Boots and Bibles

I Get Inspired by Politicians Too

I have a new job. Hallelujah.

At my new work, I get the routine morning duty of combing through the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and Bloomberg.com for articles relevant to my new boss's interests. It's an informative exercise, as I get to see exactly what the people who enjoy the status quo are thinking. Furthermore, I find most of these newspapers surprisingly un-frustrating. As I've indicated in the past, newspapers tend to either infuriate me or drain me of hope. Something I appreciate about the Journal and Financial Times, for example, is that they don't typically stay too focused on the sensationalist nonsense most papers use to hock themselves. They cut through the bullcrap, and get down to business – literally.

It's easy enough to recognise that these newspapers have a distinct bend to the right in their editorial slant, but it's nowhere near as apparent or pugnacious as, say, the New York Times' bend to the left. As an example, however, of how surprisingly even-handed the Journal can be, despite its main function as a propaganda machine for the corporate elite, they ran this article on how artists are being inspired by Barack Obama.

"Hope." "Progress." Visual comparisons to history-making leaders of this country. These are the dreams and feelings that Barack's bold and uncompromising promise of change provoke! And I must say, I felt inspired by the article, too.

Here's what I came up with:

Do you like it? I made it on MS Paint. I think it's pretty good, all things considered.

Oddly enough, I found a new editorial in the Wall Street Journal today that seems to speak well for my point of view.

Don't get too excited though, right-wingers. I don't like McCain either. (Then again, no one's comparing him to Abraham Lincoln... or Jesus.)

I Forgot Who God Is

I've learned a lot in the last six years since coming to New York. When I look at old journals and blog entries, their naïveté amuses me. In terms of knowledge, wisdom, and good, hard life lessons, I've come a long way by most people's standards.

But there are other things that I've needed to re-learn.

Cornerstone Festival 2008 just ended last Saturday. I can honestly say it was the best one I've ever been to. And it's not just because my favourite bands – including my very favourite, Blaster the Rocketman – were playing, either. In fact, the music this year was secondary to other things happening in my heart. It came from the words people spoke, the prayers people lifted up, and the people I was reunited with themselves.

This week was a reminder to me of something I have not had a firm grasp on for several years now. It reminded me of what God wants, what God has done, how God works through His people. I also felt Him. I wept with Him. I felt Him embracing me and saying that my work is not done, that my calling has never gone away, and that I'm not nearly as alone as I thought I was – and that it wouldn't matter even if I were!

It was a week of re-learning that I must decrease, and He must increase. I also re-learned that God is love, and to be filled with His Spirit will inevitably mean loving kindness, humility and patience – among other things. He re-ignited a passion for His Kingdom. He reminded me what it means to have faith, to pray, to read His word. It shocked me even how far off-kilter I've become towards Him. I feel like the church in Ephesus, finally straggling back to its first love after years of getting caught up in things that involve Him, but yet are not Him.

The main thing I probably forgot about God is that it's all about Him, and not the things that He supports and encourages.