3/22/2005 06:27:00 PM|||Joel VandenBrink|||

I don't know if I spelled that word right, but that is what i feel like lately. this past week and a half has been such a....a something. I can't even think of a word to describe it. I sometimes do foolish things to get more in touch with the world around me, one of these things was going to see Hotel Rwanda this weekend. I wasn't prepared for it, well I was, but nobody can be prepared to see that much evil and that much good juxtaposed to each other. It was gut wrenching to watch. At one point I just wanted it to end because I didn't think I could stomach anymore. And yet, 4 days later I'm still motivated by it to fight the fight that I am fighting -- the fight against evil. It seems paralyzing at times though because so much evil and harm is all around -- and yet there is so much goos as well. The main character in the movie, Paul, is a glorious man. I wish I would have met him when he was in Seattle a couple weeks ago. He may not even know about Christ, and yet he lived the life of Christ in a glorious way. And the cool thing is, he didn't do it 'because he was a Christian' and he didn't do it 'because it would glorify God.' He did it because of who he is, and what he believes. This should be the call of all people -- to do good because of who they are -- not because of what they believe. This is the hope I have in my life. I don't ever want to do something because I am a Christian, I want to do things because I am being Joel. I am being who God created me to be. God doesn't care about beliefs, he cares about people, he cares about his creation. The only time God cares about beliefs is when they affect how a person treats his creation. How beautifully inverted is that!

alright, well I'm signing off til monday. I will be spending the next couple days camping and relaxing at a bed and Breakfast with my wife. I can't wait to have conversations around the fireplace about how chemistry and theology collide, and how God is bigger than either of us think he is, and how smoke stings out eyes, and how we fail each other in marriage, and how we 'succeed' in marriage....well you get the point. I can't wait.

peace
joel

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