You'll stick around, read and then watch the video at the bottom... ha
I've had quite the journey since I last wrote. Much to share, but whatever... this last weekend I went to Bend. I was meant to be there. The second day there I had one of the most profound river experiences I've ever had. I went down a section of the Deschutes with three friends... a hodge podge group from pasts presents and most likely futures... it was wonderful.
I made a video of the experience, it was the first time i've used this camera - a gift from my parents:) I stitched it with a song we randomly discovered minutes before putting on the river, it was a profound moment, and set the stage for what would be a spiritual experience for all floating that day.
From my perspective, you'll see all three in the beginning, and at some point going through the rapids all of them are out of their boat (can you spot it, first the kayak then the empty raft), and I witnessed this believing - at the point i'm sitting in the eddy after the first big wave - that the girl in the kayak was caught in a strainer river right or in serious trouble.. well, I would cross the river and see her clinging to the rock, can you see her?
How we got her out of the eddy (took an hour and a half.. kayaking back through rapid, hiking lava fields, ropes everywhere.. it was nuts) is after the fact... the profound moment of this whole experience was leading a group where in the middle of the rapid (three big waves right below the incident) you look back and see everyone bobbing in the river... if you're a river person, you can probably relate. It does something to a person, it's crazy... I put the song we loved to the video I took, it came out alright and I think conveys well what my mind and spirit were going through, first seeing her not get her roll up in practice, then going through the rapid and everything you hoped wouldn't happen does. The raft gets off line because they focus on the flipped kayak and they dump truck because of it.. everyone out of the boat. Then to see the boat fly by with both back in it, pheww... but where's the kayaker?? Anyway.. I think you might enjoy... it was a spiritual experience for all involved (rookie guide, first time rafter, young kayaker and myself) consider it a journey into my experience. my first video edit.. ha
Click here for the video **Watch in HD**
My journey has been sweet these past months... I hope to share more with -- whoever reads this crap -- in the future.
Good night friends..
luke
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Out of the Valley - From a few weeks ago
I wrote this a week or two ago journaling, it gives a good look into what the transition out of CO back to WA was like for me internally.. life aint all cherries.. but it sure is good..
~ ~ ~
4/12/13
I sit here now, my life it seems couldn't feel more full, I have nothing but 'thanks' overflowing with the force of all our maker's beautiful waterfalls combined. It's big. See, I wouldn't have said that a week and a half ago - a month ago even - as many of the question marks which hit me like hail from the sky have now cleared and the "path" seems to be revealing itself in the clearing of a great storm. A week and a half ago I was basically homeless (not really though, but kinda.. ha), putting large amounts of weight into a new job I still had many questions about... financially things were lookin more grim than I was used to, and my life was packed up in a truck (I love you gunner) who with every sputter seemed to be reciting it's own eulogy. I was hanging to my faith,, listening more and more to the words of "the great accuser" and struggling in areas of my walk I'm not proud of. "Waiting" found a new synonym friend in "lazy", and my hands were getting antsy. Combine this with a spur of the moment move back to a seemingly foreign land in my hometown Seattle (not to mention my leaving buena vista, a town I saw as nothing short of my land of "milk n honey")... I had grown this vision of a future, of growing roots and building foundation for things I desired giving them chance to become reality... I felt such a large gap existed between the two... and in my fear - although never with words, but more with my feelings - I cursed my God at times, definitely turning my gaze.. looking back on it, i deserved the cursing... I never lost a vision for truth though, and with the little dust of faith I had, he was faithful...
And here I now am.. a week and a half later and it's as though I live in a completely different reality. I sit in my new home for the next two months, a little guest home, one room with a fire, bed, couch & kitchen all in one room... it's beautiful.. and this little home being right a stones throw from the shores of Burien, it's only natural the insides be constructed of rich mahogany, white stripped walls, copper boarders on every circle window, it's as though i'm in the kings cabin of a ship sailing comfortably across the dreaded atlantic. It's a dream really. My new boss who has so graciously invited me to live here for the time, is the man... Couldn't be more thankful. Of course a week and a half ago, where I was to live and how i was to afford it was the biggest question mark of all. This new job I came excited about but with questions, has only ironed itself out becoming smoother with each day. Gunner is in fact running great, and the gap shrinks before my eyes in an impossible amount... head bowed, all I have is thanks because I'm a piece of shit and don't deserve the blessings, but if by His grace.
... thanks ...
I did my first wine event tonight with my other boss (there're two, both rock, both love jesus and are completely unique from one another, its awesome)... the event was at Holy Names all girls school for a group of alum... a crazy night, I loved it. These past five days with Sozo, all amazing and more to come later on the details, but each day amazing & unique, what fun it is to represent a top tier quality wine, leaning with my associates on the power of Jesus, praying often, calling on the Spirit in using this gift of delicious juice to bring glory and healing to His kingdom and His people. This... THIS is what he calls us to, by what means, for profit not for profit, whatever wherever, that's ours to decide...
"Although The Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'this is the way, walk in it.'" isa 30:21
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might..." eccl 9:10
I love these..!. wherever, whatever, do it with all your might, for Him, and the spirits voice will comfort with words confirming your path.. even when the path to get to the peaks must first weave a valley or two..
So the time of questioning, the time of hanging by a thread - a thread enough for HIm to hold me in this case it seems - of faith where the only thing i could mutter was "I love, trust, and thank you God.."... those the only words I had, because anything else would've seemed empty (although i'd try, and lie, and it sucked..).. All I had was my core which i'm thankful was able to mutter even that. But from where I sit now, from that raw core life has sprung and spring it seems has made it's way to my soul.
I'm thankful for a job where every moment it seems pops a new vessel of creative juice in areas of my brain which had long since callused over... creative juice now flowing, and in an area I feel I know well, but had been out of for some time... the world of business. It's fun to feel like maybe those calluses were purposed, as was their popping, waiting to release my old "knowledge" over new life "experiences" I've found these past years.. and it would all make sense... There's that little voice again:)
If I had more time or energy I would write more about the job, the product, the beautiful causes behind it... I would write about my eventually moving to portland, my stoke level for getting back near family... I would talk about how I know jack squat about wine, but couldn't be more confident to bring it's goodness to the parched land of Portlandia... I would probably write a little about kayaking, because I love it.. then I'd write ya a little hum-dinger right before I signed off. So having given you the summary of what I "would" do, I think I'll go to bed now...
G'night friends...
~ ~ ~
4/12/13
I sit here now, my life it seems couldn't feel more full, I have nothing but 'thanks' overflowing with the force of all our maker's beautiful waterfalls combined. It's big. See, I wouldn't have said that a week and a half ago - a month ago even - as many of the question marks which hit me like hail from the sky have now cleared and the "path" seems to be revealing itself in the clearing of a great storm. A week and a half ago I was basically homeless (not really though, but kinda.. ha), putting large amounts of weight into a new job I still had many questions about... financially things were lookin more grim than I was used to, and my life was packed up in a truck (I love you gunner) who with every sputter seemed to be reciting it's own eulogy. I was hanging to my faith,, listening more and more to the words of "the great accuser" and struggling in areas of my walk I'm not proud of. "Waiting" found a new synonym friend in "lazy", and my hands were getting antsy. Combine this with a spur of the moment move back to a seemingly foreign land in my hometown Seattle (not to mention my leaving buena vista, a town I saw as nothing short of my land of "milk n honey")... I had grown this vision of a future, of growing roots and building foundation for things I desired giving them chance to become reality... I felt such a large gap existed between the two... and in my fear - although never with words, but more with my feelings - I cursed my God at times, definitely turning my gaze.. looking back on it, i deserved the cursing... I never lost a vision for truth though, and with the little dust of faith I had, he was faithful...
And here I now am.. a week and a half later and it's as though I live in a completely different reality. I sit in my new home for the next two months, a little guest home, one room with a fire, bed, couch & kitchen all in one room... it's beautiful.. and this little home being right a stones throw from the shores of Burien, it's only natural the insides be constructed of rich mahogany, white stripped walls, copper boarders on every circle window, it's as though i'm in the kings cabin of a ship sailing comfortably across the dreaded atlantic. It's a dream really. My new boss who has so graciously invited me to live here for the time, is the man... Couldn't be more thankful. Of course a week and a half ago, where I was to live and how i was to afford it was the biggest question mark of all. This new job I came excited about but with questions, has only ironed itself out becoming smoother with each day. Gunner is in fact running great, and the gap shrinks before my eyes in an impossible amount... head bowed, all I have is thanks because I'm a piece of shit and don't deserve the blessings, but if by His grace.
... thanks ...
I did my first wine event tonight with my other boss (there're two, both rock, both love jesus and are completely unique from one another, its awesome)... the event was at Holy Names all girls school for a group of alum... a crazy night, I loved it. These past five days with Sozo, all amazing and more to come later on the details, but each day amazing & unique, what fun it is to represent a top tier quality wine, leaning with my associates on the power of Jesus, praying often, calling on the Spirit in using this gift of delicious juice to bring glory and healing to His kingdom and His people. This... THIS is what he calls us to, by what means, for profit not for profit, whatever wherever, that's ours to decide...
"Although The Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'this is the way, walk in it.'" isa 30:21
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might..." eccl 9:10
I love these..!. wherever, whatever, do it with all your might, for Him, and the spirits voice will comfort with words confirming your path.. even when the path to get to the peaks must first weave a valley or two..
So the time of questioning, the time of hanging by a thread - a thread enough for HIm to hold me in this case it seems - of faith where the only thing i could mutter was "I love, trust, and thank you God.."... those the only words I had, because anything else would've seemed empty (although i'd try, and lie, and it sucked..).. All I had was my core which i'm thankful was able to mutter even that. But from where I sit now, from that raw core life has sprung and spring it seems has made it's way to my soul.
I'm thankful for a job where every moment it seems pops a new vessel of creative juice in areas of my brain which had long since callused over... creative juice now flowing, and in an area I feel I know well, but had been out of for some time... the world of business. It's fun to feel like maybe those calluses were purposed, as was their popping, waiting to release my old "knowledge" over new life "experiences" I've found these past years.. and it would all make sense... There's that little voice again:)
If I had more time or energy I would write more about the job, the product, the beautiful causes behind it... I would write about my eventually moving to portland, my stoke level for getting back near family... I would talk about how I know jack squat about wine, but couldn't be more confident to bring it's goodness to the parched land of Portlandia... I would probably write a little about kayaking, because I love it.. then I'd write ya a little hum-dinger right before I signed off. So having given you the summary of what I "would" do, I think I'll go to bed now...
G'night friends...
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Hosea meets Pilate meets Me
What a beautiful journey through the word this morning... Starting out with the last few chapters of Hosea, living through the peaks and valleys of the Lord's relationship with Israel, it was what I needed. Then jumping to where I'm at in John, the end of Jesus' time on earth. Where I started the journey was with Jesus - after preaching beautifully to his disciples - He looks up to heaven and prays for them, his followers... "for I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me."... "Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name - the name you gave me - so that they may be one as we are one." He prayed for them. Read it sometime..
Then He prayed for you, and for me.. for "all believers".
"I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one..." Read the prayer, it's awesome, and for those who believe, pleease join me in feeling the power of a prayer lifted specifically for me, by my Jesus. On our behalf, he brought our case before the Father, and we are free to enter into unity with Him, in His kingdom.
So he prays... then follows his betrayal, his being led before the high priest, and then to Pilate. I want here to posit that - by what I read in John's account - Pilate wasn't that bad of a dude, in fact I'd say he's sitting up in heaven with our Lord right now just lovin life... Here's what I read..
When he first receives him from the Jews, he questions seriously this mans guilt, he even tries to give him back. When all attempts fail, he questions Jesus himself. Jesus at one point describes his "kingdom" that awaits, at this Pilate proclaims "You are a king then!"... jesus replies "you are right in saying I am a king" ... "... for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
I think Pilate took this to heart, because he follows with "what is truth?" A serious question I believe...
Next what happens is my favorite..!. we're not told what Jesus' response to him was about truth, but in the next sentence Pilate goes out and basically says "hey, I don't see any reason why this man should be killed, but I'll let you choose one last time and decide between this guy - the "king of the jews" and Barabas, one badass criminal, which to kill"
They choose Jesus, and Pilate gave him over to be crucified. See, I believe that in Jesus' defining truth to Pilate, part of that was understanding what Jesus had to do. See back in what I read earlier, in Jesus' prayer for us, he answered this question for us, it's awesome.!.. "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is the truth."
I don't think it's any coincidence these two uses of 'truth' were put so close to eachother. See, Pilate confronted this truth in this moment we're not told the details of, the moment when Jesus shared with him Truth. But Pilate leaves changed... he will insist on Jesus being recognized as the "King of the Jews". He encountered all truth we are given in the word.. it's life.. and he stood to defend it's recognition, accepting his King's fate, understanding the weight & importance of this event.
So then Pilate when he's about to give him over to the Jews finds out that Jesus apparently is also claiming to be the Son of God.. when you read it it's almost like the record screeches, he stops on a dime turns around to jesus & says "hold up... you're the Son of God too??!" He believed his truth, and now he asks Jesus "where do you come from?" Jesus' answer is perfect, and it says Pilate's response is that he from then on "tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting."
What happens next I think is truly fascinating, and I'd never caught it before.. stick with me. Pilate goes to Jesus, gets him and brings him out in front of the people where he (pilate) would sit on "the Judges seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement" This seems significant only because of what Pilate would say. Addressing the people, he says "Here is your King." he then asks "Shall I crucify your King?" Twice recognizing this man's title. Their response, "we have no king but ceasar".. Pilate got it, he proclaims "HERE IS YOUR KIIING, DON'T YOU GET IT?!!".. His being crucified needed to happen. Pilate however believed in Jesus' innocence, and believed His truth, proclaiming Him as his "King". Against the will of the people, he will then insist on there being a sign above Jesus' head which reads "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS." In Latin, Aramaic & Greek... for ALL the people to know, He is King. And when challenged, pilate's last recorded words are "I have written, what I have written." A strong statement by a strong man who knows and is living out the Truth he was recently exposed to.
So, that's what I learned from Pilate. And bringing it back to Hosea, as Israel would go in and out of affection for their Maker, the words of The Lord for his people are this, that in and out of trouble, "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lilly. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon... I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me."
And on that note, goodbye :)
Oh.. if you made it that far, do yourself a favor and listen to this guy, Jordan Frye, his new album is on spotify and is pretty awesome..
Then He prayed for you, and for me.. for "all believers".
"I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one..." Read the prayer, it's awesome, and for those who believe, pleease join me in feeling the power of a prayer lifted specifically for me, by my Jesus. On our behalf, he brought our case before the Father, and we are free to enter into unity with Him, in His kingdom.
So he prays... then follows his betrayal, his being led before the high priest, and then to Pilate. I want here to posit that - by what I read in John's account - Pilate wasn't that bad of a dude, in fact I'd say he's sitting up in heaven with our Lord right now just lovin life... Here's what I read..
When he first receives him from the Jews, he questions seriously this mans guilt, he even tries to give him back. When all attempts fail, he questions Jesus himself. Jesus at one point describes his "kingdom" that awaits, at this Pilate proclaims "You are a king then!"... jesus replies "you are right in saying I am a king" ... "... for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
I think Pilate took this to heart, because he follows with "what is truth?" A serious question I believe...
Next what happens is my favorite..!. we're not told what Jesus' response to him was about truth, but in the next sentence Pilate goes out and basically says "hey, I don't see any reason why this man should be killed, but I'll let you choose one last time and decide between this guy - the "king of the jews" and Barabas, one badass criminal, which to kill"
They choose Jesus, and Pilate gave him over to be crucified. See, I believe that in Jesus' defining truth to Pilate, part of that was understanding what Jesus had to do. See back in what I read earlier, in Jesus' prayer for us, he answered this question for us, it's awesome.!.. "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is the truth."
I don't think it's any coincidence these two uses of 'truth' were put so close to eachother. See, Pilate confronted this truth in this moment we're not told the details of, the moment when Jesus shared with him Truth. But Pilate leaves changed... he will insist on Jesus being recognized as the "King of the Jews". He encountered all truth we are given in the word.. it's life.. and he stood to defend it's recognition, accepting his King's fate, understanding the weight & importance of this event.
So then Pilate when he's about to give him over to the Jews finds out that Jesus apparently is also claiming to be the Son of God.. when you read it it's almost like the record screeches, he stops on a dime turns around to jesus & says "hold up... you're the Son of God too??!" He believed his truth, and now he asks Jesus "where do you come from?" Jesus' answer is perfect, and it says Pilate's response is that he from then on "tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting."
What happens next I think is truly fascinating, and I'd never caught it before.. stick with me. Pilate goes to Jesus, gets him and brings him out in front of the people where he (pilate) would sit on "the Judges seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement" This seems significant only because of what Pilate would say. Addressing the people, he says "Here is your King." he then asks "Shall I crucify your King?" Twice recognizing this man's title. Their response, "we have no king but ceasar".. Pilate got it, he proclaims "HERE IS YOUR KIIING, DON'T YOU GET IT?!!".. His being crucified needed to happen. Pilate however believed in Jesus' innocence, and believed His truth, proclaiming Him as his "King". Against the will of the people, he will then insist on there being a sign above Jesus' head which reads "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS." In Latin, Aramaic & Greek... for ALL the people to know, He is King. And when challenged, pilate's last recorded words are "I have written, what I have written." A strong statement by a strong man who knows and is living out the Truth he was recently exposed to.
So, that's what I learned from Pilate. And bringing it back to Hosea, as Israel would go in and out of affection for their Maker, the words of The Lord for his people are this, that in and out of trouble, "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lilly. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon... I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me."
And on that note, goodbye :)
Oh.. if you made it that far, do yourself a favor and listen to this guy, Jordan Frye, his new album is on spotify and is pretty awesome..
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
~ Homeward Bound ~
March 11th, 2013
One week left, then it's goodbye to Colorado. It's different this time, saying goodbye without a date i hold onto in my mind for when i'll be returning. Every day it seems tougher than the last, i find new gems each day in the jaw-dropping creation which wraps it's beautiful arms in, on, all around & through me... am I really leaving this place? These people? This river? Valley? Ugh.. Each day too tho i'm gifted something new to look forward to in moving back to truly the most beautiful corner of the country.. I find myself dreaming about ferry rides in the fall... learning the cascades... the olympic peninsula.. beaches enough to explore for a lifetime. Floating the over 300 rivers which reliably feed our beautiful green land year round.. glory. I dream about spending more time with my family... is it possible I could really be close enough to see Liam once a week??... Chels & Cas? Ma & Pa? Mimi & Papa? Grandma? Aunts, uncles, so many little cousins now... I've already promised a ferry date to one Everest Pinneo:) and with Liam's little brother or sister now to come in August, my spirit's grown an undeniable magnetic charge pulling my gaze back home...
So one week from today I'll be just hours from hitting the coast near LA where i'll meet my family to take ma neph Liam to Disneyland.. stoked. And two weeks from today I'll be on a familiar journey up the 101. I realized just recently how intense the experience could be... see the last time I made the trek I had just graduated, popped the little nazarene bubble i'd found myself in, and took five or so days picking my way up the coast. I let loose my spirit, and met some of the most incredible souls along the way. I can still feel the weight of how significant an experience that drive was for me. See, I could've stayed in Cali, I could've stayed in the PNW, both safe places. But on the road I was given tastes of what I knew awaited me, and soon I would be back on the road heading to where I felt drawn to taste more, where I believed I could taste in abundance what I craved... that place was Colorado just a little over four years ago... what I craved was a greater diversity in our (humanities) observing of our place on earth... simple living, suffering with joy, oneness with creation.. And in pockets all over, I found it. So driving back up the 101, as the page turns on what seems to be the ending to my thickest most enjoyable chapter, I anticipate that with every familiar turn i'll encounter in a fresh way the 22 yr old luke. Remembering. This will be one of the greatest gifts of this journey. Remembering to where, through what, and with whom I've journeyed my last four years in this school called life.
It's amazing remembering. He's always interested in me, in using me, filling me, leading me, teaching me love, revealing Himself to me through His word & His people.. all of creation. I wish I could say the same about my interest in pursuing Him... there have been dark nights of the soul.. It's the remembering which turns the tides.
I wont forget tonight, walking out back the house to the creek under the light of the stars alone... just myself, I was met in silence by the comfort of my maker, and with all the question marks which litter the path I'm quickly approaching.. i found peace, the kind thats familiar but every time it feels like the first time.. ya know?. I found new forgiveness (it's offered each day always.. it's great), a fresh but familiar feeling that where i stand is good, today IS a day lived in eternity.. now. As I walked back to the house I noticed the fun pattern I'd made just a few days ago in the snow with my steps.. well, it was gone. The snow still spotty in places, but had melted enough to erase my path.. the path I had walked just a few days earlier was squiggly & all over the place, inspired by the fresh dump of white goodness... that day on that walk I was impacted by grace as the whole land was made new, the ground, trees, mountains, every step I took was new.. and in my heart I felt this same gift, experiencing tangibly & spiritually the reality of what is meant by 'white as snow'. But the evidence of this journey, tonight was nowhere to be found.. the journey is a new one, and tomorrow when it snows and a new carpet of the whitest white calls me to make a new journey, I surely will. His grace is new every day. I see the road ahead as though it had a fresh snow the night before... and even if the journey's already been made, there're fresh steps to be had along the way.. each day.
So the 101? Home? 2400 miles? Pray for me.. imma need it.. ha. Each day a little harder, but each balanced by new light shining over my destination. Lotsa clouds in Seattle (again, pray for me!), but something tells me i'll be reminded on the cloudy days to simply remember & be filled.. each day finding it's light.
So... right now sitting under a tree, by a stream... just found this gem of a psalm.. I wanna be like this tree.. they're the coolest
"...he is like a tree planted by streams of water... whatever he does prospers."
.. click for the whole thing...
~The creek out back~
One week left, then it's goodbye to Colorado. It's different this time, saying goodbye without a date i hold onto in my mind for when i'll be returning. Every day it seems tougher than the last, i find new gems each day in the jaw-dropping creation which wraps it's beautiful arms in, on, all around & through me... am I really leaving this place? These people? This river? Valley? Ugh.. Each day too tho i'm gifted something new to look forward to in moving back to truly the most beautiful corner of the country.. I find myself dreaming about ferry rides in the fall... learning the cascades... the olympic peninsula.. beaches enough to explore for a lifetime. Floating the over 300 rivers which reliably feed our beautiful green land year round.. glory. I dream about spending more time with my family... is it possible I could really be close enough to see Liam once a week??... Chels & Cas? Ma & Pa? Mimi & Papa? Grandma? Aunts, uncles, so many little cousins now... I've already promised a ferry date to one Everest Pinneo:) and with Liam's little brother or sister now to come in August, my spirit's grown an undeniable magnetic charge pulling my gaze back home...
So one week from today I'll be just hours from hitting the coast near LA where i'll meet my family to take ma neph Liam to Disneyland.. stoked. And two weeks from today I'll be on a familiar journey up the 101. I realized just recently how intense the experience could be... see the last time I made the trek I had just graduated, popped the little nazarene bubble i'd found myself in, and took five or so days picking my way up the coast. I let loose my spirit, and met some of the most incredible souls along the way. I can still feel the weight of how significant an experience that drive was for me. See, I could've stayed in Cali, I could've stayed in the PNW, both safe places. But on the road I was given tastes of what I knew awaited me, and soon I would be back on the road heading to where I felt drawn to taste more, where I believed I could taste in abundance what I craved... that place was Colorado just a little over four years ago... what I craved was a greater diversity in our (humanities) observing of our place on earth... simple living, suffering with joy, oneness with creation.. And in pockets all over, I found it. So driving back up the 101, as the page turns on what seems to be the ending to my thickest most enjoyable chapter, I anticipate that with every familiar turn i'll encounter in a fresh way the 22 yr old luke. Remembering. This will be one of the greatest gifts of this journey. Remembering to where, through what, and with whom I've journeyed my last four years in this school called life.
It's amazing remembering. He's always interested in me, in using me, filling me, leading me, teaching me love, revealing Himself to me through His word & His people.. all of creation. I wish I could say the same about my interest in pursuing Him... there have been dark nights of the soul.. It's the remembering which turns the tides.
I wont forget tonight, walking out back the house to the creek under the light of the stars alone... just myself, I was met in silence by the comfort of my maker, and with all the question marks which litter the path I'm quickly approaching.. i found peace, the kind thats familiar but every time it feels like the first time.. ya know?. I found new forgiveness (it's offered each day always.. it's great), a fresh but familiar feeling that where i stand is good, today IS a day lived in eternity.. now. As I walked back to the house I noticed the fun pattern I'd made just a few days ago in the snow with my steps.. well, it was gone. The snow still spotty in places, but had melted enough to erase my path.. the path I had walked just a few days earlier was squiggly & all over the place, inspired by the fresh dump of white goodness... that day on that walk I was impacted by grace as the whole land was made new, the ground, trees, mountains, every step I took was new.. and in my heart I felt this same gift, experiencing tangibly & spiritually the reality of what is meant by 'white as snow'. But the evidence of this journey, tonight was nowhere to be found.. the journey is a new one, and tomorrow when it snows and a new carpet of the whitest white calls me to make a new journey, I surely will. His grace is new every day. I see the road ahead as though it had a fresh snow the night before... and even if the journey's already been made, there're fresh steps to be had along the way.. each day.
So the 101? Home? 2400 miles? Pray for me.. imma need it.. ha. Each day a little harder, but each balanced by new light shining over my destination. Lotsa clouds in Seattle (again, pray for me!), but something tells me i'll be reminded on the cloudy days to simply remember & be filled.. each day finding it's light.
So... right now sitting under a tree, by a stream... just found this gem of a psalm.. I wanna be like this tree.. they're the coolest
"...he is like a tree planted by streams of water... whatever he does prospers."
.. click for the whole thing...
~The creek out back~
Thursday, December 6, 2012
"Choose a girl who reads..."
“…If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at two a.m. clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.
You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.
Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.
Or better yet, date a girl who writes.“
- Rosemarie Urquico
Monday, November 19, 2012
Title: Lacking inspiration for a title
I was once told you could tell a true lover of reading, by whether or not they re-read books... this made so much sense to me, and in that moment reading took on a whole new light. I already enjoyed reading, but it almost felt like a harvesting effort, rather than simply for the enjoyment of picking the fruit offered between the rows of words.
I'm re-reading a book currently. Mountains of Spices, by hannah hurnard. It's an allegory which in it the "King" has just taken one of his transformed daughters named "grace and glory" up to the mountain of pomegranates, or rather the mountain of 'love'. The pomegranate here represents love (duh?). Without going into my crazy appreciation for the colorful combination of words she uses to describe this place's beauty, I want to share some thoughts I had drawn from reading this chapter...
I think actually I'll just type my maybe sloppy notes i jotted after finishing it.. then touch on a few spots..
"Love... Love is giving of oneself to others.. Others over ourselves.. As we've crowded out love with anything contrary to perfect, fruits stop growing, and the disparities in wealth only continue to widen. He came as the complete expression of love, his appearance glowed with the love we can only anticipate one day being reunited with. But as evil makes haste, and disparities widen, a cleansing is on its way, the uniqueness of our time is obvious.. and Jesus will return and we will feel that love once again, true life.. but first comes birth pains. Living a life (every aspect) of love is what we're called to, for others to enjoy and crave our fruit, and ourselves to experience true joy and gladness. That feeling, love... ever felt it, how? Now imagine perfect love free from the tics of pain, anxiousness, fear, or any other lovesucking creature. That is what awaits, but if what awaited you, we're already here, would you choose to wait? Heaven is now, earth in all its beauty is where we all as one can claim citizenship, and one day, under our creator, it will be so... free from evil.. which lying at the root of every species is the love of money.. 'The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.', blocking off healthy growth with whatever will break soil being the root...
Don't love it, free yourself from the lust for it, give it freely as the spirit guides, and in your giving you will be blessed, you will have manna for the day.. that's the promise.. and apparently manna was the bomb"
So...
I truly wonder if we have a clue just how unique this sliver of human history is that we are able to experience. I sit here, in a perfect chair made of a cow, relaxing behind four panes of glass enjoying the stars and moon, free from the wind & rain. I have music in the background, music that on my demand can be from any culture, time period, genre... anything.. should I choose. On my lap (also in my pocket), sits a device that can instantly tell me just about anything I want to know in the world... if I just ask siri nicely.. not to mention live-stream revolutions happening on the other side of the world. I could go drive to the nearest city and choose food from just about any significantly populated country. I could go downstairs and instantly have boiling water (no kiddin), cubes of ice by the dozens, a box that with a few buttons heats anything.. I mean comeon...
I could go on longer than you could hold your pee in.. my point.?.. try and understand that we live in an extremely unique period of human history... with that device in your pocket or on your lap - like all things i believe created by man - it is capable of equal amounts of bad as good. With it we aren't allowed to hide from knowledge of the disparities in the world. Wider and wider they grow...
The requirements of love for me are i struggle for... i've learned i'm not good at it (i'm human). So when I stare Love in the face, learning it's definition in reading the life of Loves expression made in the likeness of a man, i'm reminded, & recentered. He walked this earth, for three years, and every single first impression of people who believed in what he had to offer (love), was one not of the usual substance... and those that stayed near him grew comfortable in his offering, and themselves went out to share that love... 'taking nothing with them'... he was enough.
I'm trying to figure out a creative way of saying that me writing this, I'm writing it to myself (truly)... nothing.
I don't know why I'm so blessed to have such comfort.. really. And I'm daily soaked in a new world of work where those 'disparities' are about as unobvious as maybe three hovering humming birds... right in front of your face... wearing cowboy hats.
You know it's there...
i live suspended in this balance almost every day, and while I'm suspended I believe for the cause of good, it means too that my own weaknesses are magnified as I scramble for strength amidst the suspension. In ways I feel stronger.. in ways - even in the process of growth - I don't..
But what I read tonight in allegory - the story of love and it's unique supremacy of the ultimate good among man - I saw the purity in Love and it's offerings, and my insides shrunk in humble thanks for knowing the God of love. And Jesus, the living, and then dying, but then living manifestation of that Love. He's a gift for us...
It's a damn shame thinking of all the ways the name of Christ has been used, abused, jammed into unwilling ears.. instead of simply offering the expression of that which we say we believe in... love...
It's a beautiful thing meeting a person who doesn't make the same claims to faith as myself, maybe they don't even have a faith, but they love genuinely those around them... I always learn something from these people.. and find myself craving more..
So, I guess the thing I'm struck with tonight, I'll leave you with.. I'm thankful in new but familiar ways for an example to look to in Jesus, the example I can glean eternal wisdom from as I live in a suspended world of such obvious disparity.. in an age that is undeniably unique. And as ever growing evils battle evergrowing love for the right to exist on this planet... i'm locked in imagining the new earth, that which awaits those who will one day experience the wholeness of that which they struggled for on earth... and I see the purpose of love, to bring that earth to bear, to bring the love of our eternal dwelling down into the suspension... and free from fear of death, free from ourselves, we grow fruit who's source of nourishment, whose roots are founded in eternal virtues... the greatest of which is love. I imagine our existence in eternity is merely where we find ourselves locked into that which exists only in the roots of our lives here on earth.. the roots don't lie.
So if love is chosen, the source of love which we experience in glimpses on earth, we'll walk alongside existing wholly in the direct path of that Love... for always..
Anyway..
Choose Love people..
Over n out
I'm re-reading a book currently. Mountains of Spices, by hannah hurnard. It's an allegory which in it the "King" has just taken one of his transformed daughters named "grace and glory" up to the mountain of pomegranates, or rather the mountain of 'love'. The pomegranate here represents love (duh?). Without going into my crazy appreciation for the colorful combination of words she uses to describe this place's beauty, I want to share some thoughts I had drawn from reading this chapter...
I think actually I'll just type my maybe sloppy notes i jotted after finishing it.. then touch on a few spots..
"Love... Love is giving of oneself to others.. Others over ourselves.. As we've crowded out love with anything contrary to perfect, fruits stop growing, and the disparities in wealth only continue to widen. He came as the complete expression of love, his appearance glowed with the love we can only anticipate one day being reunited with. But as evil makes haste, and disparities widen, a cleansing is on its way, the uniqueness of our time is obvious.. and Jesus will return and we will feel that love once again, true life.. but first comes birth pains. Living a life (every aspect) of love is what we're called to, for others to enjoy and crave our fruit, and ourselves to experience true joy and gladness. That feeling, love... ever felt it, how? Now imagine perfect love free from the tics of pain, anxiousness, fear, or any other lovesucking creature. That is what awaits, but if what awaited you, we're already here, would you choose to wait? Heaven is now, earth in all its beauty is where we all as one can claim citizenship, and one day, under our creator, it will be so... free from evil.. which lying at the root of every species is the love of money.. 'The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.', blocking off healthy growth with whatever will break soil being the root...
Don't love it, free yourself from the lust for it, give it freely as the spirit guides, and in your giving you will be blessed, you will have manna for the day.. that's the promise.. and apparently manna was the bomb"
So...
I truly wonder if we have a clue just how unique this sliver of human history is that we are able to experience. I sit here, in a perfect chair made of a cow, relaxing behind four panes of glass enjoying the stars and moon, free from the wind & rain. I have music in the background, music that on my demand can be from any culture, time period, genre... anything.. should I choose. On my lap (also in my pocket), sits a device that can instantly tell me just about anything I want to know in the world... if I just ask siri nicely.. not to mention live-stream revolutions happening on the other side of the world. I could go drive to the nearest city and choose food from just about any significantly populated country. I could go downstairs and instantly have boiling water (no kiddin), cubes of ice by the dozens, a box that with a few buttons heats anything.. I mean comeon...
I could go on longer than you could hold your pee in.. my point.?.. try and understand that we live in an extremely unique period of human history... with that device in your pocket or on your lap - like all things i believe created by man - it is capable of equal amounts of bad as good. With it we aren't allowed to hide from knowledge of the disparities in the world. Wider and wider they grow...
The requirements of love for me are i struggle for... i've learned i'm not good at it (i'm human). So when I stare Love in the face, learning it's definition in reading the life of Loves expression made in the likeness of a man, i'm reminded, & recentered. He walked this earth, for three years, and every single first impression of people who believed in what he had to offer (love), was one not of the usual substance... and those that stayed near him grew comfortable in his offering, and themselves went out to share that love... 'taking nothing with them'... he was enough.
I'm trying to figure out a creative way of saying that me writing this, I'm writing it to myself (truly)... nothing.
I don't know why I'm so blessed to have such comfort.. really. And I'm daily soaked in a new world of work where those 'disparities' are about as unobvious as maybe three hovering humming birds... right in front of your face... wearing cowboy hats.
You know it's there...
i live suspended in this balance almost every day, and while I'm suspended I believe for the cause of good, it means too that my own weaknesses are magnified as I scramble for strength amidst the suspension. In ways I feel stronger.. in ways - even in the process of growth - I don't..
But what I read tonight in allegory - the story of love and it's unique supremacy of the ultimate good among man - I saw the purity in Love and it's offerings, and my insides shrunk in humble thanks for knowing the God of love. And Jesus, the living, and then dying, but then living manifestation of that Love. He's a gift for us...
It's a damn shame thinking of all the ways the name of Christ has been used, abused, jammed into unwilling ears.. instead of simply offering the expression of that which we say we believe in... love...
It's a beautiful thing meeting a person who doesn't make the same claims to faith as myself, maybe they don't even have a faith, but they love genuinely those around them... I always learn something from these people.. and find myself craving more..
So, I guess the thing I'm struck with tonight, I'll leave you with.. I'm thankful in new but familiar ways for an example to look to in Jesus, the example I can glean eternal wisdom from as I live in a suspended world of such obvious disparity.. in an age that is undeniably unique. And as ever growing evils battle evergrowing love for the right to exist on this planet... i'm locked in imagining the new earth, that which awaits those who will one day experience the wholeness of that which they struggled for on earth... and I see the purpose of love, to bring that earth to bear, to bring the love of our eternal dwelling down into the suspension... and free from fear of death, free from ourselves, we grow fruit who's source of nourishment, whose roots are founded in eternal virtues... the greatest of which is love. I imagine our existence in eternity is merely where we find ourselves locked into that which exists only in the roots of our lives here on earth.. the roots don't lie.
So if love is chosen, the source of love which we experience in glimpses on earth, we'll walk alongside existing wholly in the direct path of that Love... for always..
Anyway..
Choose Love people..
Over n out
Thursday, October 25, 2012
The new job -- on ma way to Chicago
Back on a plane heading east, I once again find myself with one of life's pages in hand, turning it with excitement towards what appears to be a new chapter... how in this coming chapter will the one holding the pen make sense of my past (the ups & the downs... He always does), while bringing new questions, new hopes, new possibilities for the unwritten future.
The new job. So ya, i'm on this plane heading to chicago with plans to dive in headfirst for round two with Warm Blankets Orphan Care. Starting with a completely random (riiiight..) phone call while in the middle of our road trip, Craig (boss @ wb) presented me with the possibility of coming back on the team with a newly defined objective... analyze the water quality of our over 200 orphan homes, become more educated on the many different water solutions available in the third world, go after donors to get the program underwritten & the wheels rollin, find solutions for homes in need of better quality water, then forming teams to take across & do the installations (if necessary). The water guy.. So much more to come here...
My month on the road I've explained was in many ways a month of healing, as well as a month of epiphany... a month spent shedding my own foggy self interests to see clearly His desires for my life. I've always found unique peace in being on the road, and always will. The epiphany was this... I'm ready.
In no way would I take back the last four years of misadventures, in fact I can't imagine where I'd be without them... they've proven vital to my developing into.. well, me.. the today me. I encourage everyone... if there's an itch, itch it.. if there's a curiosity, explore it... but throughout keep your ears open and your spirit raw to the touch and guidance of His voice... and "whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'this is the way, walk in it.'" Is 30:21 The spirit which confirmed my place while on the river, on the road, and wherever, is the same spirit that when I listen now, is calling me to a new direction... and in shedding my selfish desires (the tree farm, maui in the spring, another summer on the river etc...), I was brought through into a field of vision for the next three to five years of my life that I hadn't even imagined before I let the other things go... healing.. epiphany... I'm learning to trust Him more and more each day..
So...
To the right, or to the left... it don't matter. Do you get it? It's not important which direction we go, just so long as we follow the voice of God's spirit... we are in the right way. The voice? "great.. luke's a wacko" Ya, voices (sort of)... a spiritual realm exists amongst us, don't fool yourself. Spirits feeding us lies about ourselves, about others impressions of ourselves, about our capabilities, our past, our appearance, our future... everything. Then there're spirits of truth... & asking of the Holy Spirit - the one which resides above them all, the spirit of our Lord - to come in and fight on the side of good, for you, for me.. for all who seek to know, and believe in Him and his promises.. this is 'the way'. Promises of freedom, of life, of joy, of community, of abundance, of generational blessing.. not free however from suffering, persecution & the likes.. they exist together.. joy in suffering.. it's real.
I'm still learning this.. I would hope to never stop learning this i guess...
I got this visual about a month or so back, it was on the river & I was having a discussion with someone where the physics of the river and the movement of water came up... I learned in this conversation that the fastest place on the river is... where? The eddy-line. The eddy-line is where the current meets the eddy (eddies are usually created by rocks in the water, causing water to go back up stream behind the rock, creating a nice break from the current), creating swirls of water accelerating along the convergence of the two... the eddy-line. The fastest place isn't where I'd've imagined... no, it's not the thick of the current.
While my left brain is learning these new things, my right brain seemed to be simultaneously painting a beautiful image of my life made sense by this new understanding... It's not in the current of society where I've found life, but near the eddies. In the current we're fooled into believing everything is okay... The failing economy, our tortured ecosystem, the manipulated media, poverty & riches.. lied to (opening that box soon). Nearing the eddies we're exposed to all sorts of people. Whether it's Haiti, Peru, the river, the tree farm,... anywhere on the road and in-between I've sought to be near those who challenge me, those outside the current. I don't want to imply that allll i've met along the way have been 'lost' in the eddy.. not even close. In fact it's in these places where I've found myself, it's in the people, the ones I've met and grown close to along the way... But it's where I've been called to shine my light.. and it's in these places i've been met by many different forms of 'light' - as well as new n different forms of darkness - but mostly light.. I'll spend my whole life learning the uniqueness of people's light and still not fill the whole of the spectrum which i'm convinced can only be found in the face of God ..
Anyway, the eddy...
With this new understanding of water, and the painting still working itself out in my right brain, my left made immediate sense of it's interpretation... living in the eddy-line is good, it's where you meet those in need - those going back up stream - with your light, your hope... the risk here (i've learned) is getting swept into the eddy, and then yourself being pulled back upstream. I've found myself in-n-out of eddies.. and more and more I find myself pushing away from the main current. the eddy-line, this is where I aim to be... Forgive me for speaking in such general terms... it's just that each journey is unique, and to each it's own eddy, eddy-line & current. Imagine for yourself where the eddyline might be in your life... just a touch outside your comfort zone.. aware of the risks.. risks of the eddy as well as the current.. and then finding life swirling between the two, touching both, moving faster and with the kinda purpose that keeps ya on your toes... and remember, "where there are two." This is important..
We begin work tomorrow on defining this new position... please send me your prayers/good thoughts as I go forward... The plane has been circling over O'Hare for about half an hour now.. apparently Air Force one and el presidente are making a quick pit stop on their way back to the White House... so obama can cast his vote... for himself... no kiddin... but now we're landing, so i've gotta run.. more soon
be well friends,
luke
The new job. So ya, i'm on this plane heading to chicago with plans to dive in headfirst for round two with Warm Blankets Orphan Care. Starting with a completely random (riiiight..) phone call while in the middle of our road trip, Craig (boss @ wb) presented me with the possibility of coming back on the team with a newly defined objective... analyze the water quality of our over 200 orphan homes, become more educated on the many different water solutions available in the third world, go after donors to get the program underwritten & the wheels rollin, find solutions for homes in need of better quality water, then forming teams to take across & do the installations (if necessary). The water guy.. So much more to come here...
My month on the road I've explained was in many ways a month of healing, as well as a month of epiphany... a month spent shedding my own foggy self interests to see clearly His desires for my life. I've always found unique peace in being on the road, and always will. The epiphany was this... I'm ready.
In no way would I take back the last four years of misadventures, in fact I can't imagine where I'd be without them... they've proven vital to my developing into.. well, me.. the today me. I encourage everyone... if there's an itch, itch it.. if there's a curiosity, explore it... but throughout keep your ears open and your spirit raw to the touch and guidance of His voice... and "whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'this is the way, walk in it.'" Is 30:21 The spirit which confirmed my place while on the river, on the road, and wherever, is the same spirit that when I listen now, is calling me to a new direction... and in shedding my selfish desires (the tree farm, maui in the spring, another summer on the river etc...), I was brought through into a field of vision for the next three to five years of my life that I hadn't even imagined before I let the other things go... healing.. epiphany... I'm learning to trust Him more and more each day..
So...
To the right, or to the left... it don't matter. Do you get it? It's not important which direction we go, just so long as we follow the voice of God's spirit... we are in the right way. The voice? "great.. luke's a wacko" Ya, voices (sort of)... a spiritual realm exists amongst us, don't fool yourself. Spirits feeding us lies about ourselves, about others impressions of ourselves, about our capabilities, our past, our appearance, our future... everything. Then there're spirits of truth... & asking of the Holy Spirit - the one which resides above them all, the spirit of our Lord - to come in and fight on the side of good, for you, for me.. for all who seek to know, and believe in Him and his promises.. this is 'the way'. Promises of freedom, of life, of joy, of community, of abundance, of generational blessing.. not free however from suffering, persecution & the likes.. they exist together.. joy in suffering.. it's real.
I'm still learning this.. I would hope to never stop learning this i guess...
I got this visual about a month or so back, it was on the river & I was having a discussion with someone where the physics of the river and the movement of water came up... I learned in this conversation that the fastest place on the river is... where? The eddy-line. The eddy-line is where the current meets the eddy (eddies are usually created by rocks in the water, causing water to go back up stream behind the rock, creating a nice break from the current), creating swirls of water accelerating along the convergence of the two... the eddy-line. The fastest place isn't where I'd've imagined... no, it's not the thick of the current.
While my left brain is learning these new things, my right brain seemed to be simultaneously painting a beautiful image of my life made sense by this new understanding... It's not in the current of society where I've found life, but near the eddies. In the current we're fooled into believing everything is okay... The failing economy, our tortured ecosystem, the manipulated media, poverty & riches.. lied to (opening that box soon). Nearing the eddies we're exposed to all sorts of people. Whether it's Haiti, Peru, the river, the tree farm,... anywhere on the road and in-between I've sought to be near those who challenge me, those outside the current. I don't want to imply that allll i've met along the way have been 'lost' in the eddy.. not even close. In fact it's in these places where I've found myself, it's in the people, the ones I've met and grown close to along the way... But it's where I've been called to shine my light.. and it's in these places i've been met by many different forms of 'light' - as well as new n different forms of darkness - but mostly light.. I'll spend my whole life learning the uniqueness of people's light and still not fill the whole of the spectrum which i'm convinced can only be found in the face of God ..
Anyway, the eddy...
With this new understanding of water, and the painting still working itself out in my right brain, my left made immediate sense of it's interpretation... living in the eddy-line is good, it's where you meet those in need - those going back up stream - with your light, your hope... the risk here (i've learned) is getting swept into the eddy, and then yourself being pulled back upstream. I've found myself in-n-out of eddies.. and more and more I find myself pushing away from the main current. the eddy-line, this is where I aim to be... Forgive me for speaking in such general terms... it's just that each journey is unique, and to each it's own eddy, eddy-line & current. Imagine for yourself where the eddyline might be in your life... just a touch outside your comfort zone.. aware of the risks.. risks of the eddy as well as the current.. and then finding life swirling between the two, touching both, moving faster and with the kinda purpose that keeps ya on your toes... and remember, "where there are two." This is important..
We begin work tomorrow on defining this new position... please send me your prayers/good thoughts as I go forward... The plane has been circling over O'Hare for about half an hour now.. apparently Air Force one and el presidente are making a quick pit stop on their way back to the White House... so obama can cast his vote... for himself... no kiddin... but now we're landing, so i've gotta run.. more soon
be well friends,
luke
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