Accept The Cookies

to be exact

2009-02-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

It has been a week like.....one of those.... one of those weeks that you hope to look back on and laugh about months from now. School is just stupid tuff right now. The things you go through, the hours you take to exit and pursue elsewhere......well 18 to be exact.

Prayer

A dinner coming up- the 28th to exact.

RSVPs..... where are you?

Things out of our hands are so much fun when the fruit is coming...... so damn frustrating when it's not.

The rest of this week will tell- Do people want a free meal and pitch from a couple of misfits about Africa?

We'll see

Always miss you,
Michael

p.s. reunion camping with Dan B. and friends...... yeah that picture

...

2009-01-26T15:31:00.000-08:00

This morning was perhaps the best morning i've had in a long time. Maybe it was waking up an hour early, maybe it was the oatmeal, maybe it was the coffee, but it was probably a steady mixture of all the above with a nostalgic layer of flurries to seal the deal. It was good.

Then, I bought The Welcome Wagon's new c.d...... do whatever you have to to get that c.d. (welcome to the welcome wagon)..... One word: Sufjan

I wrote a letter to the editor at the times in Gainesville masked under a title concerning athlete's clueless parents in Hall county......which it was about, but perhaps the title was incomplete.... it should have read, "Athletes, Parents, often have their priorities wrong.....also this town makes me want to vomit for the rest of the day." http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/13912/

I'm going through some discipleship with a new believer and friend.... we're going through Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell and Don Golden. Excellent book. In it I fell like Bell finally gives a more complete picture of his theology. Not only that, he finally gets a little specific about certain issues and tragedies in the church. The kid that I am going through the book with, asked me some excellent questions which I must say, I have been asking older, wiser people than me for about 2 years and have yet to receive a biblical answer.
Here are a couple he threw at me:

"I just don't understand, I am reading through the Gospels for myself for the first time, I mean actually reading them, and I just can't reconcile parts of the church to them......."

"......How do so many people in the church support capitol punishment? I see zero basis for it in the scriptures (NEW Covenant scriptures)"

"How does the church advocate violence as much as it does? A 7 year old who can just now read could gather that violence is wrong from the scriptures"

"How does the church support war as much as it does?" "I know in the old testament or covenant or whatever God commanded war, but that was the OLD covenant, what was Jesus and the new covenant for then?"

(If we(gentiles) are grafted into the tree(the Jewish one that is), then we all take part in the new covenant, the way of Jesus.)

I have asked these questions, and not once have I ever been given a biblical answer to justify these things.

I usually get crazy hypotheticals like:

"So you walk in your house and a crazed man on 11 drugs is raping your whole family, would you not kill him?"

"So are you a pacifist? So what about WWII? The Revolutionary War?"

Sadly I never hear scripture supported answers.

And praise God that I do not hear:

Well how about when Jesus picks up the first stone and begins to stone the adulterer? (Of course, that didn't happen)
(It was the law to do so, a law given by God to Moses...So I guess that was Jesus breaking his own law?, or perhaps just giving us a clearer picture of how a person interacts with man in the New Kingdom, perhaps He was saying, "no, more killing will only get us farther from Eden, but forgiveness, forgiveness will get us back there."

I really need to study for a GOVT test,

Michael

Listen to more Jon Foreman, The Welcome Wagon, and Arcade Fire than you are now.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and me being on this site again.

2009-01-03T16:41:00.000-08:00

Well after a good time away, I think I will return to this public display of emotion or indifference if for no other reason than to to keep tabs on the family, and get a thing out here and there. So why not start with Benjamin.
If you have yet to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, then watch it and right soon. Well.... uhhh now that I am here and ready to type, not sure what to say. I could take the time to describe the film, deliberately ruin it to be an ass, and tell you my favorite parts..... or you can see it for yourself then call me to have an extensive conversation. Instead, I will just tell you this. As the credits rolled Justen and I just sat there, misty eyed and plotting our life of worth, only to finally get up thinking we were the last to leave, we were the soldiers who were so affected by this masterpiece of a film, that we sat still for a whole ten minutes to try and process..... but as we we crawled out of our seats, I noticed him. Sitting directly behind us was a man, maybe 70 years of age, and his face was....... well.... He was smiling and he was crying and he was silently screaming and ranting on just how beautiful life is..........
.............................................
In other news, i'm about to start my last semester of school....about to try and start over, about to try and create, about to try and love, try and stay in and out of touch, try and find and lose, try and filter, try and balance.

MichaelDavid

(christmas fun in pictures)

2008-04-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

I have been sitting in this stuffy lab for some time now.....Not one word, thought, or click in the direction of anything pertaining to school.....Maybe it's listening to Billie Holiday.....Or maybe I have been studying for the last three months, and I, 4th grade style, just don't want to do it....(cue a temper tantrum). I just keep telling myself that a book analysis or a test over medieval art matters in the slightest.

Balance
Every morning it seems I just want to want to strike a better balance.....Holy Spirit/desire/listening/speaking/touching/smelling/crying/laughing/people/school.
And perhaps Jesus' best example of such would be in his ability to be a man and God, all in one human/sweet/holy breath.
sometimes it seems impossible in the midst of my rich man problems: gas lights, homework, people who love me, etc.
Rich man problems are....well nothing almost, not hot or cold, barely bitter sweet.....not trivial enough to ignore them, not serious enough to feel sorry for myself over. This discussion in and of itself: Rich man problems.

Family
From Trey(bro) to Gus to Matt to chris(ty) to Joanna to Robby to Teec to Mom to Dad- The thought of us making dinner in a house we have no business being in on a beach we have no business being able to visit is lovely enough to look my professors in the face and tell them I care. 2 weeks and I'll be "heading down south to the land of the pine".......On my way and see you soon.

Michael

pictures: where I am to where i'll be, if only a short while.

p.s. listen to more Ben Kweller than you are right now- www.myspace.com/benkweller

Not I but Christ....Really?

2008-04-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

So- Longboarding the other day, in beautiful downtown Lynchburg, with the lovely Mark Mellette, and Ryan Zimont......Really and truly so relaxing after a week void of sleep and full of books. How do I like all of this.?....?....All this, is coming to a close. But to at least attempt to follow the subject line thought, I will get back on track the best I can.

Longboarding
Down mainstreet, and like any other sunday afternoon, there was no one. That was of course until the honking started. Let me preface the rest of this story with noting that we(you, your friends, and most anything will wheels) have a right to be on the road, especially with two other lanes to your right.

Refusing to drive around, she stayed on the horn for about 20 seconds......then finally, drove around and pulled over......But as she drove around, I saw it, those of us from Lynchburg know it very well, we see it often, a sticker that read Thomas Road Baptist Church's mantra, "Not I, but Christ" So, seeing that she was upset and calling the police, I rode over to her car to talk.....After many attempts to get her to roll the window down to talk, she only gave me a look that was nothing short of deadly. So through the window, real close like, I told her how much I liked her sticker, about 20 times I must have told her, until finally we rode off before her cop in shinning armor showed up.

I don't know what to make of that.
Thank God we weren't a couple of skeptical high school kids, getting all of our stereotypes confirmed.
Have I confirmed stereotypes? Have you? Do we still live in a state of dying to self as long as it does not mean sacrificing our beloved temper or short fuses....our oh so hard to penetrate bubble. But.............. as long as we keep telling ourselves what a good job we are doing, I don't see it really changing. But haven't you heard all of this before, haven't I? Is there anything truly knew to learn. The Kingdom is and has been.
I don't know what to make of that.
But...............
School is close to done and I will see my family. I will see my Guatemalan family(16 days). I will go to weddings and see some love.....it's good to see love, keeps me thinking that one day I might come to understand it a bit.....or something like that......don't care right now, kind of scary. Love you

Michael

And that's how it all started

2008-03-28T06:09:00.000-07:00

"When you have insomnia you're never really asleep, and you're never really awake."
-Tyler Durden

I can't sleep. Two out of the last three nights have been spent rolling and staring at the ceiling......So I kind of can't live either....I really do feel moderately like a zombie going from class to class.....But I can doze in class, the sound of a professor regurgitating facts and information can somehow do the trick. So I guess I cant get enough of it. I find myself bubbly at the thought of crawling into my next class and sleeping right in front of my professor. Just bubbly.

miguaekutoicantsleep

pictures include what all faces look like right now

Accept the Cookies

2008-03-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

It seems that for the past year or so, one of the few things that God has been showing me- is children.
Well, I should say has showed me as much as he has anyone who so chooses to read through the red letters. We see constantly Jesus' love for children. For probably the same reason we love children. They believe us. Anything we say, they believe. Anything we do, they immitate quite accurately. They love us absolutely.

In the midst of skeptics, Pharisees, and even his disciples constantly questioning Jesus, I can imagine it to have been quite refreashing to have children run to him for simply his touch (Matthew 19:13-15). The rest want a sign (Matthew 16:1-4), but the children just come. Jesus goes as far as saying that unless we become as children, the Kingdom is not for us (Matthew 18:3-4). And considering that same Kingdom is here and now, perhaps Jesus would have us humble oursleves in child-like wonder, here and now.

I then read this passage in Brennan Manning's Ragamuffin Gospel(Visual Edition, I highly reccomend it).

The Kingdom belongs to people who aren't trying to look good or impress anybody, even themselves, worrying about how their actions will be interpreted or wondering if they will get gold stars for their behavior. Twenty centuries later, Jesus speaks pointedly to the preening ascetic trapped in the fatal narcissism of spiritual perfectionism, to those of us caught up in boasting about our victories in the vineyard, to those of us fretting and flapping about our human weaknesses and character defects. The child doesn't have to struggle to get himself in a good position for having a relationship with God; he doesn't have to craft ingenious ways of explaining his position to Jesus; he doesn't have to create a pretty face for himself; he doesn't have to achieve any state of spiritual feeling or intellectual understanding. All he has to do his happily accept the cookies, the gift of the kingdom.

Accept the Cookies

Politically, my final word I hope

2008-03-14T05:49:00.000-07:00

I guess any statement of mine regarding American politics would be my overall disdain for such, mostly rooted in our two-party monopoly system. In reality there is so much beef(and pork while we are on the subject of meat) within both parties that a monologue via blogosphere in no way really sums up my thoughts.

Either way

The republicans in one way, and the dems in another, pull, pick and choose from our well crafted consitution in whichever way best suits them for the time.

While the republican speaks of our constitutional right to prayer he also cavaliers the most unconstitutional aspect of our government right now- foreign policy.

While the democrat speaks of our constitutional right to freedom of speech or religion, he also plans to drain a taxpayers pocket for all matter of unconstitutional spending(as mentioned, pork.)

I actually had a professor last week say, "well at least this year I feel like we have some good choices."

While I agree that change going in any direction is better than the one the current administration has taken us (A never ending war that will end up costing trillions of dollars pulled from....you guessed it, you! All from a man who ran for office under a "non-interventionist, "we can't go around policing the world" policy."

I could not disagree with my professor more. Perpetual, preemptive war.....,universal health care, steps towards a centrally planned economy which would obviously do to this country what it has done to all the others who have chosen it- bankrupt it.

In all reality, I sadly believe that at the root of all of this, the Church, yes you and me, are to blame.
I was talking to a friend the other day who essentially was saying that we needed universal health care, more no strings attached handouts, more welfare(often perpetual poverty).......why? because the Church is not doing it's job. What would these people say, if the government began to hand out tracts, evangelize on the street corners, build churches? Well we would all be singing a strong chorus of Separation of Church and State . Well, how is providing for the poor any different than verbally telling someone about the Good News Of Jesus? There is none, it is the same, one Gospel. Yet Christians on both party lines would rather let Uncle Sam take a little more of their check to do an awful job doing what we are hands on supposed to be doing. We saw in the early church, the government did not mind the church, for not only were they taking care of their city's poor, but also neighboring city's poor.

(But today is a different day, many years later, surely Jesus didn't mean for us to do that now, it is different now...right....well that depends....if it is taxing, if it actually takes effort, if it actually calls for an emptying of our pockets or us to be uncomfortable, then surely! surely! it is no longer relevant or a biblical mandate.)

I guess that is it. I could go on for hours about capitol punishment, oil politics, a failed welfare system, and the overall corruption that plagues Washington, but to some this all up. It is us. It is the Church.

There was one man, that indeed I did not agree with on everything. But a man that knows the constitution, a man who has a dream and vision for America to once more be a place of peace. But sadly, America is just not smart enough to elect......yup, Ron Paul. Nope, he calls for way too much responsibility. way way too much.

Peace,
Michael

Mas

2008-02-29T06:22:00.000-08:00

What a task, what a chore.......to pour heart and soul into a page paper about some book off the shelve, bought by demand from your dear professor for a book report. How necessary, and how dreadful. How frustrating to put heart and soul into the necessary mundane and un-biblical material world.

At his finest in my heart and soul I always catch glimpses of shores and dirty streets, toothless smiles of the Holy, children's sprints, their backflips, tears, recognized pain and suffering.........This Beautiful Mess................

Awakened only by my God-Forsaken Gas light.

In other matters, Joanna is in labor, soon to deliver my brother's and her son- my nephew.

Kataluma......a bit of a frustration the last couple of months.....but we are getting out of it.......design, database, logistics, the trip that will check for buoyancy in the summer of 09.

Still missing my family and loving them as distance continues to make this heart fonder.

pero cada dia yo estoy olvidando mas de mi espanol. Que triste pero tal vez, por lo menos ojala que, yo pueda regressar muy pronto- todavia yo extrano la casa de Grace y abuelita.

pictures include: Summer of 09, and me and Teecy dancing(one that we shall resume here in Lynchburg)

MichaelDavid

woke up again, hello to the family

2008-02-25T06:11:00.000-08:00

well let's see......
food for thought or perhaps just answers to prayer from the scenario Gods....
Peggy Christmas, my sweet mother, has entered the blogosphere.......
so perhaps that is the answered prayer and the food for thought would be:

1. Garlic
2. Sugar and its origin(Nazism)
3. Breastfeeding and its origin(Eve and the sovereignty of the Almighty)
4. And last but not least- vaccinations and their part in global domination in respects to the Tribulation.

Considering communication is so dreadful right now....well at least on my part.....to the rest of my family, I figured since now over 50% would call themselves "avid bloggers".....I'd start mumbling again and hope that my articulation of thought and desire is a bit less ambiguous than usual.

Virginia
I miss my family
that seems to be the biggest, most impressed feeling most days.....but each day gets a bit better as I continue to remind myself that I am fairly certain God told me to come here. The house is so good and seems to grow everyday in many ways but i'll refrain from saying just how many there are residing on any given night(who knows if the city of Lynchburg utilizes their right to invade privacy via our Patriot Act).
Classes are swell and I've managed to get a good grade or two, though I hope from the bottom that my new job cleaning up people's mess at The Olive Garden does not interfere.

God
Each day I believe God, in his mysteries, is teaching me how to live and believe WITHOUT his consolations ie: emotion in prayer life, visible obvious answered prayer, and just a sense of his presence. I find John of the Cross's explanation of such times especially encouraging- That it is in such times, when we seem spiritually naked and alone, that The Spirit can truly work in our lives.

Good to see you again.

If you have not read the infamous blog of our dear Peggy yet, I encourage you to do so, good luck.

MichaelDavid

(pictures include: the climbing cave in our attic, meeting Ron Paul(so sad that America is not smart enough to elect Ron Paul....uh...so sad), and community breakfast)

Since

2007-10-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

Quite some time gone....
Road trip good. Very good.
(I)(have)(wonder)(am happy)(know)(oh yeah)
New major(political science, concentration international affairs, business administration minor)
Hopes to live in the woods with three friends in a house made of used construction materials
When will i ever finish school?
orgrowup?
Lynchburg relocating to Gainesville this weekend- all smiles- happy as a bird.
Sun still shines, weather changing, need rain from sky and eyes
New things beautiful
other things stil beautiful to someone, maybe not me, maybe I never REALLY thought they were, i can make myself think some strange things.
need to want less, i need to need less
Todavia, amistad es la vida, pero amistads reales, como Jesus, todavia, el es mi amigo, y su padre mas que yo puedo entender.
And keep on remembering(not to forget), and forgetting(remembering to forget)
All the things that need to stay, and go away. (why were they ever here?)
Still refuse to lay claims of absolute understanding to the teachings of a perfect Man, the Son of Man.
Still prefer Love, although I don't always show it.
Still prefer that I would.
Still prefer to see you soon.
te amo
MichaeldavidChristmas

and so we'll make the trip

2007-07-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.reelwavs.com/movies/shawshank_redemption/hlfreeman.wav

back and there

2007-06-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

So....back in the states.....I keep trying to think what its like, being home I mean...I keep getting nothing....What compares to the bitter-sweet feeling of leaving the arms of a people that never asked questions?, I got there and I just was-FAMILY- Kind of like the kingdom<-from there arms to my family's, who also never asked questions,or expected, we just were, we just are......I try to console myself by saying that I am still just a boy and that I wont always want to whole world.......will I?....
Went to the beach a couple days ago with the Family....There was this hispanic (Maxican for those of us below the Mason-Dixon)....and he was cutting kudzu all day everyday, and on the third day, after working as hard as you would expect for three days solid, he found this old beat-up kite, tied it to a big clump of grass and bathed in the glorious site of his real work flying high as a kite(play on that as long as you like)
He looked up at me on my balcony, almost wanting my approval, if i thought too that in the midst of it all we have to fly kites, lots and lots of kites.....I told him "bien hecho"(good work), and he smiled the most genuine smile to date, and kept it for quite some time.....
Then I took a drive and said goodbye to some things....mostly memories that I guess I thought I could re-live, thinking they may just come around again....And the problem is that even if I could have everything as it was, same room, same folks, same mountains, same love.....I wouldn't take it, everything is so different, everyone is so different, and although the beauty of it all remains......it just doesn't seem enough....
Sometimes it just seems to be me and The Trapeze Swinger turning the last 21 years into folklore that Twain himself wouldn't swallow...
And so it seems that in this moment of acceptance, something begins that will try its best to keep up with the 30 foot giants I mountain biked with, the boys that knew over 200 instruments(some yet to be actually invented), the mountains that knew my name, and even said it every once in a while, my friend with a beard so long he swept the floor with it, the time it snowed 30 feet and school wasn't even canceled, my dog that let me ride him to school(and back).

And I just don't know if that something will pull it off. In fact I am quite sure it wont.

But i'll take it with dirty feet and a smile.

See you soon.

Mike Christmas

seguro, well i am not sure

2007-05-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

pictures include, sofia´s birthday, the downfall of my hair and beard, last day of class, and our last outing with our teachers

not sure what to say really- Maybe- if i had the choose to come again would I? not sure
and the thing is, is that if you are actually reading this, we have probably already had this conversation.....

From Flores to San Juan Del Sur I have seen life- the people and the invisible struggle of the indigenous- but to quote Teejay,¨their´s is not a struggle ignored, nor endured.¨ Quite a shame that this struggle has not affect on America, then perhaps we might see a bit on CNN from time to time. From Chiapas where Subcommandante Marcos continues the zapatista revolution of words and truth, to the traces of illegal arms deals from ours truly, remnants of those arms in the hands of the Contras against Sandistas in Nicaragua, to taxi drivers and their stories of abduction........Guns, words, and corruption.....all in the name of for or against communism and power...United Fruit Company what? But yet there is no doubt, you can see Jesus, the spirit of the Godman who endured, you can see his eyes in the people, and i often covet those who have them, wishing that i was able to endure as they do, anything to know more of what i pretend i have figured out........GRACE, and the unconditional love of a man that i just dont understand.

It truly is a beautiful thing right now- in what is going on in Africa cavaliered by the likes of Bono, Invisible Children, and Rich Stearns......But people endure, invisible, everyday. From the jungles of Burma to the farmers in Columba Guatemala- their land taken from them, branded communist for simply sharing food with one another.

It would be so beautiful if any of these words i have wrote in any of these blogs had a solution or even a point some times.....

And so i will leave this place sunday.....bus up through Chiapas and on to Tulum, then home via plan from the yucatan on thursday.....thus ending my bath in people that refuse to face anything, thus bathing myself and anyone else around, in alcohol and misery, refusing to speak of the fact that our problems will become us if we continue to neglect them via buzz......but what have you, maybe i have cultivated a little more patience, though these sharp words might say otherwise.

Dont know if i am ready for SUVs again....dont know if i ever was, dont know if i have ever felt a part of mainstream Gainesville........Gracias a Dios

But what have you, maybe i will pull a Thoreau and become a mountain recluse, then a Donald Miller when i move back in with people after i have realized i am doing nothing......College is back up in the air due in part to mail, and the absense of sending in a deposit, due in part for living in Guatemala when those letters arrived.....who knows, maybe the Burg is calling my name......Blue Ridge where are you?

So perhaps we will talk soon, i have missed you so, dont forget that
Goodbyes here for now, but as Che said,¨the moments of goodbye, always cold, always less than you expected when you find yourself unable to externalize an inner feeling.¨

p.s. palabras y sentamientos, continuare. ojala que tu puedas realizar que mis palabras son de mi corazon. lo prometo. habria vivido aqui por siempre, si tu hubieras venido conmigo.......entonces, siempre recuerda y dime cuando yo olvido, por que es serguro...... TE AMO

For Matthew

2007-04-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

So the word is on the street, Terrorists(apparently those that can appear to be Mexican), have tried crossing the border into the States, from Mexico, with that in mind, and with the fact that i will be getting into the states the same way, i figured i´d cross like this(refer to picture above).........The caption which is not there simply says.......
..............................Whaaaaaaat??........

Upon telling Matt this he insisted upon a picture.....so Matt.....this is for you.

ojala que uds. tegan un buen noche, y recuerda......esperanza es una cosa buena, possible el mejor

Miguel

2007-04-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

so apparently, Christy took this picture at my darkest(which would be a mixture of fluid out of any place possible for two days)
the bottle i am embracing as if my first born? Why of course! The guatemalan version of pepto bismol....But like ole Baylor always said,"if it wasn't this it would be something else"(if you know that quote i am uber proud)
What am i getting sick of? well if you are asking......defending.....in general...

Christianity
America
living in Guatemala

but since my time is limited, i will just touch on America, especially considering i should probably stop trying to defend Jesus, I dont think he needs my help as much as he wants my life.

America?
Apparently, if you are from Europe, history has been erased....You know the holocaust? gone
The fact that the entire rwandan genocide could be placed on the shoulders of the UN and Belgium? gone
The French occupation of Algeria ending in bloodshed? gone
(to name a few)
What are you talking about miguel?
All I hear is how horrible the ole U.S. of A is.
Now> do i agree with the War?NO.
Our history in central America(United Fruit Company, CIA backed Coup)?NO.
The fact that Pro Choice Everything on Demand is slowly corrupting any sense of responsibilty for our youth?NO.

But thats not my America......mine has hospitality, great food, mountains, and People...beautiful, loving people.

And as far as the powers that be? I would simply say that they are all right(Europe and all those that think i was dying to hear you recite last nights World CNN highlights) . We are no better than you. Just no different. No worse

(that soapbox was pretty sketch, i'm glad to be off it)

But life is so beautiful......I mean that

Me and Christy will be busing it home through Mexico May 26. I must say that as bitter sweet as it will be, im not dredding it.

I read through the easter story in all 4 Gospels and it was Good. Dazzingly Good

Miguel
(cuando yo regresso, tu y yo....si! Tu! vamos a comer comida, mucho mucho comida. por que entre tu y yo, yo estoy um poco enformo de este comida)

Acycleworthgettingover

2007-03-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

Do i only choose to put myself down to watch you do the same?
And if you do, what have we done?
What is new?
Our conscience perhaps?
Or are we worse off then before? Prideful of our ability to admit and repent.
(Not like those righteous ones we always hear screaming from stage)
(¨We´re different¨)
(or are we?)
Perhaps I tell you I like attention?
Do I mean it?
Or do I just want you to parade my humbleness?
Am I just wanting attention again?

Seems to be an exhausting cycle

Perhaps we will come to the point that our shortcomings are embraced just long enough to think and thank for Grace....

he visto algo nueva, teejay tambien

2007-03-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

does in and out of 4 countries in 6 days sound as beautiful to you as it does to me? the jist of it was this.
playa el zonte el salvador on sunday and monday
monday night we made friends with a security guard in san salvador, so we slept on the sidewalk next to him until 3 a.m. then we left for managua nicaragua, then granada, and stayed at the bearded monkey hostel and such a lovely experience...meeting people such as a southern hippie from Boone N.C. and our new great friend oscar from jersey...oscar spoke in a such a way of the Gospel....i dont know...i might not have ever heard someone speak so passionatly about the Gospel, wanting to know more of it, or drop so many F-bombs. Direct quote. *i mean this guy(Jesus) was getting nailed to the Cross and forgiving the Fuckers as they did it, thats crazy!*
then on to san juan del sur, about thirty minutes from costa rica, where we shared a meal with our french amigo fredrick, and got stepped on by our french roomate at the hostel(Teejay was on the floor and he(the frenchman was quite drunk)
then home, but not before we slept in the lobby of a sheraton in san salvador waiting for the bus again.....
It was all fast, and all beautiful, me and teejay prayed, which was almost strange for me, the first time in a while, but opposed to what i have been telling myself, the Spirit seemed to have been very interested....revolution is fading from the breath of the people, but you can still smell it, the guns remained and the resolve has faded....these people are crazy for life, in one way or another, and it is contagious.....
he visto personas sin ropa, sin comida, pero con sonrisas como el mundo....hemos visto vida, y nos gusto que hemos visto.....estoy vivo y tu tambien
puda vida
miguel

Soon

2007-02-27T14:48:00.001-08:00

I watched blood Diamond last night, and was reminded of what I made myself forget, and thought perhaps if i told you my thoughts, you would remind me when I forget. I´m speaking to myself, and you if you like.

I find myself torn between the peaceful bliss of quiet days, reunions, afternoons and suffering. The neccessity of the both, but the urgency of the latter. I find myself under somewhat of a curse these days....Mountains look like graves. The ocean-blood. And the wind- sounds of desperate children inflicted by the sins of us all.......
Yet somehow we find a way to keep going, to press on to the task at hand: Papers, deadlines, socials, vacation, starbucks(good things in and of themselves with the presence of something more).....Somehow we found a way to preserve our innocence, while our children lose theirs. We forget that our soul slips away with every child. We stay away, or dwell on the necessity of tact for the result of real change, just long enough to do nothing.........
Ignorance is bliss. But what is forgetfullness?
There are 200,000 child soldiers in Africa alone.(just a reminder)
70,000 in Burma.(just a reminder)
There are 2.3 children dying of AIDS around the world.(just a reminder)
Millions raped of innocence.... (just a reminder)
(Just a reminder)
-michael

p.s.

We wont always be like this.....it is our only consolation that we know in our hearts that the time has not yet come....And it is our only thorn, that we still hear the bullets, we can taste the salt from their eyes in our water, our pulse is our only thorn.....Its slows us down just long enough to pour our hearts onto paper, and go to sleep.....And although our tactful rhetoric may impress you, it doesn´t do much for us. Somewhere inside we know that words followed by sleep are often empty. We talk. We sleep. We ride around and see our peaceful country, our friends. We impress with our tact and revolution filled vocabulary. We talk. But it wont always be like this. Sooner than later we will be missing in action. We will be killed in action. Because it seems without a willingness to die, we may not be alive. We know that the future, really does not exist. But it will, it will come to us or we will go to it- and eternally enjoy or endure it. And as much as we like the view, the peace and quiet, we cant stay long. We have children, waiting for us to come home. Thousands of children- waiting, crying, dying. We must go soon and perhaps you´ll come. We are what we want and need. We are what they want and need. We are starting to realize, that we are to be patriots of no country, but of a Kingdom with a King who belives in us. We are a revolutionary plan, and there is no one else. There is no plan B. And for that, we leave soon. We are coming soon, we´ll be together. Perhaps just one more time, hold on. Hope. Know that it can be done. Change. And we can do it. Believe in us. He does.
-us

por que me pregunta

2007-02-13T12:06:00.000-08:00

without pictures i feel liberated.....because being the computer illiterate person i am...it takes what takes my friends mere moments, me.....well much more time......i am in an interesting place.....yeah i know, the poor man´s europe, thanks for rubbing it in.....sorry Anna i am in central america(you are right! ugh! it is so dirty)(una broma).....anyways....i realized i am not testing the experiment....i´m gathering information.....we all remember the 5th grade science projects....how fun was it pouring that aweful smelling vinegar down the hatch? well i am not doing that....in fact i dont think that will come....for quite some time....gathering information- i dont know how to start a revolution......i barely know how to follow one.....and even if i could start one, i dont think i would..... it seems the best revolutions have no leaders, only examples....plus i dont think i´d be a very good one...i cant spell well for starters.........so i find myself starving for stories, searching for needs, trying to find out how to get there....trying to gather the information of the people, of myself. i have to believe that it is for you....i have to believe that God´s plan to give the Kingdom is within you and me......Not knowing where i´m going has to be the best place for me......i think i may finally be out of the way and ready to follow......because it is about Love, and i want to find it...unconditionally.......because you my friend...need to be loved....i need to be loved..
puda vida
miguel

around 20 days

2007-02-06T12:56:00.000-08:00

quite interesting last night....when my room started to shake.....thinking of course at first that it was just the biggest chicken bus to ever come down calle san luquitas......but it was in fact a tremor....or maybe a small earthquake.....4.5 i believe........so i celebrated today by breaking down 100 percent...and secretly going to mcDonalds...it was as delighfully gross as i remembered...but spanish is going okay....a place to plug in as far as community goes on the other hand....is completely non existent, at lest to my knowledge at this point.....I went to a YWAM bible study the other night...and i think i tuned out around the part where she said(best read in a staunch, but quick southern accent),¨God is able! he can make you stop cussing, and drinking too......oh and by the way, dont let anyone ever stamp your forehead with 666, dont laugh ya´ll we are in the end times and ya´ll know it!¨but if me and christy dont find an apartment soon....i may take a bus to ecuador and stay with my friend maria for a while....or i may go work on this farm www.websamba.com/laflorida in the mountains.....who knows...but.....i am starting to realize

*Its all about family

*unconditional love can be very sad....you pray for, you hope, you want, you love...and all the while, it has to be okay that friendship may never come....perhaps just a spit in the face

*that my time in virginia was as good as i remember it. and that however small a glimpse, it was in fact enough, enough love to keep a group of people together forever, if only in their memories.

*that Jesus is more a simple mystery than i will ever be able to fathom.

*and that i miss you.

-here are some pics from panajachel and my new little sisters(so they call themselves)

dios mio

2007-01-29T16:24:00.000-08:00

Pictures include.....the girls from the house.....sophia)being the one at the top...the view from our roof.....mi escuela....y mi casa....hope it works.....perhaps some thoughts laughter...i´m spent

Did the pic of

2007-01-27T11:39:00.000-08:00

fabian and liz come through on my previous post........i will try again tonight....
but someone tell me if the other pic worked

aqui

2007-01-23T13:48:00.000-08:00

2007-01-22T15:12:00.000-08:00

well after 4 days in the city(guatemala that is)staying with liz and fabian(aka the butler from Mr. Deeds), getting in a wreck(i was not driving)(and accidentaly yelling choice word or two, then having to tell my friends what those words meant because they insisted) we are in antigua, and it is so much better than i thought....and have already met some pretty amazing people....its almost intimidating(like my friend Tim who is almost fluent in spanish, obviously english, and also has citizenship in Israel and speaks perfect hebrew.....i know...we all suck).....But i am ready to get a week or two of spanish under my belt so i can start helping at La Limonda(a ghetto in the city.....working with some of the kids with sports and art and such....and i mean such).....Its very interesting though....what miles between you and what you know will do to you.....I am realizing that i like the south, i like being out west....i like brooklyn.....So although i love it here.......anyways it is funny.....Although i do love the people, food, COFFEE, and incoherent spanish, I think Jesus let me think that i was escaping to an effortless untopia for the aspiring vagabond.....but in reality i think for the first time in my life, i am completely out of my comfort zone....i actalluy HAVE to grow to survive....I must have started to turn in His stomach, gone from a steady boil to room temp....pero esta bien....Agarre el dia......oh y espero verle pronto
Miguel

Soon Enough

2007-01-11T18:14:00.000-08:00

So i guess this is where i'll tell you(anyone that just so happened to stumble upon this, and the faithfuls who might actually care) how learning spanish (in antigua guatemala) and what Jesus may want to do with me is going. Dont know when I'll come back.....but i think i will...AS long as i keep a healthy distance from anything Che wrote....If you wanted to pray....pray that i get better at receiving grace, then maybe i'll start giving it more. Its a funny thing, thinking that just maybe, you can make a difference......However small or trivial it may seem.....I leave wed. With the hope of learning, drinking coffee, and following Jesus who is definitely in me, so i guess i'm going to follow my heart, so i guess i'm going to find me and Jesus all in one discovery....A tall order i know. cross your fingers
Le echo de menos y espero verle pronto,