The ABCs of 2011

The Best and Worst of 2011.

Keep reading to find out how the year finally brought us World Peace.

A is for Apple.

The iPad 2 came out in March, selling 500,000 copies the first weekend, and the App Store earned its 100 millionth download in December. The company also faced tragedy: CEO Steve Jobs resigned in August due to poor health, and then died October 5.

Honorable mention: Adele, Air Jordan insanity, Amy Winehouse death, Amanda Knox "Not Guilty"

B is for Bin Laden.

On May 1, President Obama announced that the US had killed the al Qaeda leader, spurring fierce debate over who should be credited with the kill and whether we should ever rejoice over the death of a human.

Honorable mention: Britney Spears, "Black and Yellow", Bruno Mars, Bridesmaids, Beyonce's baby, blogging, Bruins win Stanley Cup

C is for Casey Anthony.


In July, Anthony was found "Not Guilty" of murdering her 2 year-old daughter, Caylee, but that didn't stop the US public from naming her the Most Hated Person in America.

Honorable mention: Christina Aguilera forgets lyrics, colored denim, Cam Newton, coning

D is for Disaster.

2011 brought debilitating natural disasters, particularly to Japan, South America, and Southeast Asia.

The US suffered  floods, tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, dust storms, and earthquakes.

Honorable mention: Drake, Dallas Mavericks/Dirk, Dubstep

E is for Eminem.

Recovery was released in 2010, but won the Grammy for "Best Rap Album" in 2011 and its singles continued to be played throughout the year. Shady also became the first rapper to have two certified diamond albums and the most-followed person on Facebook.

Honorable mention: Elizabeth Taylor death

F is for Friday.

Rebecca Black's ode to everybody's favorite day of the week immediately went viral; it amassed 30 million views in its first 7 days on YouTube. Unfortunately for Black, though, the video was also the second most-disliked of the year (after Rick Perry's).

Honorable mention: Facebook, fracking

G is for Gabrielle Giffords.

The US Congresswoman was shot in the head in a January assassination attempt that killed six people. Her amazing recovery attracted the public's attention as she has since re-learned to talk, walk, and write.

Honorable mention: Glee, Google+, gay marriage allowed in NY

H is for Harry Potter.


The final film installment, The Deathly Hallows Part 2, was released in June. Worldwide, it is the third highest-grossing film of all time.

Honorable mention:  Hope Solo, hashtags

I is for Iraq. 
President Obama announced that all of the troops would be withdrawn from Iraq and home for Christmas.

Honorable mention: iPad 2, iPhone 5

J is for Justin Bieber.

Never Say Never came to theaters in February, his second studio album, Under the Mistletoe, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 in November, and he ended 2011 as the most-Googled person of the year.

Honorable mention: Jersey Shore

K is for Katy Perry.

The MTV Artist of the Year spent a record 69 straight weeks in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100. Teenage Dream became the third album in history to have six singles become top-5 hits.

Honorable mention: Kardashians, Kim's 72-day wedding, Kindle

L is for Lockout.

Both the NBA and NFL seasons were almost lost due to disagreements between owners and players. The NFL lockout was resolved in July, and the NBA owners and players finally agreed to a deal in late November, resulting in a shortened season that began on Christmas Day.

Honorable mention: Lil' Wayne, Lindsay Lohan, LMFAO, Lady Gaga

M is for Miley.

The former Hannah Montana star may have lost the trust of parents of preteen girls, but she is still the richest teen in Hollywood. Between rumors of weed and weight gain, Miley pole-danced her way to the top, becoming my generation's Lindsay Lohan.

Honorable mention: Modern Family, Mac Miller, Miami Heat Finals collapse

N is for Nicki.

One of the most popular Halloween costumes of the year, the rapping sensation was everywhere in 2011. She teamed up with the likes of Weezy and Drake, and her single "Super Bass" reached #3 on the charts. She also launched the career of 8-year-old Sophia Grace.

Honorable mention: NASA's last mission, Netflix

O is for Oprah.

2011 brought the last season for the billionaire talk show host. Her May farewell event included appearances from stars such as Queen Latifah, Beyonce, Tom Cruise, Madonna, Stevie Wonder, and Michael Jordan.

Honorable mention: Obama





P is for Penn State. 

Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with 42 counts of child molestation, tarnishing the image of one of the most storied football programs in the nation. Beloved head coach Joe Paterno, 84, was fired, as was the university's president, vice-president, and athletic director. The investigations are ongoing.

Honorable mention: Pippa, Pujols, planking, Pitbull, Philadelphia Eagles supposed "Dream Team"

Q is for Quotes.

This year's best celebrity quotes were 140 characters or less. Here's a brief sample of the best tweets:

6. @ConanOBrien: Just taught my kids about taxes by eating 38% of their ice cream.
5. @oliviawilde: in a thousand years archaeologists will dig up tanning beds and think we fried people as punishment.
4. @ParisHilton: Just landed back in LA, so happy to hear the news of Osama bin Laden's death. He was the face of terrorism and such ...
3. @Pink: Out of Myself, Britney, and Christina- didn't everyone think I was gonna be the troublemaker? LOOK MA!!! No CUFFS!!!
2. @JohnStamos: contrary to the rumors, i am not replacing charlie sheen on two and half men. however, martin sheen has asked me to be his son.
1. @alyankovic:  BTW, Christina Aguilera, nice job at the Super Bowl, but changing the words to songs is MY gig.

R is for Royal Wedding.

Kate and William crossed the Atlantic and stole the spotlight in the States. The wedding was the 6th-most popular internet event ever, spurring more traffic than even the 2008 election of President Obama.

Honorable mention: Rapture (May 21st), Rory McIlroy

S is for Sequels.

Eight of the top 10 films of the year were sequels. The latest installments from the Harry Potter, Transformers, and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises each earned over 1 billion dollars.

Honorable mention: Scandal, snapbacks, skinny jeans, Shaq's retirement

T is for Tebow.

The QB sensation was perhaps the most-hyped athlete of the year. His unorthodox play, outspoken beliefs, and unearthly penchant for late-game highlights have made the "Mile-High Messiah" a cult hero.

Honorable mention: Tea Party, Tyler the Creator

U is for US Women's Soccer.

Hope Solo, Abby Wambach, and Alex Morgan brought women's soccer to the forefront of American culture for the first time since Brandi Chastain's 1999 sports-bra celebration. The US lost in a shootout to underdog Japan, but its three star players still could be found in advertisements for Nike, Gatorade, and Sportscenter,

Honorable mention: Unemployment stays high, USPS struggles, UConn Men win NCAA championship

V is for Violence.

The "Arab Spring" wrought violent protests from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and dozens of other nations.

W is for #Winning. 

Charlie Sheen's breakdown gave us some of the most memorable quotes and catchphrases of the year.

Quick Top 5:
5. "Can't is the cancer of happening."
4. "They picked a fight with a Warlock."
3. "Clearly I have deleted this earthworm with my words—imagine what I would have done with my fire-breathing fists."
2. "I am on a drug. It's called Charlie Sheen. It's not available because if you try it, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body."
1. "I will not believe that if I do something, then I have to follow a certain path because it was written for normal people. People who aren't special. People who don't have tiger blood and Adonis DNA."

Honorable mention: Wiz Khalifa

X is for Xzibit.

The rapper and former host of MTV's Pimp My Ride may have benefitted from a weak roster of words beginning with X, but he made headlines by putting down one of the weirdest trends of the year.

X tweeted, "#Planking was a way to transport slaves on ships during the slave trade, its not funny. Educate yourselves."

Honorable mention: X-Factor

Y is for YouTube.

The video-sharing site was the fifth most-visited of 2011.

Z is for Zuccotti Park.

The Manhattan park was home to the original Occupy Wall Street movement. The protest began on September 17, and soon spread to every major city in the US. Using the slogan, "We are the 99%," the protesters camped out in makeshift tent communities in response to the nation's economic inequality.


And as for that World Peace? LA Laker Ron Artest formally changed his name to "Metta World Peace."

2011 was a good year. Beyoncé got pregnant, the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, and the troops came home from Iraq. Things were starting to look up. It's really too bad the world's going to end in 2012.

What do you think were the biggest events/trends/names of 2011?

A Little Less Talk?

You've heard of Tim Tebow. We all have. We know he plays football, we know he's a self-proclaimed virgin, and we know he loves Jesus.


Tebow is so shamelessly blunt about his Christian faith that he has been criticized by former quarterbacks, mocked by opposing players, and ridiculed by sports analysts—not just for his aesthetically unpleasant left-handed throwing motion, but for his mid-game prayer habits and insistence on giving God the glory for all of his late-game theatrics.

Former Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer publicly derided Tebow's openness about his faith, saying, "I wish he'd just shut up." 


I'm not surprised to hear Plummer's complaints; I was, however, caught off guard by what Kurt Warner had to say about Tebow. Warner, a former Super Bowl MVP, is a devout Christian who apparently thinks that #15 should tone down the Jesus talk.


"Put down the boldness in regards to the words," advised Warner, "and keep living the way you're living. Let your teammates do the talking for you. Let them cheer on your testimony."


I know what Warner is saying: actions speak louder than words. Professional baseball players are known for making the sign of the cross after home runs, basketball players often point to the heavens after hitting a shot, and nearly every big win begets some star player thanking his "Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 


Praising God has become a sports cliché.


Warner thinks that Tebow's message and faith are now well-known enough that he no longer needs to bring up Jesus after every game. He should just continue to live a virtuous life and let others talk about his faith for him. 
It makes sense.


Ultimately, though, Warner is telling Tebow to be less bold. He's telling him to, at least verbally, tone down his faith. He's telling him to be timid.


Seriously, Kurt? You don't think we have enough Christians who are too afraid to talk about Jesus? Enough people trying to be politically-correct, trying not to offend someone? I say we need more people like Tebow, who are so bold and brash about their relationship with Christ that there is no middle ground. He's polarizing because he doesn't back down. He's hated because of his overt love for his Savior.




Remember: a lot of people hated Jesus' boldness, too. 


I'm not trying to bash Warner—I actually think he's a great man and role model—but it's just that I feel like I've lived my entire life following his advice and I've wasted so many opportunities because of that.


Like Tebow, God has enabled me to use sports as a platform for sharing His love. My platform, albeit a pebble compared to Tebow's Mt. Everest, has allowed me to develop friendships with people whom I otherwise would have never met and given me chances to talk about Jesus that I otherwise would have never had.


Unfortunately, I think I've squandered too many of those opportunities.


If you asked my former teammates from travel or AAU, I'm sure they'd tell you that I am a Christian. They'd tell you that I don't swear, that I don't drink, that I almost never yell out of frustration. I'm definitely not perfect—I've glared at teammates for dropping passes, complained to refs for not giving me foul calls, and arrogantly held my follow through unnecessarily long, á la Monica from Love & Basketball—but for the most part, I've tried to intentionally live differently than the cultural norm. I've tried to follow Warner's advice.


Here's the thing, though: I was always too afraid to talk about Jesus. 


I remember being in 4th grade, sitting in the car on the way to practice. My friend Brittany was talking about death, wondering aloud about where we go when we die. I wanted to talk about heaven, to talk about God, but instead I just sat there staring at the window, murmuring that "hopefully we won't find out anytime soon."

I remember being in 7th grade, playing soccer in my room. My friend kicked the ball so hard at my bookshelf that she knocked everything off. When we were cleaning up, she found an "Evangicube," one of those little Rubik's Cube-like toys that tell the account of Jesus. She seemed genuinely interested in the story, but I couldn't stop laughing. I was so nervous that she'd think I was weird that I made the whole thing seem like a big joke.




I remember being in tenth grade, posting Scripture verses all around my room and purposely leaving my Bible opened up to the book of John, full of highlighted passages and annotations. I was having my softball team sleep over, and I wanted so badly to finally talk to them about Jesus. We spent the entire night talking about boys, parties, and gossip. I'm pretty sure I never brought up God.


I remember being in twelfth grade, running out to play shortstop while my friend begged me, "Please, just swear. I just want to hear you say it one time." When I refused, she asked me why I don't swear and I managed to mumble something about not liking the way it sounds. She asked me why I don't party either, and I said that I didn't see the point of it. Both answers were true, but neither covered the real reason for why I live like I do. 


Neither mentioned Jesus.


Of course, there have been times when I've shared my faith in Christ, when I've stepped out of my comfort zone and declared what He means to me, but those times have been too few and far between. It was always just so much easier to let my actions speak while my mouth remained silent.





So, I'm thankful for Tebow's willingness to talk about Jesus. I know that people may get sick of him Tebowing(it's a word—look it up) during field goals and bringing up God during every post-game press-conference, but I find him refreshing.






I wish people were more like him and less like Donté Stallworth, an NFL wide receiver who killed a man while driving drunk in 2009.


I wish people were more like him and less like Javaris Crittenton, a first-round NBA draft pick back in 2007 who was charged with murdering a 22 year-old woman last summer.


I wish people were more like him and less like Plummer, who in 1997 was charged with felony sexual abuse.


I even wish people were more like him and less like Larry Fitzgerald, a Pro Bowl wide receiver and Christian who last week proclaimed, "I don't wear [my Christianity] on my sleeve but I don't have a problem with anyone who does."


I wish people were more like Tim Tebow and less like me.


Tebow is not shy about his faith and I hope that he stays that way. I pray that he does not "put down the boldness" like Warner asked, or "just shut up" like Plummer has implored.


2 Timothy 1:7 tells us, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline."


The entire nation has been talking about God, Jesus, and Christianity because of the Denver quarterback's boldness. Plenty of athletes are fervent believers in Christ—such as Josh Hamilton and Sam Bradford—who have gained national attention for their faith, and Albert Pujols and A.C. Green have certainly been just as brazen about their faith, but they never garnered the same level of media coverage as Tebow has. Never before has one athlete's religious beliefs spurred such vehement opining from sportswriters, bloggers, and talk show hosts.

Maybe he's too brash, too outspoken. Maybe he's turning people away from Christianity. Or maybe the rest of us are just too timid ourselves.

Acts 4 recounts Peter and John's visit with the Sanhedrin after they were released from prison. In verse 18, Herod, Pilate, and the leaders of Israel "commanded them not to speak at all in the name of Jesus." The two men responded, in verse 29, with the following prayer: "Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable Your servants to speak Your words with great boldness."


Most of our neighbors and coworkers are probably aware that we are Christians, but how often do we take advantage of opportunities to talk about Christ with them? Why are we more likely to bring up the Celtics than to bring up God? 

We're not supposed to be too scared to talk about Jesus.

And so for all of us who have been too afraid to boldly pronounce the grace and power and love of Christ, I'm begging you, Tim: Keep praying on bended knee, keep thanking God after wins and losses, and keep making public statements like, "my relationship with Jesus Christ is ... the most important thing in my life."

Don't become timid. Stay bold.

Maybe the rest of us will follow.

Why I Don't Drink

Over the last few years, I’ve been asked incessantly about why I don’t drink alcohol. I’ve probably given fifty different answers, ranging from the spiritual to the health-conscious to the flippant, but lately I’ve been asking myself what the real reasons are for why I don’t drink. 

So without further ado, here is a list of the top twenty reasons I don’t drink:

1. It’s Illegal.

This is self-explanatory. You can argue all you want about how it’s dumb that you can be drafted into the military but can’t drink a beer, but as a Christian, I’m commanded to follow the law. Romans 13:2 says, “Whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted.” Of course, if this was an immoral law, then God would call for us to obey His law over the law of our nation—but I think we can all agree that’s not the case. So until I’m 21, this is reason enough for me not to drink.

And yes, I’m one of those people who refuse to run those never-ending red lights at 2 AM. Society is better for it.

2. I played soccer.

After thirteen years of heading balls out of the air, I don’t have enough brain cells left to waste on alcohol.

3. Nothing good comes from it.

1 Corinthians 6:12 says, “‘Everything is permissible for me’—but not everything is beneficial.”

Maybe it’s okay to drink, but does anything good come from it? Am I going to help anyone else by getting drunk? I’m more likely to do harm than good. 

Sometimes we need to give up our privileges so we can help others. 


I can think of a million bad things associated with alcohol, and not a whole lot of good things. Although, I have heard that poets write better when drunk.

4. I hate throwing up.

This is the same reason I could never be bulimic. Just the thought of throwing up makes me feel sick. Earlier this semester, somebody on my floor had a little bit too much to drink one night, and threw up all over the hallway. Our floor smelled terrible for weeks. And I always hear stories about people throwing up on themselves, and I guess they think it’s cool, but I just find it gross. Why would you ever do that to yourself?

5. There should be a difference between me and the world.

I sincerely hope that someone can look at me and see that I’m not like everyone else. This is something that I’ve struggled with a lot over the years, because as a teenager, I really just wanted to fit in. Recently, though, I guess I’ve realized that there NEEDS to be an obvious difference in the way I live my life, so that I can point people to Jesus. If I’m just like everybody else, then why would they want what I have? There has to be a clear difference.

6. I get easily addicted.

You know that potato chip commercial that says, “I bet you can’t eat just one” ? Well, that’s pretty much me. 

Anytime I try one little piece of a brownie, I end up eating four squares. I tell myself I’m going to do ten push-ups, then I won’t let myself stop until I’ve done 200. I plan on only playing one more computer game, and then I’m up until 2 AM trying to break my high score. I get addicted to everything.

Alcoholism actually runs in both sides of my family. I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be able to stop at one drink, and I’m not willing to risk it.

7. The Bible tells me not to.

Now, I know what you’re going to say: But even Jesus drank wine.

First of all, wine back then was much weaker than wine today. Naturally fermented wine has a low alcoholic content; they did not have access to the granulated sugar that is used to make strong wine. Basically, most wine was a watered down substitute for H2O itself, much like juice or soda.

Second, although a few of my ancestors were heavily involved in the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, I don’t think that drinking alcohol is a sin. However, sitting down with a glass of wine at dinner is a far cry from what most of us are doing. Studies estimate that 72% of US drinkers between the ages of 18-20 have reported binge drinking (5+ drinks in one sitting) in the last month. 

Let’s be honest: most young people drink in order to get drunk. Do you really believe Jesus did that? Before you use Him as an excuse, think again.

8. I have fun without it.

I find it incredibly depressing that people think they need alcohol in order to have fun. I constantly hear people telling me about how they are so much friendlier when they drink, how they feel more free to dance and laugh and joke around. Well, duh, your judgment is inhibited.

Maybe your friends are boring, but my friends and I always have fun, alcohol-free. Actually, we’re so weird and crazy that people sometimes think we’re drunk, anyways. If you need alcohol in order to have a good time, then my honest advice to you is that maybe you need to work on your personality.

9. Somebody could get hurt.

This is obvious, yet I’m always shocked by how many of my friends drive when they’re drunk. Everyone knows the dangers—not just to themselves, but to everyone else on the road. Either put down the drink or put down the keys. How many innocent lives need to be taken?

10. I already have to pee enough as it is.

It’s true. I pee roughly 8 times a day. (And by roughly, I mean approximately. Calm down).

11. I don’t want to date/marry someone who drinks heavily.

The drinking culture and the “hook-up” culture go hand in hand, and I don’t want my future husband to be a part of that. I want someone who lives a life set apart for God, and I think he deserves the same from me.

12. It costs too much money.

If I were going to drink, I’d want some Dom Perignon, but I’m in college; I’m basically broke. Why on earth would I waste my money on Nattys and Busch Lites?

13. I don’t want to disappoint people.

It may not be a good reason, but it’s true. I don’t want to let down my parents or teachers. I want them to be proud of me.

14. There are more important things to worry about.

Approximately 1 billion people around the world go to bed hungry each night. 

Somewhere in the world someone starves to death every 3.6 seconds, and 75 percent of those are children under the age of five.

In 2009, over 35 million adults were living with HIV/AIDS.

1 in 8 people lack access to safe water supplies. Thats over 880 million people. 

2.5 billion don’t have access to a toilet.

So... how can we truly justify spending our weekends hooking up with random strangers or lying passed out on the floor?

15. I like myself too much.

It’s true. I may be the only one, but I find myself funny. Why would I want to drink something that would alter the way God made me? 

16. People look gross in their pictures.

I already untag myself  in probably half the pictures I’m tagged in. No need to add to that number.

17. I’ve had great role models.

Shout out to my friends and family who have set an amazing example for me. They’ve taught me that I don’t need to drink to be cool. Most people don’t have the same great role models that God has blessed me with. 

Thanks, guys.

18. I am a role model.

My cousins, the kids I babysit, the girls I helped with sports... in a way, I know they look up to me. I want to do my part to show them that having fun and following God are not two mutually-exclusive concepts; you can do both at the same time. I want to be a good example for them because the last thing I want is for them to end up like the majority of today’s youth culture, who feel like they can’t be cool without drinking. 

Why would I do something that I wouldn’t want them to do?

19. The Beer Gut.

Staying in shape is tough now that, for the first time in seven years, I don’t have a Varsity sport five days a week. I already told you that bulimia is not an option, and I like food too much to give it up, so swimsuit season is already difficult enough. Why would I want to make it any harder?

20. I’m in love with Jesus.

This is the real reason that I don’t drink.

Those other reasons are all valid, but honestly, Jesus is the only thing that’s really stopping me from drinking. 

Sometimes I think about how much easier life would be if I partied like everyone else—I’d probably know more friends and meet more guys, I’d probably be considered cooler by the world’s standards. But when it comes down to it, I know that Jesus has something more for me. To a lot of you that probably sounds crazy, but I know that it’s true. He wants me to give my best for Him all the time, not just on Sunday mornings, not just when I pray at night. All the time. I know that He'll love me even if I drink and I know that He always forgives me for the selfish and stupid things that I do, but I don't want to hurt Him. I love Him too much. 

He sacrificed His life for me. I think I can go without a few beers.

What are your reasons for either drinking or abstaining from alcohol? Agree or disagree with any of my reasons? Please feel free to comment.

Pursuing the Horizon

I saw a man pursuing the horizon;

Round and round they sped.

I was disturbed at this;

I accosted the man.

“It is futile,” I said,

“You can never--”

“You lie,” he cried,

And ran on.

 -Stephen Crane, 1895

Sometimes I think that cleaning my room is like chasing the horizon.

You see, I’m a bit OCD. My closet is double-coordinated, both by color and by style, so since it’s January, my white sweaters are in the very front, yellow sweaters behind them, orange behind them...and so on until I reach the black print tees so far back that I have to travel across Narnia just to get to them, leaving rainbowed heaps of clothes and hangers in my wake.

But it’s not just not my closet that gets this obsessive treatment; how could I leave red colored pencils sardined between yellows and purples; Dr. Seuss on my bookshelf next to Jane Austen; or a Kenny Chesney CD sandwiched between Eminem and Casting Crowns? Gross.

I’ll be the first to admit, though, that this system is highly inefficient. When a friend calls and asks “Hey, I’m about to turn onto your street--do you want to go into Boston right now?” and I’m still in my PJs, it’s pretty much impossible to keep my closet organized. Instead, I reach for that cute blue blouse holding the median in my line of clothing, knocking off any innocent by-standers in my way, and when I rush into my room later that night to quickly pack for an impromptu sleepover, I’m more likely to send a few more shirts to the ground than to pick up the ones that fell earlier. After a few more hectic days, my previously perfect succession of tops is not much more than a giant, 100% cotton mountain just begging to be played hide-and-seek in. The same messy fate awaits my genre-classified CD collection when my mood swings send me from country to screamo in a matter of hours and my colored-pencils when my 2 year-old cousin Jack wants to make his mom a birthday card.

So unsurprisingly, three weeks before I was supposed to head off for my freshman year of college, I stepped into my room and realized that it was beginning to resemble a war-zone and decided that I wanted it to be completely immaculate by the time I left for school. I didn’t merely hang up clothes and vacuum the rug and make my bed; I gave away every outgrown article of clothing I owned; dusted every inch of surface in my room; and searched through piles of boxes, throwing away stringless yo-yos and pens without ink and broken earrings that at some point I had apparently decided to save (Hey, you never know when you might need a defective yo-yo...).

For the first week of this arduous process, something happened that I would have thought impossible: somehow, my room got even worse. Mounds of clothes and books and CDs and art supplies and magazines and shoes blanketed the floor, lines of mascara and necklaces and lipgloss decorated my desk, and loose papers and movie tickets and old receipts suffocated the top of my dresser.

Come to think of it, cleaning my room may be a bit harder than running after that horizon-thing.

But pursuing the horizon is also a lot like understanding God. The longer and harder you try, the more you realize just how small you are compared to what you’re chasing. And just when you think you’re finally catching on, you are reminded of how far behind you really are.

The more I study God’s Word and creation, the more questions I have; discovering one answer opens up another whole realm of ambiguities and uncertainties. Sometimes I wonder, why couldn’t God just answer everything straight-out? Tell us simply: seven 24-hour days or indefinite lengths of time? can someone lose his salvation? should women be allowed to preach? do you need to be baptized to be saved? 

If the Bible clearly stated the truth about these issues, then Christians could spend less time arguing about doctrine and more at soup kitchens. Instead of fighting each other, we could fight the sex trade. We wouldn’t be divided into hundreds of denominations--differing in styles of worship and views on the Eucharist--but would gather together as a united body of Christ-followers.

At the same time, though, these obscurities force us to search, to scrutinize, and to investigate. We can’t just open up the Bible and say, “Look here, chapter 9 clearly states that all Christians should oppose gay marriage.” And it’s better this way!

Have you ever tutored someone in, say, pre-algebra? It’s simple enough that you can easily execute the problems, but when your 12 year-old cousin asks "why?", you find yourself struggling to answer. When you need to provide clear support and lead someone through the process, you are forced to delve into the math far beyond the shallow “that’s just the way it is.”

This doesn’t only hold true when it comes to basic algebra; it’s true when discussing politics, or philosophy, or the Bible. When we are told the answers, then we don’t have to engage in the search--and, as is often said, sometimes the journey is just as important as the destination. Sometimes the process of studying the context of Bible passages, of analyzing scientific data, and of observing the world around us, is more beneficial than the solution itself.

Clearly, Jesus knew this. If he was merely interested in giving us all the right answers, He would not have taught almost entirely in parables and vague symbolism. He wanted his followers to dig for answers and take the time to decipher what His teachings meant. And He still wants us to do that.

So, yes, sometimes understanding God and the Bible may seem impossible. Sometimes it may seem as if studying brings us one step forward and ten steps back. Sometimes it may seem pointless. Sometimes it may seem futile.

But don’t give up. Run on. Keep pursuing the horizon.

(January 21, 2011)