Child's Play

Can I be honest?

That was a rhetorical question.  If your answer was 'no' then the rest of this page should serve as notice that you've got to the end of this sentence to change your mind or close your browser.

Very well...the courageous endure.

I am crushed.  Like a ship searching too closely to shore for safe harbor, I am dashed on the rocks of love denied.  I.  Am.  Crushed.  I haven't slept in three days.  I'm starting to see that my love (or lack) life most closely resembles a game of red rover, red rover, send Jackie on over; a child's game for adults.  I rush headlong into bonds which, far from pliable, barely bend.  Like the pathetic child who was first withheld, I redouble my efforts only to find a redoubled resistance.  Exhausted and alone, I succumb to reality.  Then, suddenly, the voice of a friend echoes through my head: "what does 'trusting God' look like in regards to our dating relationships?"

I did not have a good response when I was first presented with the question so I said nothing.  I still don't have a good response but current events demand a response so I'm going to plagiarize a bit.  Let's start with the proverbial wisdom:  guard your heart.  This seems to work and it fits pretty well with my normal cynicism (which makes me look smart for having the answer all along).  I'm imagining men in dark suits with their backs to the world restraining any and all comers from the celebrity of my heart.  This image works for me...too bad it's wrong.  Just ask C.S. Lewis.

Let's try a different kind of guard…a royal guard (with funny hats if you like)?   They would guard differently.  They would not look in, but out at the world.  The would only enemies of the Kingdom would be restrained while all others would come and go freely.  We're progressing.  If you believe that God took out our heart of stone and gave us a heart of flesh--finally capable of joy and kindness--and this same God plans to give us a future and a hope, withholds no good, sends nothing unnecessary, and commits to finish the good work He has begun in us--if you believe that--then the answer is simple.  Trusting God means guarding against a hardening heart.  If relationships don't work, if life doesn't work out, out then grieve, shave your head, tear you tunic; but, don't ever harden your heart.

Why?  Because a hard heart is rigid, small, fragile and selfish.  Hard hearts live a life on rails.  A life without possibility of pain is a life without options, potential and freedom.  We'd miss so much because there is so much to miss...

Wine Tasting - These kinds of things are lost on me.  Red, white, dessert, breakfast, champagne...whatever.  If it tastes like fruit and makes me want to dance, I'll have two.  Fortunately the fine folks at Wine World hold little events like this for lost causes like me.  5-8pm tonight at Wine World in North Augusta, $5ish.

Into the Woods - If they ever make a Jake London action figure (I'm currently in talks with Mattel), it would not be without authentic Kung-fu grip, devastating Judo chop action, and two tickets to an upcoming theater event.  If said toy were released today, it would be awesome and in need of a date (caribou Barbie, maybe?) for the Augusta Players' performance of Into the Woods this weekend (Real Life Jake will be at the Saturday show).  Tickets from $15 at the Imperial Theatre.

Downtown Work Day - Here's one of those things hard hearted people miss.  These kinds of things expand our plotline...they give us an opportunity to add depth to our community, and we'll never experience that depth as long as we are the lead character--the only character--in our respective story.  Good work with good friends will, appropriately, be followed by a good feast.  8am Saturday, $4 for the food.

Miller Theater Birthday Celebration - I never really realized that the Miller Theater was such a big deal.  It was built in 1940 (it'll be 69 this year) by Frank Miller (a man who could be credited with bring the performing arts to Augusta) to accommodate a growing demand for film and movie productions.  The theater was abandoned in the 80's only to be recently been revived and converted in to condominiums.  Join the Friends of the Miller for cake and guided tours 3pm on Sunday.

Other than the Bible, I really rely heavily on the movie Rounders for intense theological and philosophical discourse:  "You can't lose what you don't put in the middle...But you can't win much either."  Amen.  Trusting God doesn't mean we'll lose less and it doesn't mean we'll suffer less--it means we'll live more.

-Jake

Disclaimer: this is hardly an exhaustive analysis of the topic.  In an effort to be brief, I've left a lot unsaid.  Also, I'm not a historian, theologian, pastor, teacher, etc.  I am a Christian who has wrestled and is wrestling with this topic.  These thoughts are the thoughts that have been poured into me over the last year and I'm sure they will change as I grow.  My only hope is that these words will be a guide for the reader toward Christ.  If they are not...discard immediately.

Grammatically Speaking

They call it Language Arts...Language Arts.  Art is hardly a word I would use in the same sentence as mention of that 8th grade dual-hour disaster, much less a word I would use to describe the result; but, there it is in the name, begging to be rightly understood.

I only bring it up because I was reading and thinking the other day (hard to believe perhaps, but it was stardate 2-7-2009 and I remember it vividly because the two have not simultaneously occurred prior nor since) and something I read stopped me dead in my proverbial tracks.  Sadly, I can't remember what it was that struck me (now, that's good story telling...) but I do remember the feeling.  I took note of the feeling because it wasn't my normal feeling of bewilderment, that "wait-what-did-I-just-read" fogginess that accompanies any sentence with two commas or a word with four syllables (a man must know his limits).  Instead it was almost a moment of clarity.  A moment of wow.  Oh, the artistry of language.  Now I get that which my 8th grade brain had no interest to learn and my teacher had no will to teach (bless her heart).

The thought of my MLA handbook as a craftsman's tool is an affront to my digestion and an insult to my ignorance but there it is...the truth is often uncomfortable and rarely within my grasp.  Here are few writers who have elevated language to an art form...in a single sentence.

Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.  - Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, to Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. - Titus by Paul the Apostle

Call me Ishmael. - Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Every comma ups the ante and I plead "tell me more!"  You see, great stories are lovingly crafted by gifted wordsmiths and those stories give color and life to experiences which, left to lesser hands (read: my hands) would be short, boring and poorly punctuated.  But, I'm not totally without use.  Great stories do have to start somewhere, and I might just have a few ideas....

Jamey Johnson - So, I was at this bar last Friday night....not exactly the stuff of legends, eh?  Let me suggest that it's all a matter of framing.  How about "so, I was dancing with this girl last Friday night."  Better, right?  Give it a shot Friday night at The Country Club.  Jamey Johnson will provide the tunes, the rest is up to you, slick.  $15 in advance.

Dawn Walk - For those of you who know me, this suggestion will strike you as odd (for those of you who don't know me...Hi, I'm Jake).  Rarely has my story begun before dawn or in nature but "it takes all kinds" (so they say) and you might just be that kind.  Phinizy Swamp at 5:30am on Saturday.  Bring $5 for the fee, a coat for the cold and a friend for the company because I won't be there.

Serve Augusta - You like options?  Show up at Warren Baptist Church on Saturday morning at 8:30 and you'll have all the options you can handle.  A veritable choose-your-own-adventure of story telling.  Personally, I'll be heading down to the Widow's Home to do some demolition and clean up but that is just one of the many many options available.  This one won't cost you a dime but the best part is that service is the stuff of legends.

Battle of Aiken - If starting a whole new story sounds a bit overwhelming; this is the outing for you.  All you have to do is show up and watch people relive the tried and true story of the Battle of Aiken.  Never heard of it?  Me neither.  Confederate history not your thing?  Maybe bar-b-que is.  The battle will rage all day Friday and Saturday and the bar-b-que will follow on Saturday when, presumably, the Union and Confederate soldiers will settle their differences and pass the potato salad.

We humans have been telling our stories, good and bad, since the beginning of time.  So, when you answer the question "What did you do last weekend" I hope you'll answer artfully and with lots of commas.

-Jake