Is this 9 or 10? I dunno

So, a couple days ago, I was sooo ready to write a blog. But now, I forget what I was going to blog about and I'm just gonna wing it... sorry! I bet the other one would have been pretty good too. Oh wait, I remember.


^Ignore.

SO, after church on Sunday, Storm, Mr. Belford (our Ornithology teacher) and myself had a little chat. The chat itself isn't exactly relevant, but when I figured out after wards. Well, I guess it was during. Any-who, we were talking about how you get this feeling when God is prompting you to do something. It's like, you don't know how to, and you might not think that you should, but you just some how know that it's what you should do--and if like some people, have to do.

Now, this reminds me of the river of life that flows out of people (ya know, that metaphor used in the bible). But, it's like this river sweeps up other people. It spreads as more people follow that 'God Instinct' that they get, which has the catalyst of other people following it.. and letting it flow. It's so complicated, and yet immensely simple if people let it be. That river that flows out of you can grow and grow... it can turn into a lake, a sea, an entire ocean.

I think this was in my dad's message on Sunday too, but some people feel like they've been ripped off when they do a good deed and other people profit. My dad used the specific example of a man that converted someone, then the convert goes out and save like an entire community. The original dude is all like 'Wait, God, what about me? I've been with you since I was bloody nine! I only got to save one person?' But he's really missing the point. He DID save all those people, everyone that was saved before him had a hand in saving those people... it's like the river. It can be a river, yeah, but it keeps growing.

It's kind of cool. Someday, we'll all be living in it...

No. Seven: To my friends and family--and friends of family, and family of friends, and friends of friends of family.....

Graduation. Uh. It was wonderful, and horrible. All these people will be gone! It's like seventh grade all over again. While Mr. Morse was giving his speech, I was enthralled, well, up until the point when my thought process started straying from his. The more I thought about my future, the more upset I got. All these people in my life that I love so much, they'd all move on. And even if some of them stayed in my life, it would never be the same. It's not like it would end when I graduated high school either. College would be the same, then adulthood. I was socially doomed. But, there was still a bit of hope. It took me a second to figure this out.

What is it that I love about these people? The constant growth and learning around them--not just the teachers, but the students as well... it was outstandingly unique. Inspiring even. Then it clicked. It was God's influence in their lives. It was the amazing faith these people had and shared. Together, we were so strong--are so strong. Now to my point. Even when these people are gone, and even though I'll still miss them, the greatest thing about them will always remain, because they got it from Him who will always be with me. I don't want to sound cheesy, but seriously, God will always be with me--and you. I've heard it before, but it hadn't occurred to me quite like this. He's the only constant, the only thing you can really trust wholeheartedly. Wow, I'm in awe. Maybe everyone has figured this out already and I'm just behind a bit, but I really feel like I don't have to worry anymore about it.

I'm gonna go put my life is good t-shirt on. =)

Number Six: A post caused by procrastination

So, there are a lot of things that I would be better off doing right now, but I haven't written a post for a while, so that's what I'm gonna do.

I just had a short discussion with my dad. It started off just as one about streaming movies 'illegally', but we eventually got into ethics territory. I'd previously talked to my two brothers about this and was very open to learning their views on it. They made good arguments on the basis of free information, but something still nagged me after that. Until today, I hadn't even realized what it was.

Now, I don't know if I'm very good at expressing what I think. At least not verbally, but probably not through writing either. I'll try anyway. I'm gonna start with the analogy of a lie. When someone lies, there is usually premeditation, and often times, in that meditation, people find a way to justify it. Like if you don't want your parents to know that your sick because you want to go to the movies, you can justify the lie by telling yourself that not letting them know that your sick will save them the concern. You can honestly believe that too, but that doesn't make telling the lie right.

In quite a similar way, watching an instant streaming movie needs self convincing. I know this because each person I've talked to about it has had their story straight about it. This brings me to the conclusion that they too had that moment where they thought, 'Now, is this right?' and a couple minutes later they told themselves, 'Yes, it's just information, and if I like it, I'll pay for it later.'

We've all seen the FBI warnings on videos, and those interesting little clips saying how watching pirated videos is stealing, but does that apply to movies without substance? My dad used the example of the speed limit to help further his opinion. Just like it is technically illegal for people to drive above the speed limit, it often isn't even a question (accept in instances like school zones, ect.) that you can drive over it. He says that this is alright, because it is more of a question of ethics than morals, but doesn't the bible (my source for moral values) say that we should follow what the government tells us to do? With that in mind, it is ethically and morally wrong to drive above the speed limit. Going with the flow doesn't make something right. It's like the old saying, if all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?

I digress, however. I think I've written as much of my opinion as I can without repeating myself. All I have left is to say is that thinking about how something that was wrong is right is definitely not the same as thinking about how something that was right is actually wrong. I say this because my dad pointed out how my idea of how thinking about something makes it wrong doesn't work, because if people hadn't breaken out of the flow of culture, we would never have accomplished black freedom or woman's rights. This isn't the same however.

But look at this all more critically and decide for yourself. Hope that made some kind of sense. =P