An intense day for thoughts

Sunday was one heck of a day and it really stretched my mind with thoughts. I'll try to throw a few of them out there for you.

1. At mass, Father Don gave one of the shortest sermons ever. He asked the question, when will I start to love God? I mean, the wording is kind of vague, but clearly there are things we love more. Our sins, our vices, our habbits. Those things tend to dominate us, and when will we be able to let them go for the purposes of loving God wholely? I just think that's a good thought to ponder? And on the same token, for some of us, when will God 'click'? When will we get who he is for us? When will the Gospel ring true, or even ring for some of us? The story, the John 3:16, the reality to our lives this very day 2000 years later, the relationship that it brings, the freedom of the heart that is established. When will these things rings true? They are beautiful thoughts and I wrestle with them, but if you wrestle with them to a point where you just can't accept it...keep wrestling, look into it and really pursue the truth so you can own your faith.
2. This thought is from this moment just now. Let's talk about ownership of our faith for a moment. Many people are brought up in the church and if they continue to go, it can be very much so because of it becoming routine and just part of their lives while they continue to feel dead inside. Maybe it's time we owned what we believed, whatever that was. Doing it so that we have convictions to defend, so we know what the truth is for ourselves. We cannot settle for a force fed system without exploring why the system is indeed true. Why does it resonate with us? Is it because mom and dad said it's what we do? Or is it because it has transformed us and made us anew?
3. I watched United 93 with my family on Sunday and it's interesting how the movies we watch as a family have evolved as Emily and I have gotten older. It's an intense film and I HIGHLY recommend it. It's not feel good film for sure, but it drops you into a situation you remember very vividly and shows it from the perspective of others. I get the impression it wasn't recieved very highly either and many people haven't seen it. GO SEE IT, and if it's not in the theaters, wait...and then GO RENT IT! The thing that struck me most was that this really happened and it was very real to us, but as time has gone on, it became more just....there. This movie I think opens up some infected wounds in our hearts and minds so that they can heal in a better way. Another thing that struck me was the chaos of the situation. Finally the things that just had me tearing up in the theater and even shaking were the scenes where you have muslim terrorists believing so fully that this is what Allah wants them to do. They are indeed OWNING their faith. Then it cuts to Christian hostages praying the Lord's Prayer so confident that this is a horrible act. WOW. It just cuts deep for me. How do you take that when people are owning two contradictory faiths and there is no proof...especially when the ideas come from similar roots. I think at that point it comes down to the single word, Faith. I really want to study and meditate on that idea, because it really ends up being very crucial to owning a belief system. How can faith be so powerful is opposite directions? It's just really interesting...
4. I also saw Requim for a Dream on Sunday. That is a MESSED movie. It's really good though and it shows some real raw stuff. It also just busts out how broken and messed our world is. It's shocking and scary and just makes you really wonder about how messed up the world can really be. I mean, we live in America...the land of the all mighty dollar where everybody has their two car garage and is happy no matter what. Yet there are people so busted and broken here. What is it like where things are harder and people don't have shelter, food, or even water? It just makes my heart ache knowing that this life is really hard and messed and there are some people that seem beyond hope and will be lost in the cracks forever....Pray for them.
5. Finally...the crew going to LT this summer shoves off today and I am SOOOO envious. It conjures up amazing thoughts of how sweet and good the times of that summer at the Y were. I definitely want to plan a trip to visit them. So I'm not sure how it'll work, but let me know if I know you and you're interested in going...

Ok, I've talked enough.

SOTD - 1 - LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers took the Detroit Pistons to a game 7 in their series, but after 'The Chosen One', Mr. James, only scored 1 hoop in the entire second half, the Detriot defense carried them to the third round of the NBA playoffs.