Killing the Roommate

I made some chili con carne for dinner tonight. Josè Manuel almost died. I think we´re going to get along just fine!

Arriving completely

Stepping off the last plane and walking into my last airport terminal yesterday found me ten minutes ahead of schedule, minus two bags and one ride home. Its funny how these things don't bother me anymore. Granted I was in a quasi-alive, stuporous state, but I had arrived completely with anything I would ever really need. The ride was coming soon cause the friends were late. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew that they would take care of me, cause I know my friends. And who cares about the bags.

The point isn't that I didn't have bags, nor a ride, nor even that I didn't care. The point is that I've got friends who love me and I count myself lucky because of it.

Incidentally, the luggage arrived the next morning.

Things left unsaid.

I'll be setting sail again tomorrow for Santiago. I'm looking forward to getting back. The month I've spent back at home has been difficult for me. Well, difficult and a joy all at the same time. It has been such a joy to sit down with so many people one on one, catch up with each other, and share what God is doing and about what I'm learning. The really fascinating thing is more often than not, the reply I get is, "That's funny. That's exactly the same thing God has been showing me!" Why are we ever surprised?

The difficult part is that these conversations are a precious few. Most people don't really understand what I do. They think I'm just out of college, too lazy to get a real job and I'm on some kind of paid vacation. They aren't really interested in what I might have to share with them. How do you explain to some one who isn't interested in listening that they have a listening problem? How do you explain to some one that life is an experience and not an equation? When I spend time with some one, I am not accomplishing a series of tasks with them. I am not pouring money or time into them. I am pouring me into them. That's the hardest work there is because it leaves you with nothing left, and nothing to show for it. Some people might think that's a poor investment. I don't happen to agree.

Sometimes I'm in a conversation or I'm speaking, and I have all of these things bursting to be explained and shared. But then I see the look of indifference in their eyes, the unbridgeable chasm between us experientially... and some things have to be left unsaid. They have experience it for themselves, and I'm not the one who can show them.


Just something I was reading:

"At the end of his essay, [John] captured an amazing conversation between
Jesus and Peter. Jesus keeps saying to Peter, "Do you love me?" And
Peter keeps saying,"Yes, yes I do; You know that I do, " but Jesus doesn't
believe Peter and keeps asking him the same question again and again. It's
quite dramatic, really. The way John writes about Jesus makes you feel like the
sum of our faith is a kind of constant dialogue about whether or not we love
Him. I grew up believing that a Christian didn't have to love God or
anybody else; he just had to believe some things and be willing to take a stand
for the things he believed in. John seemed to embrace the relational dynamic of our faith."

-Donald Miller, Searching for God Knows
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