You are such a geek... » God

The Scientist and the Eye Ball

Nick — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:29:48 +0000

I am reading through Theology of the Body again after many of times. I now use it more as reference material than actual reading, but tonight I started Chris West’s review. This is a review rather than the 129 lectures John Paul the Great gave.

The tidbit that jumped out at me tonight was about Genesis. The discussion of if it was a scientific recount of creation or not is irrelevant:

Consider the difference for a woman when her optometrist looks in her eyes and when her husband looks in her eyes. The scientist is looking at her cornea and records the scientific facts. The love is looking into her soul and proclaims something more poetic and inspired. Does the scientist disprove the lover? No. These are simply two perspectives on the same reality. The author of Genesis wasn’t a scientist, but a lover inspired by God to proclaim the spiritual mysteries at the origin of the world.

Did you brain just explode? Mine did just typing it :)

Can you hear me now?

Nick — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 16:55:17 +0000

In the spirit of giving something up for 40 days, I am shooting for noise. As I type this I hear the washer machine, the music streaming from last.fm (David Crowder by the way) and my blackberry dinging with my iPhone telling me email has arrived. Focus on that for a second, I am alone in a hotel room but can hear nothing but noise. This isn’t bad necessarily, the music is uplifting to God, the emails are from loving family (not counting the work blackberry) and the dishes being done allow me nourishment. The problem is the noise never stops.

I have been making my symbolic journey to the desert and have not done a very good job. Go figure, Nick not being an amazing Christian! What I learned this morning was silence forces me to shut-up. I get scared to be quiet. For someone who thrives off interaction and learning, the sound of nothing and doing nothing scares the beejezers out of me! The past few days of work I drove to work with no radio. Nothing. What I caught myself doing was listening and praying more. The emptiness allowed God in. Saint Paul calls it dying to self and that sounds pretty accurate.

What can we do? One of my favorite songs is Switchfoot Adding to the Noise. Far too often we add to the noise of others. We force them into situations where they are obliged to talk or show you focus. We become the guy in the dorky windbreaker on TV, “Can you hear me now?” It is simply a pulse check to make sure someone saves you from being scared. So that is it, I am giving up noise. Many of you have emailed or pinged me wondering why I have been so quiet the past few weeks. That is really the reason. If you are used to the 20 minute response times on email you may need to readjust. I want to make sure when we talk next it is a meaningful exploration of grace.

So God, “Can You Talk to Me Now?”

Best Man Toast

Nick — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 20:12:33 +0000

I want to look back on this with my Brother. Here it is for the world to mirror!

——————————————————————————

You both are running around the city getting ready. Dan you are in my bathroom shaving off your peach fuzz and LuLu you are rolling your hair. What you both don’t realize is that it doesn’t matter. What you will remember this day is the feeling of being on the altar together. All the things that have stressed you both out, plates at a dinner, music in a hall, and is everyone taken care of will fade away. Dan what you will remember is the way your wife looked into your eyes as you exchange vows. Lindsey you will remember the warmth of Dan’s hand on yours as he squeezes to reassure you everything is okay.

What we forget sometimes is that none of this matters. The only thing God and you guys should care about is kneeling at Christ’s altar. You must realize that you are keeling together, always do that. Always humble yourself to God. If you can give yourself to God then you can give yourselves to each other. That is my biggest prayer for you both, God. I am not the best Catholic, I don’t claim to be. But what I know is that when God is first my life is blessed. The one thing I have that you guys don’t is that if my life goes south then it is just Nick. You both are in this together. What a great thing! Dan, you are going to screw up. You are going to put your foot down and shortly there after put that same foot in your mouth. You will say things that are dumb and take you both down the wrong path. You are going to be a total jerk sometimes and hurt the woman you love. Lindsey, you will aggravate the crap out of Dan. You will wonder sometimes if he has his head on straight. The good news is, you are in it together. If you stick together when you guys screw up, you screw up together. You can look back and laugh at how bad you screwed up together. This isn’t all gloom though for there will be those moments when Dan isn’t a jerk and instead an incredible man. Lindsey you will wonder what got into him to make him such a great leader. Dan you will wonder why Lindsey is being so supportive of what you are saying and things will simply just make sense. That is the Holy Spirit, let it work through you for those good times you will both get a chance to soak up the joy of God.

In closing I love you both. I will always be here for you and pray always for you. Good luck you guys.

Nick — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 22:25:54 +0000

It is often in the course of life that we are put to the test of our faith. My little brother just txt’ed me saying “Shotgun is at mom’s house.” If only I could. If only it were that easy.There is a calling that we must listen and hold tight to as we engross ourselves into the life of Christ. God is Love. Love is God. Love is the Word. Hence why John 1:1 makes so much sense. Watch:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

TO:

In the beginning was Love, and Love was with God, and the Love was God.

There is no denying the truth in that. We are as Christians attempting to be Christ-like. So it is through Christ we allow the grace to flow from us in the form of loving compassion. My brother was right. It is so much easier to just lash out. It is the constant reminder that we are called as Christians to more.

God is watching

Nick — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:40:04 +0000

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
“Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him.”
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
Nathanael answered him,
“Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Do you believe
because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this.”
And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

I read this and thought back to all the times I was “hiding.” How many times have I been under the fig tree of life thinking no one knew my secrets, no one knew my heart? Prayer is my only hope that Jesus is watching me under the fig tree and as I approach the Gates of Heaven his words are “Here is a true child of Israel.”