I realized that this is half the Gospel right here.

I am like you. You are like me. We are like them. Saints, murderers, thieves, we are all the same. What kind of force can put us all in the same category? Surely, I am above the liar next to me or the burglar with the gun. How can we possibly be the same?

The strange thing is, we are. I am just as low, I am just as dirty, I am just as much worthy of death, as you are, as they are, as the world is.
But maybe if I try hard, maybe if I stop cursing, maybe if i stop lying, maybe if i don't do this anymore, I can rise above. but I know deep down that I will fail and fall on my knees like the rest of them.
You know what they say about those on their knees; it's the perfect position to pray.

Once our backs are tired from the burden, once the sweat on our brows pours, once our knees bleed to remind us where we are, its very easy to be the same. Because then we realize who we are. Naked, uncovered, poor, hurting. We realize that in some way or another, we truly are the same. This is the world. This is life.
It almost hurts to end a post this way, but so be it.

I just noticed.

A touch, a smell, a sound. How it can evoke a memory:
I remember doing my 8th grade musical every time I buy a certain brand of face cleanser. I almost well up with tears every time I hear Boston by Augustana because of the good memories it brings from music theory class during freshman year. Such strong memories and moments. Isn't is amazing how just one whiff of your mom's old recipe for a certain dish can release a memory of your grandmother that you hadn't thought about in years? Or how walking into a house that you hadn't been to in a while can suddenly make you remember every detail of each room, each piece of furniture and almost every big event in the house?

It's beautiful remembering something old that was tucked away in the back part of your mind. For me, it makes me appreciate each new moment because I know that someday I could remember that moment with the simplest reminder. It's a pleasant surprise and lets you embark on a mental journey through your mind, trying to suck out every memory from the one instance. Don't let those moments get away. Dwell on them. Keep them close to your heart. They will carry you through those empty times in life.

Wisdom?

Isn't funny how the Bible says in order to get wisdom, we simply ask, keep prayer and believe and we'll get it?
It's hard. Wisdom is a little hard to define these days. Is it simply knowing what to do when hard times come around? Or is it always knowing what is right? Then again, with today's society embracing relativism, that can't really apply in this case.
Webster says this, "the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action;"

Have you ever been in a situation in which the world seems to have every force possible against you? I have. Those moments and situation which have only losing outcomes. No matter how much heart, soul, sweat, and tears you put in, you lose. I hate hitting brick walls. It hurts. And it hurts even more when you begin looking at someone else and demand those same tears, that same sweat. Yet, in the end, you somehow come out dry. What happens?

You retrace your steps, your thought process and everything in between. You thought you were being wise. But how can you be wise in a lose-lose situation?

Perhaps the wisdom comes in handy when dealing with the loss. No one really likes a sore loser.
It takes great faith and courage to put up blinders to the world when you have a task at hand, knowing you probably won't see how you've helped. That's where people usually give up or simply don't bother. I've been finding myself in those types of situations lately. And it's a frustrating experience. Yet this wisdom I ask for tells me to go on, and let's me know that all will be well. I did my part. God will do his. I can only do what He asks me to do.

Wisdom. What do i know about wisdom. really.
I feel as if it's a word reserved for those much older. Because they've been through hardships I cannot even imagine.
Sometimes you're not always faced with a right/wrong situation. Disappoint crouches down, ready to pounce, and you know it. You feel it. I've definitely been there.

I constantly pray for wisdom to help me understand these dead end situations, and do the true right, whether people love or hate me, or both. Those moments I try to remember to look up and tell myself who I am truly working for, if I'd rather have people upset with me for righteousness , or the God of the universe upset with me for sin. Option one please.