A New Story

I guess I tend to believe I'm pretty smart. Or that I have some deep, inane insight into the way the world works that others don't seem to have. Or, perhaps I was born different, wired in such a way that I often find myself stopping to observe the beauty of the world around me in a way that causes me to wonder at the true meaning of the universe.

Or perhaps I'm arrogant, believing myself to be some prophet of a higher calling than those around me. That my life is meant to leave a mark on this Earth, a sort of cosmic indention that will cause the foundations of society to shake, and cause people to stop their day to day routine lives to grab a hold of a pillar of life and purpose and cling to it for dear life.

I want to open eyes, but often come to realize that I have kept my own shut.



As the year drew to a close, I found myself sitting in a Taco Bell drive-thru, ordering a celebratory taco and Mountain Dew. Coming from my speakers was a soft Sufjan Stevens melody, and sitting above my radio on the dashboard staring back at me was a cotton-ball Polar Bear named Oh, Definitely!

As I pulled up to the window, and handed over my money to receive my food and drink. The man at the window handed me my goods with a smile, and a "Have a great night!" I smiled back, and glancing at my clock, I noticed the time was 12:00. The New Year had begun while I was sitting in a Taco Bell drive through. Not exactly a hoorah kind of way to ring in the new year, but that is how things go, I suppose. I turned back to the man to wish him a happy new year, but he was gone, I guessed having returned to the back of the store to continue closing. I'm sure he was eager to get home to celebrate the new year with his significant others as well.

As I drove off, I pulled onto the road to head towards home. As I pulled onto the highway I began to climb a hill. The song playing on my radio had begun a rising chorus. I rose over the crest of the road and in the distance ahead, a flurry of fireworks exploded in the sky.

Lamb of God, we sound the horn.
Hallelujah!
To us your ghost is born.
Hallelujah!

A smile broke across my face. It seemed God had decided to put on a magical collision of good feelings moment. I'd take it. It was beautiful.



It's moments like these that prove to me yet again that life is not a quest of self-actualization. It is not a journey of full potential. It's not even about getting it all right. Life has shown itself to me as a story, an infinite novel expounding on the Bible. A story of God's people living life as best they know, although flawed, and the beautiful intervention of Christ into their lives at just the right moments to bring them from destruction and teach them a lesson about the unfathomable.

2009 was a year full of adventure and self-discovery, full of mountains and valleys of all shapes and sizes. But more than those experiences themselves, I remember most the times I sat in silence with God, thinking back on the events that had occurred through the year, and God opening my eyes to new ideas and beautiful images.

I've learned that God's divinity is not in verses we memorize, or the songs we sing, or even in the services on Sunday morning. His true nature becomes reality in those times we share with each other. When we suffer, celebrate, mourn, or simply sit in silence, His glory is displayed to us and through us. Through the stories we create with each other, and in the stories we tell each other.

My prayer for this new year is that stories abound. That we take joy in each moment of life, such a simple and small gift that it is, and that we share our joy and sorrow with one another. That we take time out of our own lives to interact with the lives of those around us, and that we begin to see God through the experiences of this journey we call "life".

What does it all mean? Let's find out.

Good luck, 2010.