Being a Window Rock

    Every Monday, the groups that come to Western Indian Ministries go out to the Window Rock and sing worship songs. Here we are on a sandstone precipice, looking out over the cultural hub of the Navajo reservation, as the sun sets and lights up the hills like fire. To say that this is an awesome experience is an understatement. Every week we also hear from my friend, Wade Adakai. He said something this past summer that really stuck with me as I continued into this school year. His words of wisdom were, "Be a Window Rock." I didn't get it at first. The Window Rock is a large arch in the center of the Navajo Nation that has a lot of spiritual implications in their culture, so, as a Christian, I was slightly skeptical of his point. But in reality his point is spot on. When Wade looked up at that rock that night, he wasn't seeing the cultural implications that went with the rock; instead, he looked through it to the sky.  
    Think about this. People come hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles in order to essentially see the sky. Obviously that is not entirely what is going on, but the concept is kind of cool. The point that Wade wanted to make was that we should be the Window Rock. When people see us, they shouldn't be looking at us, instead they should be looking beyond us into God. Like the Window Rock, humans were formed from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7 ), but the difference is God breathed the breath of life into humanity. But essentially, we are just mobile dirt piles.  Instead of just being a nice rock to point at and look at, let’s fill ourselves with God so much, that when people look at us, they see straight through to God.

Stop and Listen

     I met a man the other day. He was hurting. It was a chance meeting, one that I didn't entirely anticipate and I was surely not prepared for. I would like to tell you a bit of his story and why I heard it and why that matters.
     I met this man in McDonalds, My friend and I went there to get a small soda and get out of the rain, we moved seats several times trying to find somewhere comfortable and we finally settled on a table off in the corner. This man noticed that we were moving a lot and he laughed about it saying that it didn't much matter where we sat a long as we had chairs. We all laughed, but then he kept talking. I could tell that something was up when he started talking, I could tell that he was not in a very good place in life. He asked me for some food and so I bought him something small and prayed with him, just trying to help him where I could. I was not expecting the reaction I got. He began crying, he cried really hard, and after the prayer he began telling me his story. He was a bit hard to understand but this is what I got,

This man was a member of the 2nd airborne division out of Georgia, he served up until the time that he was sent home with a purple heart for injuries. He served on a plane until it went down behind enemy lines. He survived by hiding underwater, when the enemy forces found the wreck. His pilot was not as lucky however, and he was injured heavily in the crash, so when the plane went down he was not able to escape the enemy soldiers. This man had to endure watching his downed pilot be beaten to death by enemy soldiers. unfortunately this was not the only event that he barely survived. Some time later he was near the crash of a helicopter, and if enduring two crashes wasn't enough, he was also badly injured. The blades of the helicopter flew off in the crash and hit him twice, I didn't believe him, until he removed his hat, and showed where it nearly cut the top of his head off, and lifted up his shirt, to show where the blade cut him from the shoulder to his waist. After his injuries he was too hurt to continue, both physically and emotionally, and he was sent home with a purple heart. 

     When he finished telling his story through once, he told it again. and as he did, more tears sprang to his eyes. I know that this is not the first time that he has told his story, but I wonder, if this wasn't the first time in a while that someone has listened. This man was in pain, but he was receiving no help. with the head injury he sustained, I am sure that it would be difficult for him to find some as well. But I do know, that if I hadn't changed my plans to a more loose schedule, than this man would have probably not felt the love of God that day.
      Sometimes when we are on missions trips or are going through life, we have a very objective mindset. We have a specific mission to perform and that comes first and foremost. I am guilty of this mindset at times. But we all need to remember this, sometimes it just takes setting aside your timescale to show love in a persons life, love that they may not be getting from anywhere else. I hope the readers of this blog will remember this man I talked about today, because there may be someone you run into today who is hurting, who just needs an ear to hear, and a heart to lean upon.

Random Occurances

    People like to ask me what a normal day is like when I'm on my missions trips. I tend to respond with a shrug. As anyone who works in ministry can tell you, there is no such thing as a normal day in ministry, there are always "random" occurrences. Whether they be schedule changes or just moments in the day that are immensely memorable, these "random" occurrences always make each day different than the last in ways no one can predict.

    To continue I must ask a question; what does everyone think about when they think of Native American culture? Most people would probably say "Pocahontas" or "teepees" or maybe "animals" and "dancing". However, almost everyone would agree that they are a highly spiritual culture. Their dances are not just for fun, they are intended to please/honor/summon/communicate with the spirits. Obviously the native cultures today are quite different. However, there is still a heavy spiritual element to the native culture all throughout the Reservations.

    So the one notable "random occurrence” happened recently on Wednesday, June 17. When the short term missions group was having their VBS. The VBS was themed around the idea of Jesus being better than any superhero. It is a pretty tenable concept for kids and fairly relevant considering all of the movies that have been coming out recently. Also the songs they chose were pretty fun and easy for the kids. What threw me for a loop was one of the songs they sang. It was "No Monsters" by Carmen.

   While it was not totally weird that this song should be playing, it was weird that this song should be so perfect for what the kids in this VBS have experienced. Many of these children have dealt with/seen/been around/been a part of circumstances very similar to those that are mentioned in the song. It is these kind of "random" occurrences that only someone who is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent can compose.

   Every day has these kind of moments in it, although not every day has a moment that makes the day amazing, if you look for it there are always “random occurrences” that make each day memorable. This particular “random occurrence” was a simple reminder that my life is only in my control as much as God, our King, wants it to be. That is truly a blessing.  

The Rez

    When I was in middle school, in fifth grade, we spent a few months talking about something that we had only heard about a little bit before hand: Native Americans. We took a lot of time talking about the different tribes, especially the Aztec and Mayans, and we discussed the differences between them and us. The teacher and the lessons always focused on the past; they spent most of the time talking about where they lived and how they died. They told us of the witch doctors and great warriors that the United States fought. To me, native culture was beautiful and curious. The way that they interacted among the tribes, and had an unshakable connection to the land around them intrigued me. However, probably the most enticing thing for me was that I believed that the culture was gone. This is something that I think a lot of people believe, that the Native American culture, if it exists today, is so minuscule that it is not even worth examining. There are 5.1 million native people that would probably like to disagree with that thought process.
     I put the Navajo Reservation (The Rez) as the second step in my transformation because it became an integral part of my life after I spent a summer close to Window Rock, their capital. This trip left a massive imprint on my character because it forced me to examine the world under a far different light than I had before. I left for the Navajo Reservation about a month and a half after True North. As I mentioned in my post about True North, I knew that who I had become up until True North was not the person that I wanted to be. This turned out to be great because that allowed me to start picking up my mental pieces in a different culture, and due to that, I picked up a lot of the culture.
     What I found when I examined the pieces was that the Navajo Culture is a forgotten culture. Not forgotten by the Navajo themselves, but by the entire nation that is surrounding them. This is not just for the Navajo though, this is for the 5.1 million Natives living on the 324 reservations across the United States. I was inadvertently taught when I was a kid that Native Americans no longer existed and that when we said "sorry" our condolences only extended to the dead. I wish I had been taught about the present culture that exists and been told of the conditions that the people on the reservations still live in. However, my childhood is in the past and we all need to see things in the world in the light that they truly are.
    I am currently back on the Navajo Reservation working with Western Indian Ministries alongside short-term missions groups. The people in these groups are most likely seeing the Navajo (and maybe even native culture) for the first time. I just pray that they will be successful in truly seeing this culture and caring for their fellow American citizens and citizens of the Earth. In upcoming posts I will talk more about the mission, native culture, and what I am actually doing here. For now, leave here with the knowledge that the native cultures that you studied in school don't stay in the classroom. There are living, breathing human beings experiencing what you have only been taught.

True North

    If you ever have a conversation with me, generally three things will come up very quickly: True North, The Rez and Lancaster Bible College (LBC). True North was the place I realized I was not who I thought I was. The Rez was where I realized how I had to find myself, and LBC is where I am starting to actually find it. True North was absolutely crucial because I had a lot of misconceptions about what it meant to be a Christian or, even more general than that, a respectable human being. I had thought that I had all the answers going into it. That world view came crashing to a halt when I realized that I was far from knowing everything, and even if I thought that I knew everything, it still didn't matter in the long run. How could I feel like I was doing the right thing, but only find that people were upset and angry at the end?

   This puzzled me.

    It took me a really long time to truly figure out what it was that I was missing. I was coming from the standpoint that everything I had been taught was inerrant. This goes throughout the whole spectrum, from the mundane, such as that I have two feet, to the complex, such as how physics work, or even to old wives tales, such as that daddy long legs are the most venomous spider. I thought that I knew everything and that I knew it inerrantly. It took two people that year to really break me down so that I could start seeing more clearly.

   The first person was Andrea Hawley. The main thing that needs to be noted here is that she was as stubborn as I was, and that is saying something. When we thought we knew something, we would defend it with our lives and not give any ground. This is an awesome gift in some circumstances, but if it is used on say... old wives tales... then there is only going to be trouble. This one thing that may seem mundane to other people, (not being able to convince someone of the "truth") was absolutely devastating to me. I had no idea what to do with myself. I had always kept myself hidden behind my facts and defined myself by these interesting tidbits. Generally, people would humor me and allow me to share my “vast knowledge”. Andrea, on the other hand, did not when she knew differently. That broke me down completely in that I had no idea who I was anymore.

    The second person to completely turn me around was LaRynn Blair. LaRynn and I could not be more different. The part that we were most different in was how we interacted with everyone around us. I kept everyone at arm's length, while she could not bring enough people in. She was always trying to encourage and take risks in order to get everyone included, and I was trying my best to keep everything completely balanced and safe. I was self centered; she was community centered. The biggest problems came when she tried to include me in her crazy ideas. I was trying to keep balance, so I thought, “if the guy trying to keep balance was thrown askew what would people think of him?” It was a silly narcissistic thought. I never took any chances when it came to people during True North, and I regret that.

   While the program did indeed break me down, it was in the best way possible. The people there helped me out so that the blasted pieces didn't go too far. There was Phil, our fearless leader and his partner in crime Carl the freegan. Our “Mom”, Becky, was always there to share a laugh whenever we needed it. There was Cassie who was always smiling and you could commonly hear playing “The River Flows in You” on the piano downstairs. Candra made it impossible to forget she grew up on a farm and had an absolute love for coffee which would always clash with my roommate Jimmy the hips-tea-r. Jimmy was a great roommate, we kept a lot of times to ourselves, but it was always assured that whenever we did talk, it was meaningful and for hours. All of this team became my family last year, and I cannot thank them enough for not killing me halfway through the year. :)

About me

I know there is an "about me" category over on the right there ---->  but that is simply my Google+ page, and really doesn't say a whole lot about me. So here is a little bit about "me"

"I think". These two words probably are the best two words to capture who I am, There are two main aspects to these words and if you were to talk to any of my past roommates, they would probably agree these words best describe me. The first aspect to these two words is: they are an action. According to Google, the verb "Think" is to:

1) have a particular opinion, belief, or idea about someone or something.

Or 

2) direct one's mind toward someone or something; use one's mind actively to form connected ideas.

This, I do a lot. I constantly puzzle through new ideas and predicaments, and I like to puzzle through them with other people. I also come from the worldview of Christianity. This also effects how I think and what I puzzle over. However, I also don't just come from this one single standpoint when I am trying to puzzle over things. There are two definitions above, the first definition drastically effects the second definition and limits it, and the second definition is how we as humans come to the opinions, beliefs, and ideas in the first definition. I simply try to allow the two definitions operate separately in order to get a holistic view on the world.

The second aspect is: they are an introductory statement declaring uncertainty (as in "I think I like. . ." or "I think we should. . ."). I tend to use this statement quite often because I am a very uncertain person and the best word to describe me would be inconsistent. This is not always a bad thing I hope, but one thing is for sure: it keeps things interesting.

Hopefully when reading my posts, my blog will help you think about various subjects and let you know things are happening in my life. Later posts will describe to you the three main influences in my life: True North, The Rez, and Lancaster Bible College.

Introduction

The purpose of this Blog is to simply let my friends, family, and maybe followers (if ever I should garner any) know what is happening in my life.

It's simple really, nothing too complex. Some posts will be things that I have been pondering over, ideas that have come to me randomly or in conversation, or simply just events that were noteworthy. Perhaps the things that I am saying will strike a cord with some readers out there, and hopefully this will spark new conversations with old friends, or allow me to share old stories more easily with new friends.

Please enjoy my ramblings and if there is something that sparks your interest and you want to talk to me about it feel free to comment on the posts (respectfully) and I will try my best to respond to it, and if it's very interesting I might just write a blog post about it. Who knows!