'm made complete."

Like Peter leaping out of the boat and walking on the water toward Jesus.  "Look at me guys!  I am walking on the water!"  Then the waves roll, and he realizes..."people don't walk on water!"  Then Jesus catches him and Peter is safe.  In his moment of weakness, his broken pieces are grasped by the Creator of everything and he is made complete.  Peter's best moments are when he boldly reveals his frailty and Jesus teaches him.

So I need to let go, to jump out of the boat and make toward Jesus.

But the rain will come.  And I'll run and run and won't be able to get out.  Especially if I'm holding on to things, or picking up things I’ve already lain at Jesus' feet already.  At this point, my tired mind is reaching out to the movie "300."  

The scene at the end of the movie (SPOILERS!) when Leonidas is faced with Xerxes for the last time.  He is told he will be spared if he but simply  kneel.  He drops his shield, his helmet...he makes himself frail and broken (so to speak) because in order to reach his goal he can't be encumbered by the things he has wrapped himself in to protect him.  He lunges forward, free of those burdens and throws his spear...

Free of the stuff, he could move forward.  Get out of the rain, if you will.  Granted he dies moments later...but he was already willing to die.  To give his life for what he was fighting for.

I suppose what I'm getting at is Surrender and Trust.  We surrender to God, but he is not our enemy.  He is our king.  He takes from us the things we think we need, and becomes our refuge, our shield.  And that is what we put our trust in.  Our King.

We are made strong because He is strong.

Further Horizons (a poem)

Further Horizons

a new dawn breaks
radiant light from sea to sea
gilding the peaks of Chomolungma
contrasting the contours of the Jordan Rift
their depths are revealed
to that golden sphere
for there is nothing new under the sun

but there are further horizons with in my soul

the ways of Man
are known to all
but the path of a man
who can claim to know?
his steps are kept hidden
even from himself

yet
from vainglorious ambitions
to the meanest of schemes
God knows the heart and breath
of every single thing

from the plunging roots
to the stretching leaves
each budding flower
and fruit filled tree
from bark to sap
canopy to twig
God knows them all

each furry squeak of every mouse
and mane tossed roar of any lion
wail of wolf, and hyena howl
the Lord knows every one

each well intended blunder
and great but horrible decree
each birth and death
every pugnacious massacre
He feels them all

amidst the grime of future devastation
the cold, silver night of depression's winter
the tastes of joy
the fragrance of despair

every dappled wood of inspiration
and deep, clear lake of love's strong draught
the monumental peaks of utter failure
to the small, close meadow of worshipful transformation

God is there

from the tidal shores of current hope
to the cold, crushing trench of doubt

He is there

even to the furthest horizon of my soul

Mountains and Madness

I just finished reading "Into Thin Air," earlier this week.  That is an intense story.  It's a first person perspective (of author Jon Krakauer) of the ascent and descent of Mt. Everest in the Spring of 1996, when one of the worst "disasters," ever happened to a team.

I believe it takes a certain type of person to want to climb mountains.  To know that one wrong hand hold, one wrong placement of your foot could lead to your imminent demise...that takes incredible bravery, ludicrous stupidity, or some form of mental deformity.  But that's just my opinion.  And yet those who want to climb Everest? 

Completely bonkers.

Now before you go off thinking I'm ridiculing people who do this I'm really not.  I'm not of the mindset, "Well, you wouldn't have died if you didn't climb that mountain," or "You'd still have your hands and feet..."  No.  I admire the people who can do it.  Do I think it's necessary, absolutely not.  Neither are movies, TV shows, or books.  But I love them.

Reading the pages of that book, I felt like I was there on the mountain with them.  The panic, the confusion, the dizzying sense of lack of oxygen and how it slows down your brain.  So much that the author confused one of the people he was closest to on the climb with someone else.  Which may have resulted in the others death.  Which the author (at least at the time of the writing of the book) seems to be plagued with "survivors guilt," over.

It was a traumatizing and life altering experience for all who started up the slopes.

This climbing of mountains reminds me of living a life following Christ.  Sometimes we encounter mountains on that journey.  Things such as debt, temptation, pride, death in a family etc.  Those are mountains that we have to overcome.  That we have to climb.  We don't need to be trained.  We don't need expensive gear and permits.  (It costs up to $25,000 to get a permit just to climb Everest, forget about flights, gear etc...)  We don't need supplemental oxygen because out bodies can't function at those altitudes.  All we need to climb those mountains in life, is Jesus.

In John 14 he says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled."  He had just told the disciples that he was going away.  But that they didn't need to be worried because he would be back.  He says it again later, "Do not let your hearts be troubled or be afraid."  Why?  Because he was sending "the Spirit of truth," to be with them.

He calls it the Spirit of truth, right after he tells them "I am the way, the truth, and the life..."  Jesus is the truth, so the Spirit of truth is the Spirit of Jesus.  The Holy Spirit of God.  He is with us.  That is all we need.  For climbing over or moving the mountains before us.  Jesus is all we need.

Sure that is easy to say.  But it's like any relationship with a "real" human being on this earth.  You get to know them by spending time together, talking, and most of us like getting to know other people one on one.  Group settings are great, but to get to the heart of someone, it's intimate and close. 

It works the same with Jesus.  I don't think he's the center of attention type of guy.  I mean think about that.  He always like to go off alone, or just be with the disciples, or even among them was closest with Peter, James and John.  If you were at a party with Jesus, you probably would know he was there.

So, if you're at a party or out with a bunch of friends or just distracted by life, Jesus is there, wanting you to spend time with him, but that's up to us.  We need to put down the iPad, step away from the XBox, let the kids do their thing, and spend time with him.  Alone, in quite away from the chaos that seems to be life.

Movies and TV can wait, the Game...can be recorded, that new whatever...can be put off one more hour.  You get to know Jesus by spending time with him.  Real quality time.

So, he tells us not to be troubled...I'm leaving you my Spirit.  We need to get to the place where we say, "Thanks, that is all I need."  And we can climb that mountain, because Jesus is there with us.  We don't need our friends and family (although they are great to have) but Jesus needs to be ENOUGH.  All we need.

Because when Jesus is that for us, he can use us to help others.   When we aren't relying on the strength of those around us, but solely on Jesus, his strength supersedes our ability and transforms others.

Another thing about climbing mountains.  Don't go out of your way to climb a mountain that isn't necessary.  Jesus said this (Matt 6:34) "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Don't climb the mountains that aren't yours to climb.  It's so easy when we try to serve others to take their burdens upon ourselves.  But that isn't our job.

Yes, we are to love our neighbors, and help them.  But their spiritual burdens are for them to bear, or drop at Jesus feet.  We can share life, encourage and pray for them, but we can not forgive sin and wipe them clean.  That is God's right, and his alone.  Galatians 6:2 tells us to "bear one another's burdens," and I believe in context with that passage it is saying exactly this.  To share in experience, prayer, support and understanding.  But do not take up their sin as your own.

If you are ministering to someone who is addicted to say gambling, you don't in turn start to gamble to understand them.  You don't take their debt onto yourself.  You help them along, keep them accountable, and as Jesus said, "love your neighbor as yourself."

Sometimes we struggle and suffer similar things with people at the same time.  We can encourage one another, smile, and help each other along, but we have to remember that it's God, not us or our friend that is going to get us to the top of that mountain, and down the other side.

God, Jesus, the Spirit as one are the author and finisher of our faith.  The beginning and the end.  Jesus took on the sin and suffering of the world, he knows exactly what you are going through.  He already carried you through it.  Rely on him.

Don't lean on your own strength, your own determination.  Trust in Jesus to be there with you every step of the way.  He can't be burdened with sin, just like he wouldn't be limited by oxygen if he were to climb Everest.  He is strong when we are weak, and we will be strengthened in our weakness by him.

So seek courage and strength from God when you have to climb to the bewildering peaks of whatever obstacle you face, he will see you back down safely, and make you stronger than you were before by replacing your reliance on yourself, into trust in him.  So when you are back in the valley, you will have had a life altering experience with a positive outcome.

The only casualties will be the sin, fear, and regret you leave behind.