I'm Wrong A Lot.

 
 It has been brought to my attention that more people are reading this blog at this point than I ever thought would.. so excuse me if I suffer from a little bit of literary stage fright. There's something kind of crazy about exposing this part of my mind, one that has been only mine for so long.
     Well, I started reading Donald Miller's newest book yesterday, and most of my family and friends know what happens to me when I read his books.  His writing really gets down to my core in a way that honestly no one else's does and opens the deepest part of me more quickly than just about any other linguist, and as a lover of words I'd call that quite a feat.  I think I read his most popular piece Blue Like Jazz at the beginning of last year and it opened to my eyes to a concept of relational religion that I don't think I had ever understood before.  Christianity had previously started seeming trite and exclusive, a concept that my occasionally hippie-ish mind didn't really want to associate with at the time.  I grasped onto somewhat outlandish philosophies, (my Aunt Mel will remember the "no water baptism and no college" phase) in an effort to find a system of believing that was uniquely my own, more real to me. However I still hadn't found what I was looking for. 
     Reading Blue Like Jazz however inspired me to have this self-addressed thought, "Crosby, it is not now nor has it ever been Jesus that is broken."  Talk about conviction! I was placing all my stereo-typical cynical thoughts about the few judgmental "churchy" people I had experienced onto my precious undeserving Jesus, the only guy in history who radically loved the most dirty, messed-up people around!
     It was then I understood, "Chrisitanity" the religion the world has come to know may be greedy, legalistic, and uppity; however, the Jesus Christ I know to be true is not a list of archaic theology or rules, he is not the offering bucket being passed around on Sunday mornings, and most importantly he is NOT exclusive... he is a real being obsessed with his crazy love for his dirty and collectively messed-up humanity.
...and that is what is inspirational to me today.
Saying that the picture connects to my writing today would be a bit of a stretch, it's just one of my favorite bands Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros... I thought it was a cool picture :]

The Junk Shop

    I spent most of the day today visiting the few second-hand and antique stores Bakersfield is blessed to have with my mama.  Most people who know me know that I'm always happy to browse through stores for extended periods of time... even when I have no intentions of buying anything, and especially antique stores I love with all of my heart.  I love how there's no rhyme or reason to what these stores carry, the only thing all of their items have in common is that they are all "old".  Today for example I saw a Jimi Hendrix Experience record next to an old cracked porcelain doll and couldn't help but to smile.
    My favorite area of these stores is always the weird little box they have of old photographs.  I always imagine the mind of the probably deceased person the picture portrays and think about how they would react to knowing their personal photographs were being sold next to Harley Davidson brand motorcycle boots at a Bakersfield antique mall.  I wander through the crazy disorganized little sections of the shops and pick out presents I never end up buying for just about everyone I know... little scary cat figurines for Baker, history books from like 1910 for Mr. Holliday, colored glass bottles for my mom, old records for Ben, and Elvis memorabilia for my neighbor Ruth, the list goes on and on.  I love that these items all have pasts I don't know about, and I love imagining them being way more adventurous than they probably are... that's the fun of it!
The picture is just one such store in the Mid-west... they probably have the best antique stores.

I think I should defend...

     My coffee habit... say what you may, say I'm addicted to caffeine, say I spend too much money on coffee... I've decided I have a valid defense.  I am a lover of the world and a lover of people.  For this reason I love being out in public.. and where does one choose to go to people watch/read/spend a relatively small amount of money? A coffee shop of course!  For under 3 dollars a day, I get a valid and delicious excuse to sit for hours at a wonderfully decorated business and hang out in the world!
     I absolutely adore sitting at Dagny's and spending way too much time conversing with the likes of Walter and Smokey (who gifted me with a wonderful drawing today!) I love knowing that regardless of what town I visit, the local people probably frequent some obscure coffee shop and enjoy the same iced coffee with half and half that I do! I think it's wonderful that I meet people with cool literary and musical interests, people who enjoy having lengthy conversations as much as I do! And most of all...

I love that I serve a God who gives us little pleasures like this.

The Bike Tree

Inspiration is derived from many places obviously.  For myself, it most often surfaces from the ordinary and seemingly mundane occurances of my day to day life. I'm currently reading an amazing book by Brennan Manning called Abba's Child, in which he reminded me that "We encounter God in the ordinariness of life: not in the search for spiritual highs and extraordinary, mystical experiences."
      Tonight a group of amazing people came over for our weekly prayer group and I spent an hour talking about my amazing Jesus with my friends.  It never ceases to amaze me how creative God is.  While I probably should be thinking about other things during our prayer time, that is always a reocurring thought.  I sit surrounded by these people, all of which consistently say unique and thought-provoking things about their relationship with God, each person so original and just amazing! I imagine God thinking tirelessly about each of our senses of humor, likes, dislikes, voices, thought processes and I honestly just stand in awe of his creativity.  I can't express how thankful I am for the people God chose to put in my life.
     As always I went to Dagny's after school today and had a wonderful conversation with Walter aka Superman.  I sat there with Baker, Sarah, and Archna and thought to myself how lucky am I to have such amazing friends to share my senior year with!
    Oh and I should explain the picture.. I decided to attach a cool picture I found online to each blog that provided me with a little bit of inspiration today.  I'm riding my little fixed gear bike to school for the first time this year tomorrow morning and I'm so excited about it!