Late night ponderings with moody guitar music and dim light.

The subject states what’s up in my room right now very well. I have my “sleepy/making out time” light on and as I’m not making out with anyone…It must be sleepy time. I’m also listening to Andy Davis’ “Black Keys”. I’m fixin’ to go to bed to wake up extra early to meet with Dr.Nienhuis for before breakfast coffee. I don’t really drink coffee and one of my enemies in life is the early morning (before nine), but I’m sure it will be good anyhow.

I went to a new park today. Seward Park in Beacon Hill. My friend Michael Richards and I took some time before his interview to take part in “experiencing new things in Seattle day”. Seward park is both awesome and ironic. I’ll get to the irony part in a second. It’s basically an entire peninsula surrounded by lake Washington. Mercer Island’s rich folk live right across the water. There’s a great trail around the peninsula. Mike and I stayed on that part…the interior of the park was marked with signs that read “POISON OAK”…We decided to err on not spending the next 2 days being really itchy. The park is really quite wonderful and contains a great beach to throw rocks into the water from. I assume that you know we did that while we were there. The only downside to the park was the fact that it was balls cold and almost raining out. It would have been amazing had it been sunny, or had I brought a jacket. Sometimes I dress more according to what I want the weather to be than what it actually is.

Now the irony you may have been waiting for. There’s a memorial in Seward Park that dates back to 1930. It commemorates the United States “lasting amity” with Japan in 1930. They gave the park the awesome cherry blossoms that are there. That was in 1930. In 1941 (11 years later) the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor…and if I’m not mistaken in 1945 we dropped two atom bombs on their country…There. That was the irony. It’s sad really. I wish we all could have gotten along without bombs coming into the relationship.

After I got back from the park I was feeling strange. I took a nap. It was nice. I woke up feeling lonely. I got irritated with it. I declined going to dinner with most of my boys because I didn’t want to offend the group that went before them (whom I told I was going to wait to eat until 6). Basically it happened that they all had gone before 6 and I didn’t want to go alone, so I got pouty and went to Gwinn after they’d left hoping to eat with them anyway.

On the way however, I met my friend Julie Smith and ate with her instead. I barely ever see her these days except in passing and it was great to eat with her. We had a great time. I’m really grateful for people like her around whom I can relax and enjoy myself without having to be a specific way. You know those people? The people who can handle your shit? She’s one of those people. I appreciate her. She has a recital coming up…you should go. It’d be worthwhile. She sings like an angel. No lie.

While I ate dinner two things happened. 1) My Gwinn spinach had insect eggs on it. That is not a lie either. It was disgusting and frustrating because I didn’t get to eat my spinach. Tangent. You may have noticed that I eat a large plate of spinach at dinner every day. It’s been that way for about 2 years. No, I don’t use dressing. I couldn’t get the measurement right so I gave up. Plus, there’s never any good vinaigrette. Yes. I realize it’s a lot of spinach. No, I really don’t love it. I eat it because it’s good for me and also because I don’t notice that I dislike it anymore. Back on track now. 2) I got to chat with my friends Mark Stone and Melyssa Norris. They pretty much are awesome. They live in Emerson. Lots of awesome people do.

After a rousing 2 hour study time with my friend Michael Rudolph (Rudy) I stopped in to see Maisha Seebeck. She’s a great friend and Peer Advisor. I quite literally would have gone insane without her on my staff this year. She’s a blessing.

Rudy and I studied for our class called history of latin america. We talked a bit about how we’re to help the people there fix their societal problems. We’re not called as people of God to stand by while our brothers and sisters in the Lord suffer and die. We’re not called to stand by while any people suffer and die. Apathy is not a divine calling. Sympathy and empathy are. So what do we do? I was wondering if the process of helping them involves standing beside them or just helping them get started and then letting them do the work. I wondered if eventually am blessed to help people in Latin America…will I have to leave? Is my place in my country of origin doing the Lord’s work? Or am I given the opportunity to walk alongside my people (God’s people) during the entire process of whatever it may be?

I think that it might be somewhere in between. Surely we aren’t supposed to impose a new sort of colonialism by means of our support. We are called to help those in need, not to spearhead projects on their behalf. At the same time I don’t think that it’s necessarily a thing where we have to leave them on their own after a project has been started. For one thing they might be able to do without us, but if that’s where we are shown by the Lord to be…then that’s where we ought to stay. If all of God’s people are my people then my family has no nationalistic, societal, or class distinctions. My people are all of God’s people. Our citizenship is not here. So, maybe that means that there’s a place for someone like me (or you…) in a place that is not filled with people of our same skin tone or culture. Those things aren’t important. The important question is are they God’s? Then they’re family. If they claim not to be God’s you’ve got to love them like they are His…because it’s a fact that they are. He owns everything. Sometimes you’ve just gotta deal with it.