You know that time of night.. right around 7 o clock.. when its not quite dark but its not quite light?
When you can still see the sunset but its fading so it looks more like a smeared rainbow.....
I love that time.
I wish it would last longer than the few minutes that it does.
Isn't it strange how the most beautiful things are fleeting.
I guess it makes since. We wouldnt appreciate them if they were constant.
If the sun didnt shine fiercely on a pretty normal basis, I am sure that I would be enamered with it.
I find myself wishing a lot lately.. wishing that I was more aware of the things around me.
I feel like the majority of the world is walking around looking for a savior out on the streets. Someone that can give them the secret to happiness..
the secret to success
a check list on how to make the most money
a guidebook for getting the best looking date
We are walking around in a daze... holding our dirty laundry under our arms trying to hide it and looking, searching, for something that has real meaning.. ANYTHING.
We go to school and get everything broken down for us..
we narrow it all down to a scientific formula ... because until its proven wrong it must be right...
the problem lies in that no one is secure enough to admit that science holds no ultimate truth.
so we walk around blindly, putting band-aids over our hearts and holding our heads high, careful to maintain composure and avoid eye contact with strangers.. because we have enough friends already.

No thank you to that.
I may have dirty laundry, but i will hold it out in front of me.
I may hold my head high.. but its held in that way so that I can meet the eyes of the strangers I pass.. in hopes that maybe just maybe a smile will crack the hard lines of their faces and that smile will break a heart that is hardened from hiding. And maybe just maybe for no apparent reason they will spill their life story to me like I am their best friend. And maybe... hopefully, I can listen with a heart that begs for more. And maybe... just possibly, they will find that security doesnt come with money, it doesnt come with success, it isnt learned from books, or self help clinics...

My God can move mountains.
He can Shatter the false security of the world that I live in.

Voting on a good conscience.

["You're a thief!" the judge said. "Let's see Your hands!" I showed my callused hands in court. My sentence was a thousand years of joy.]

http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=3166

(for some reason I can't get the html to work on that link.. copy and paste it...i promise its worth the read)

Hope for the Homeless

I want to start something.
Something good.
Something that matters.
Something that will change things.
One of the only things I know of (that guarantees change), is prayer.
With the current state of our economy, the homeless population has virtually doubled... maybe even tripled over the span of a few months.
The NUMBER ONE thing that keeps people one the street is a lack of hope.
We can blame drugs, we can blame alcohol, we can blame laziness, we can argue that minimum wage isnt enough, we can fight for more low income housing, more food stamp hand outs, more, more, more.
You can give a man a house.. but you can not give a man a home.

Yes, I am all about social services, they are very much needed and help many people. The people that have just recently become homeless due to the economy are temporarily homeless. They are the ones that need the social services, that need to be made aware of their resources. Those that are chronically homeless need so much more than a handout. We mutter about stupid crack heads and lazy bums under our breath but don't even take a moment to question what started that habit. We scoff at the panhandlers, the thieves, and the prostitutes and NEVER think about their emotional state or lack thereof.
If a person doesn't have enough hope to even look someone in the eye how the hell do we think they will have enough hope to get back on their feet?
So I have a proposition....
If we can restore hope in the smallest of areas, we can start a break through.
I am tired of people shaking their heads at me and telling me it is impossible.. that only 5% of chronically homeless individuals come out on the other side.
If I can give just one person the confidence, the hope, the motivation to be proud about the simplest of accomplishments, then that person can make it.
We need to get on our faces and pray until we cant speak for a dying, no a dead population. Do you not see the condition of their lives? They are not called homeless people because they have no structure to live in, they are called homeless because their soul has no home.

I want to start a prayer movement.. for the homeless.
I want to restore hope in the streets.
I want to help people regain personal value, to realize that their life is of utmost importance, that every breath they take matters!
I don't care if you are a heroin dealer, a meth addict, a prostitute, an ax murderer, a gang member, a money grubber, or a crook... there is no person alive today that can not be redeemed. I believe in a God that has no limits, that holds no standard, that can break down any stronghold and replace it with an abundance of good.
I can't do this alone. I need people who are willing to give time and effort... but more importantly prayers. I need people who are dedicated to building realtionships and keeping them. Who can learn to look at a "hopeless case" and see redemption.

I know this will work because I serve a God who is capable of change. I serve a God who wants to redeem. I serve a God who will walk down the streets of Knoxville with me and pull people up out of the gutters and the ditches and give them more than they or I could ever imagine.
And how will He accomplish this?
I have no idea. But I know that it will start with prayer.