my friends are having babies.
and i'm baby-sitting.
all i can say is:
*cue song: return to sender*
works for now.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
i will follow you (into the dark)
follow |ˈfälō|
verb [ trans. ]
1 go or come after (a person or thing proceeding ahead); move or travel behind : she went back into the house, and Ben followed her | [ intrans. ] he was following behind in his car.
2 come after in time or order : the six years that followed his restoration | [ intrans. ] the rates are as follows.
I've noticed the word "follow" a lot lately. it probably started because of twitter and how funny it is to me that on twitter, you don't "friend" someone like on facebook, you make the decision to "follow" them. at first I thought it was kinda creepy, but honestly, I think it's kinda cool now. and I don't mean twitter, I mean the concept of (positively) following others.
when you're little, you're instructed by your parents to be careful of merely following the crowd.
but then there's the bible and how Jesus is very clear about what it takes to follow him.
today I read in my bible luke 9:51-62.
(57-62)
"as they were walking along the road, a man said to him, 'i will follow you wherever you go.' Jesus replied, 'foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.' he said to another man, 'follow me.' but the man replied, 'lord, first let me go and bury my father.' Jesus said to him, 'let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' still another said, 'i will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.' Jesus replied, 'no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.'"
i will follow you
so obviously there was a disconnect with these people (and with me most of the time). to follow is a great act. weighty. full of responsibility and action. to say to someone, i will follow you, is a commitment. it says, i will keep up with you. through good and bad. i will heed your words. you will clear the path, and i will walk that path after you. sure, sometimes we are meant to be the leaders and others are to follow us. but either way, there's a lot of responsibility to be said for a follower. i think i usually put the responsibility of roles on the leader, but the diligence of one who has chosen to follow is a a significant decision, too.
that being said, i pretty much hate to follow. i like to do my own thing. when i was in memphis i followed my friend J back to his house. his car was in front of me and he made sure not to leave me behind (even though i knew where i was going. ha...). i don't think i'm a good leader like that. i'm not thoughtful because i am so independent in my ways. so i would rather not lead nor follow. kinda sad...
but i think that has to do with my level of commitment... in life, in friendships, etc. and obviously that needs to change. i want to grow in commitment so that i can adequately follow and then perhaps, one day, be able to lead. but i think by Jesus asking people to follow him and them giving him an excuse, he was trying to gauge their level of commitment to the task at hand (of following). i don't think it means that they never followed him. who knows? but... i think it shows that at that point of time, it was "too much" to be asked. as i'm sitting here writing this, it makes me realize: that's what i like so much about Jesus. he shows us where we're at. it's easy to lie to ourselves and say, "but, Jesus, I will follow you!" but then he points to something that's going on in our lives and we have to be honest with ourselves and say, "yeah, you're right... i would rather go ____________" or, "but.............."
so, while it would be easy to merely the pose the question, "what's my level of commitment?" i think the more important question is, "how can i make my level of commitment more than what it is now?" because it's the action, the following, that will deepen my commitment, not just making an observation of where i'm at.
verb [ trans. ]
1 go or come after (a person or thing proceeding ahead); move or travel behind : she went back into the house, and Ben followed her | [ intrans. ] he was following behind in his car.
2 come after in time or order : the six years that followed his restoration | [ intrans. ] the rates are as follows.
I've noticed the word "follow" a lot lately. it probably started because of twitter and how funny it is to me that on twitter, you don't "friend" someone like on facebook, you make the decision to "follow" them. at first I thought it was kinda creepy, but honestly, I think it's kinda cool now. and I don't mean twitter, I mean the concept of (positively) following others.
when you're little, you're instructed by your parents to be careful of merely following the crowd.
but then there's the bible and how Jesus is very clear about what it takes to follow him.
today I read in my bible luke 9:51-62.
(57-62)
"as they were walking along the road, a man said to him, 'i will follow you wherever you go.' Jesus replied, 'foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.' he said to another man, 'follow me.' but the man replied, 'lord, first let me go and bury my father.' Jesus said to him, 'let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' still another said, 'i will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.' Jesus replied, 'no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.'"
i will follow you
so obviously there was a disconnect with these people (and with me most of the time). to follow is a great act. weighty. full of responsibility and action. to say to someone, i will follow you, is a commitment. it says, i will keep up with you. through good and bad. i will heed your words. you will clear the path, and i will walk that path after you. sure, sometimes we are meant to be the leaders and others are to follow us. but either way, there's a lot of responsibility to be said for a follower. i think i usually put the responsibility of roles on the leader, but the diligence of one who has chosen to follow is a a significant decision, too.
that being said, i pretty much hate to follow. i like to do my own thing. when i was in memphis i followed my friend J back to his house. his car was in front of me and he made sure not to leave me behind (even though i knew where i was going. ha...). i don't think i'm a good leader like that. i'm not thoughtful because i am so independent in my ways. so i would rather not lead nor follow. kinda sad...
but i think that has to do with my level of commitment... in life, in friendships, etc. and obviously that needs to change. i want to grow in commitment so that i can adequately follow and then perhaps, one day, be able to lead. but i think by Jesus asking people to follow him and them giving him an excuse, he was trying to gauge their level of commitment to the task at hand (of following). i don't think it means that they never followed him. who knows? but... i think it shows that at that point of time, it was "too much" to be asked. as i'm sitting here writing this, it makes me realize: that's what i like so much about Jesus. he shows us where we're at. it's easy to lie to ourselves and say, "but, Jesus, I will follow you!" but then he points to something that's going on in our lives and we have to be honest with ourselves and say, "yeah, you're right... i would rather go ____________" or, "but.............."
so, while it would be easy to merely the pose the question, "what's my level of commitment?" i think the more important question is, "how can i make my level of commitment more than what it is now?" because it's the action, the following, that will deepen my commitment, not just making an observation of where i'm at.
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