i've been given a job.

my church recently had an opening for office administrator, and i decided to apply for the position.  i interviewed on monday and today i was given the job.

it's full time, tuesday -friday, 9-5.  i'll have to do some fancy footwork as my semester at Asbury won't be over yet, but i'll make it work.

i'm excited to be a part of something that has results other than grades.

"God ordered all things to be produced so that there would be common food for all, and so that the earth would be the common inheritance of all.  Thus, nature has produced a common right, but greed has made it the right of a few."
-Ambrose of Milan  

we hear a lot about "grassroots" objectives at seminary.

i started thinking and realized that while i had an idea of what it meant to be grassroots, i really didn't know anything about it.

so i looked it up.

i found that the term has been around since 1912 and was coined by someone from........Indiana.  he was a senator who said of his political party, "This party [the Progressive Party] has come from the grass roots. It has grown from the soil of people's hard necessities."  that's the essence of it right there.  something that comes from the people themselves.  something that comes from the hard work and desires of the people directly involved.

shouldn't everything be grassroots?

in a true democracy, every initiative should come from the people.  we are represented in government by people whom we have chosen.  every piece of legislature that passes through should be grassroots.  it is the will of the american people that should make the decisions, not the will of a wealthy few.

if i had any grassroots initiative, it would be much like that of my early 20th century indiana predecessor.  i seek a responsible, moral government that is not plagued by self-interest, but is carrying out the will of the people.  we are a great country.  the fact that i am even allowed to write this is a wonder in itself.  we leave a lot to be desired however.  how much of the legislation in your lifetime is something that you wanted, or even approved of?  in our election of officials, we need to be working further toward a government that is by the people, for the people, and OF the people.

look for me in the presidential election of 2020.  (i can't run until i'm of age)  so coin a phrase, start your campaigning now!  part of my grassroots presidential election is to not raise millions of dollars for building up my name, but by recognizing the will of the people and carrying that to the hill.

see the purpose through the pain. 

we all have points in our lives that frankly, well, suck.  (sorry mom, i know you don't like that word, but it fits the bill)  we all have some event or happening, that when we think about it, we focus on the pain of the moment, and not of the results that followed.  we need to see the purpose through the pain.  with hindsight being the great 20/20 vision that it is, it's so easy to look back with clarity and think about a situation or event and realize what a huge impact it had in getting you where you are today.  there are so many biblical examples for us to look at to see someone looking at the greater purpose instead of focusing on the pain of the current moment.  read the book of philemon.  or better yet, look at Jesus Christ, who spent his entire time on the cross focusing on the reason he was up there, not on the pain that he was going through to make it happen.

we are all called for a purpose, and a majority of us know this, but we spend so much time focusing on the, to take a word from elaine benes, excrutiating minutia of every painful event in our lives that the purpose is soon overshadowed and forgotten.

we need to get back to basics and remember why we're here.

philemon 1:15-16   Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good— no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

(yes, i am listening to hairspray.)