My C.R.a.S.H. (Part I): The Preview

There are certain periods of life that we remember well.  Sometimes it's an amazing concert, a sunny vacation, or a perfect "Kodak moment" sunset.  Or, perhaps it's a tough time in life.  Times when we feel disconnected, alone, or frustrated.  Either way, they stick with us.

Last week, I lived in both of these extremes.  I'm pretty sure I could write a book on all the life lessons I learned.  Instead, I'm going to write out the story and lessons here, for all to see (because who has time to write a book?)

I'm going to be calling this short series CRaSH, or Career Reassessment and Some Hardships.  (Doesn't CRaSH sound better?)  The focal point of everything that happened was in my future career.  When I was honest with myself, I could not answer this question: "Am I really passionate about medicine?"  But, I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Through this time of doubt, frustration, and searching, I believe that the Lord purposefully was teaching me something (a lot of things!)  Through writing this story, I want to share what I've learned about:

• Where we get our satisfaction in life
• The importance of Community
• How abundantly God wants to bless all areas of our life
• The issue of 'hiding' our problems from others.
• And more...

I'm really excited to share this story with everyone.  I think this is not only beneficial for readers, but also for me to solidify exactly what happened last week.  I'm posting these as soon as they're written, and I hope to have the first part up this week!  So stay tuned...

A Super Bowl Sunday Story

A Chance Designed Encounter

I like football.  I really do.  Until the day I die, I will probably be a Kansas City Chiefs fan, not matter how many Sundays are spent yelling at the television.  Football is just simply great entertainment.  I remember watching the big game with some friends from The Village Church.  We had a good time eating together, making fun of the halftime show, and rooting for the Green Bay Packers.  And we laughed at the commercials, each second costing millions of dollars, and soon forgot them.  It was a good night.

A week after the game, I met someone who had a very different experience of that night.  It was Valentine's Day, oddly enough, the first day I began volunteering in the ER of a major Dallas hospital.  There was a man there, probably homeless.  I never caught his name.  I had to pass by him multiple times as I worked.  Each time I passed by, I was careful not to bump his feet in the narrow hallway.  They looked to be burned - mostly black with a few specks of pink.  I didn't think much of it as I worked (there is some CRAZY stuff there). But later I overheard his conversation:

"So, it looks like you have some frostbite here.  How long have you had this?" 

"A week or so.  Since the day of the Super Bowl."  

"Why didn't you have shoes on?"

"Don't have none."

And that was all I caught, but it was enough.  

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So, What's the Right Action? 

I'd love to analyze the irony of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the Super Bowl while a guy like this froze in the street.  But it doesn't do him justice.  The tough reality is that with all our technology and financial wizardry, even in 2011, this still happens.  People freeze, even in Dallas.

I am aware that there are many intricacies and points of view on homelessness.  Some people choose homelessness, while others abuse the system and use all their donations for alcohol.  I have met and talked with both types of people in Houston.  But there is one thing we must get straight - read this:

"Is not this the [way] I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke?  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from you own flesh?

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.  Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.'  

If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.  And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail." {Isaiah 58:6-11}

Whatever our views, if we want to be obedient to God's words, we must help them.  And I hope and pray we can continue to have compassion towards them, especially when others do not.

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Oppression is always oppression / No matter the reasons or means / For skin or for sex / By stares or by fists it's the same / There are blinders on everyone ~ Derek Webb, American Flag Umbrella 

Libya: What I Know from Reading too Many CNN Articles

UPDATE: GOOD CHANCE TRIPOLI (& GADDAFI) MAY FALL TODAY. (bbc)

What's going on?

I've already explained the situation many times this way, so just go with it. 

Col. Gaddafi is the leader of Libya.  Think of him as Darth Vader, ruling The Empire (Libya) very strictly.  The country's military is loyal first to him, but. . . many units are defecting to join The Rebellion. 

The Rebellion began around Feb 16.  "Protests of any kind are prohibited in Libya but the latest unrest was triggered by the arrest of a lawyer who is an outspoken critic of the government." (BBC.com).  Soon, the peaceful protests were broken up with severe violence.  Eventually, the people began to take control of major cities and increasingly called for Gaddafi to quit.

Now, the Rebellion has gained control of the majority of the country, most of the east.  However, Gaddafi has begun to use his troops to severely retaliate against the rebels.  In a recent article, a bomber crashed outside a major city because the pilots bailed out.  Their orders? Bomb the major civialian city of Benghazi (670,000 people).  (read CNN article on this).  Also, there was a report of Gaddafi ordering four warships to fire artillery on these same eastern cities. Bad stuff.

So, if it wasn't clear before, Col. Gaddafi will do anything, including murdering civilians, to stay in power.

But, from the looks of things, the 'rebels' are almost in control of Libya.  The final battle will be for Tripoli, the home of Gaddafi and the military.  Meanwhile, the control of the rebels is moving from east to west, towards Tripoli.  Check out this map:

(http://ericyoungonline.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/libya-map-control-of-key-cities-feb-24.jpg?w=664&h=300)

Why should we care?
1. Injustice.

The people in Libya are being massacred. Many reports come in each day about the military firing on civilians and peaceful protesters using snipers, strafing planes, bombers, warships. It is the final flailings of a ruler trying to stay in power against his entire nation.

2. Oil.
The United States does not get oil from Libya.  However, a majority of Europe's oil (85%) does come from there. If they are not able to get oil, we will both be competing for the same supply and voila, prices go up.  Fixed supply, higher demand = higher prices.  That's why gas is currently $3.20 in Dallas.

The worst-case scenario for the US is if these same protests begin in Saudi Arabia. That is who we pay to get our oil-addiction fix.  At this time, things seem to be going well there.  But, it is definitely worth keeping an eye on them. 

3. Protests: Good or Bad for the Middle East?   
I have seen two general views on the spreading protests: The Optimists and Pessimists.

The Optimists believe that these revolutions will put strict, Islamic authoritarian leaders out of power and usher in democracies.  This would be a great thing, giving more rights, freedoms and power to the people.

But, the other side believes these protests could actually make things worse.  In more unstable countries (Libya), the old leaders could be switched out for even more radical leaders.  This could lead to more wars, between countries and with Israel.  I can't find the link for this article, but I thought it was a good point.

For now, we can only hope and pray that the rest of these protests will stay peaceful and that demands will be met without violence.  Other potential conflicts are currently going on in: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Algeria, Morrocco, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, China (!).

So, there it is. I'm glad my addiction to CNN & BBC could be of use!

Curse you Shane Hipps! - Intentionality Online

Alright, don't worry - I don't hate Shane Hipps.  It's more that I don't like changing.  Hipps wrote this recent article which disrupted my normal internet habits.  Give it a glance, as it is definitely worth the read. 

Since then, I have spent lots of time reconsidering what my own online presence should look like.  When I was honest with myself, I began to see immaturity in my social media outlets.  Facebook simply became a way to show off my photos and let people know how "cool" I was. I didn't feel like I could be honest there or it may mess up my "image." 

While Twitter was fun for a while, it became clear how little those hundreds of (actually) great quotes did not really effect me.  Twitter doesn't want to slow down and focus on deep meaning; it wants new, trendy, and fast.

Intentionality is Key
So, for the past few months, I have tried to really be intentional in those areas about what I'm sharing, and why.  Now, that campaign is trickling down to this blog. 

In my reflection, I believe I have been trying to do too much with this blog.  I want to write music reviews, share about small victories, and post links to lolcats.  But, it's time to slim things down.  To give focus here, I have come up with a purpose statement for my blog.  Cheesy?  Maybe.  But, my hope is that my posts will be much more useful when focused on a few points, not everything that comes through my brain.

Without further ado, The Purpose Statement:

There are three things I want to write about on bryceTHINK:  1. Lessons I have/am learning 2. Truths I have realized 3. Awareness of world events / injustices.

The first two are for teaching others and edification.  Also, the casual reader may have noticed that I haven't focused on that last one, but it is fast becoming a passion of mine.

Therefore, no more funny links, crazy ideas, or music lyrics will be posted.  But, my hope is that this really cuts down on the clutter and inspires me to write regularly on important things that I care about.

Before I go, I ask you to think about this question: "Why do I use social media?"  In my own view, I saw much pride and narcisism even in my most "Christian" moments.  "Look at this cool quote I found! Check out how much fun I am having with my friends! Jealous?" 

Recognizing the problem is the first step, so from here on out I want to focus these technologies for intentional, positive purposes. 

"If we learn to wake up and understand, perhaps we will be able to use [Twitter, Facebook] rather than be used by them." - Shane Hipps

bryceTHOUGHT 2: One Rule

I have one important rule: Thou shall not blog past 11 PM.  After that time, you can write, but it's well worth a glance through in the morning before you post.

I tend to ramble or go into really deep things which I don't explain very well past 11 o'clock.
Examples:

http://brycethink.blogspot.com/2010/08/cube-invasion11.html
http://brycethink.blogspot.com/2010/01/jig-is-up.html
http://brycethink.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-was-on-avalanche.html
http://brycethink.blogspot.com/2008/03/dismantle-repair.html
http://brycethink.blogspot.com/2008/02/honest-thinkings.html

But that is not what this post is about.  I'm going to do my best to keep this one really simple.

I want to learn to play piano.

Bryce

bryceTHOUGHT 1: The Kindle Caper

So, I ordered a Kindle last week with a bunch of money I got from my birthday.  Last month, I was able to play around with my mom's, while I set it up for her (I am apparently the 'tech-savvy' one in the family... if they only knew).  I thought it was neat, but wasn't crazy for one.

Then I began to see the light.  There are some really amazing things you can do with this thing.  Also, Amazon has HUNDREDS of books for FREE on their site.  Plus, I was tired of lugging around my mammoth copy of The Brothers Karamazov.

I feel like a thief because I spent more than an hour last night downloading many of their free books.  Most of them are older classics, and are surely on some old reading list.  I think I came away with 50 books.  For free!

Here are a few of the better ones:
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe - Volume 1,2,3,4 ; The Jungle ; Notes from the Underground ; The Idiot ; Crime and Punishment ; Anna Karenina ; The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ; Orthodoxy ; The New Jerusalem.


Bryce

[Cricket Chirp]

Oh yeah, I still own a blog. . .

Well, I obviously haven't been keeping up with this lately, but I have a plan! 

"Forget the former things;
   do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!"
No, it won't be as tremendous as what Isaiah is referring to. . . but I have found a way to help me blog more.  I'm going to be writing 'BryceTHOUGHTS', since this is BryceTHINK.  Basically, I'm going to give myself a short amount of time (since this seems to be my excuse for blogging), say five or ten minutes. Then, I'll just write about random subjects until time is up.  So, I can blog and not think I'm wasting time. 

I'm hoping that by forcing myself to write more, I'll remember why I enjoy it and have somehow kept a blog these last years.  Who knows. We shall see.

Bryce