You probably do a lot of things, just like I do. You probably like a lot of the things you do, and there are probably other things you do less often; but when you do them, you feel centered in the world--like everything fits. Do you know where it is that you "shine" the most?
This is something I was thinking about on my way to work today, as I listened to a Christian hardcore band that I listened to a lot growing up. "Back in the day," it was Christian Hardcore that really inspired me to take my faith seriously. "Back in the day" they even had pastors who would preach in between bands. "Back in the day," When I bought a CD, I couldn't wait to unwrap the plastic, put the CD in, and then listen to every song while following along with the lyrics. I specifically remember bands like Overcome, No Innocent Victim, and xDisciplex that I listened to a lot.
The CD I had in my car was one that I purchased just a few years back, and I hadn't ever really listened to thoroughly or read all of the lyrics. I found the CD in its case in my glove box, so I pulled it out. I won't get in to the dangers of reading and driving...
Anyway, I still know the singer of this band somewhat, and see him around occasionally, and he's a great guy, but he turns into a lot more than that behind a microphone. Listening to those songs, and reading through those lyrics, really inspired me again like it always used to. It got me thinking about how great it is when people find their element, find the thing they do best, and others get to watch them shine.
A friend I used to be in a band with along time ago joined another band just a few years back. Someone said to me that they were really happy for him, because he always seems to be happier in life when he's doing music. I've got another friend who recently became head pastor of a church. Ever since we were in high school I was convinced that was what he should be doing. Whenever he taught it just seemed to fit perfectly. He was definitely in his element. Well, now he's doing it! I think he's really good at it, and it seems that others thing so to, and it's just great to see that he gets to do the thing he feels most centered doing.
So I was thinking about all this on my way to work, and thinking about my life and all that I'm doing right now. I have things that interest me, I have things that I invest time in, and all of that is fine and good. But there are certain other things I get to do less often, where I really feel centered in the world, like I'm in my element, where I'm supposed to be and most comfortable. It's where I "shine," no matter how cheesy that expression is. And by "shine," I don't mean it's what I do best. It just means it's where I feel I belong.
I get to teach sometimes for a youth group that I help out with. I also do the music every week for them, and am teaching some of the youth to play instruments so they can join in. My wife and I help out a lot a this church, and we really find pleasure in doing it. It's a lot of fun. I also used to be full-time on staff at a church in Germany, where I got to do a whole lot with the church there, and that was a lot of fun, too.
But where do I "shine?" In looking back over my life for the last 14 years, it seems to become clear that the place "I shine" the most is not within church walls. I've always been pretty involved with church, so it's not that I am looking for an excuse to not get involved.
It started back towards the end of my time in a band, when I realized that a lot of Christian bands played concerts at churches and preached to Christians, and realized that I didn't want to do that anymore. My band started looking into getting into the non-Christian market, and our label got our CD reviewed by a lot of underground magazines that were anything but Christian, and we almost got to do a split with a non-Christian band in Europe. So we were sort of going in that direction.
In high school, I also really enjoyed talking with my Jehovah's Witness and Mormon friends about differences in our beliefs. Even though our conversations got heated sometimes, I think a lot of good came from those conversations on both sides. After band practice I used to drop by the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses for their Thursday night meetings, sit and listen, and get into conversations with the people afterward. A Jehovah's Witness couple used to come to my parents house ever Saturday for a while and we had some good conversations.
After high school, when I began college, I met some Mormons at the door and we had a few meetings, too. I also went to a sleepover at a Mormon church where we tried to read through the whole Book of Mormon in one night.
In Germany I skateboarded and hung out with skaters a lot. Even with all of the fun things going on at church there, I felt more satisfaction from hanging out with a bunch of skater kids at some end-of-the-school-year party where they were all getting drunk and stoned, because the conversations seemed to always turn to Jesus, and I got to share with a lot of kids that would never step inside church walls. I again began meeting with Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons over there.
In the past 5-6 years of working full-time outside of church, I've really enjoyed the opportunity to be daily with people that don't see things the way that I do. I've been able to talk about my faith with all of them--no agenda, no hidden motives or frustrated attempts to force conversations in a certain direction, just bringing "clarity," as Dennis Prager often promotes. I get to clear up some of the wrong ideas they have about my beliefs, they get to clarify what they believe, and we just talk it over. Recently I met some more Jehovah's Witnesses at my door, and when they asked if they could come back to "check up" on me, I said, "Sure."
So, what does all this mean? I don't really have it all worked out, and this has turned into more of a journal than any kind of structured article, but I think it's important for us to recognize the things we really find the greatest sense of belonging from.
Do you have any thoughts? Where do you "shine" best? Am I way off here? Do you have no idea what I'm talking about?
This summarizes the revolution that will, like, change our world...forever, or something:
So, yes--I posted this funny simply because it's funny. It's funny all by itself, without much commentary. However, there is always something that can be learned, right?
More than a "How to lose an audience in 10 seconds" manual, this video is actually a pretty somber reminder. If you were suddenly called out to give a defense for something you believe, how would you sound? Do you really believe in whole grains and organic food, is it "Like, just like, good for the body, and stuff?" I live in the south now. Much of the south is Christian. In the south, it is easy to grow up hearing about Christianity all one's life and believe it without question, because that is the "norm." But there are many here to don't believe, whose questions aren't satisfied with answers like, "Well, um Christianity is right, because um, Jesus loves you, and it's good to be a Christian...um, so get baptized."
At the same time, this lady has to really, really believe what she is saying if she is prepared to stand up in front of the city council and be video taped. Some of the things she says are simply ridiculous, but who knows? Maybe she has really good reasons to think some of the things she does. Maybe you have really good reasons to believe what you do--whatever those are. Maybe you're a tree-huger, and animal lover, a Christian, an agnostic, a Mormon, whatever. If we care enough about our believes to share them with others, we should have the decency to organize our thoughts so that others can participate with them.
I gave a speech for my small group at church on the importance of reason in the Christian faith. For those of you who know me, you know that this has been a very important topic to me, and I was very excited for the opportunity to speak on it. Also, I was able to use it as my final project for my speech class at college, so I video recorded it. Here it is (sorry you can't see what is on the screen next to me, the recording quality is certainly not professional):
