A Place of Comfort

Well its been a long time since this blog has seen the light of day and for that me and Pim apologize. It has been a very interesting semester in school and it's almost over. Today i hopefully move into my new place of residence for the summer and God willing everything will go smoothly. Its been so long since i've posted that i really haven't the slightest clue of what to embark on whatever audience finds themselves reading this. One thing has continually popped into my mind though. This semester i found a place, a place that brings out the best in me. This place brings people together and in the context of loud music, continuous pool, and friendly conversation i find peace. I won't reveal its location or its title for safety sake, after all it is my place of solitude and if word gets out that has the potential of being stripped from me. I guess in writing this I'm trying to convey the importance of finding a place that brings out the best in you. Find a place that you feel comfortable with and use it often to bring joy to your life and the lives of others. Trust me, if you find a place like this it can become something you will remember for the rest of your life.

Love each other

Bear

Judgment

Get to know someone before you judge them.

Pim

One Mississippi

Well it's about time for another post and it seems like centuries since the last. I don't know about you but sometimes i'm just flat out lazy. I don't know why, but i do know it feels awesome. Falling asleep for me occasionally becomes a chore. A few nights ago i was lying in bed for what seemed to be eternity when my thoughts began to shift towards God. This is not uncommon, but often my thoughts drift off into other things like music, friends stories, my dream girl, my parents, my brother, politics, and the list goes on and on. This night my brain centered around God. I thought about how Christians use the word searching as terminology for non-believers and their spiritual longing. Then i thought, I know that i have found God but it is it possible to lose him in the routine of my daily life. Should we always be searching for God? I came to the conclusion that we must continue this search. It reminds me of the childhood game of hide-and-seek. God can hide in a variety of places and we get to try and find Him. When we do find him, the game starts all over again. God can be found in every situation that presents itself to us. We have the ability to see this but refuse and become blind to his qualities. We need to train ourselves to see beyond the terrible, hypocritical, devastating, exhausting, impatient, immoral things in life and just play hide-and-seek with our creator. Will you join me in this game, I'll be it first. One Mississippi...................

Lets Play
Bear

Snapple

It is an unusual situation when Bear and I disagree. Today is one of those days. He thrives on Valentine's day. There is something about it that motivates him and sparks his mood. I, on the other hand, loathe it. I get in a bad mood, and am in a state of solitude. It is not the fact that I don't have a significant other or that I particularly hate pink and purple. It's the simple fact that Valentine's day is used as a special occasion by the hallmark to urge us to do what we should be doing everyday. Loving people. Not just for couples but for everyone. I will say one good thing about Valentine's Day: it does do its intended job. People get googly eyed, and remember why they fell in love to begin with. And for those who do not have a significant other, friendly cards and candy is passed around. It is a day of great joy for many and for many who don't have loved ones, it kind of sucks. But regardless of that fact, this joy needs to be a regular practice of humanity. The kind of joy that brings actions of doing good for others, giving out candy because you love someone, and an overall sense of generosity. I miss Snapple. You know the delightfully refreshing fruity drink? It's still around, but those awesome commercials do not really air anymore. Their tagline "made from the best stuff on earth" is probably my favorite, because I love fruit. There aren't very many things that are more pure than fruit. But the kind of joy that needs to take place everyday as though it is Valentine's Day...that is more pure. It is the best stuff on earth, and it originates from best stuff in heaven.

This Is Pim. Love Eachother. Be Cool. Happy Valentine's Day.

God all the time?

Lately I've made an attempt to find God in all that i do or say. This idea was taken from a daily devotional. 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. It's not that easy. I catch myself neglecting Gods creation and Gods created. I would encourage anyone who reads this to make an attempt at the same idea. Walk outside and look with great intent at Gods creation. Pray and thank God for your surroundings and the people who surround you. Try to find prayer in every aspect of your day. Continue until prayer consumes your thoughts and actions. It's going to be difficult, but through persistant prayer and worship maybe we can begin to change the lives of others. I think that might be considered the Great Commision.

Love Creation
Bear

tenure friends

Do you have a friend that you miss? Maybe a friend that you are so incredibly close to and have such a deep and profound love for? I am fortunate to have such a friend. It's amazing to me that this girl and I still talk. We dated for a little and after a realized love for someone else, I broke it off. Now, granted I was a young freshmen in college when this happened, but it is still a reality. It was rough waters ahead after that, and after not talking for a while we finally reconnected a couple weeks ago. It feels distinctly similar finding something you have lost. Like being years into manhood, and finding the forgotten teddy bear you cuddled with every night in your childhood. That feeling of happiness, redemption, and old feelings and memories come rushing back, and I welcome it with open arms. Back when we were in high school (she was one year younger than I) we were in an activity that brought us incredibly close. We traveled together, we talked constantly, and more importantly, the fabrics of our lives became intertwined because we had a genuine love and care for each other. We referred to each other as "tenure". It is defined as guaranteed permanent employment. It's a stretch of the definition, but you get the picture. In reflection, it is the "tenure friends" that really count. The friends that you put above everybody else in the world. Get some. Well as we are now split by the Mississippi and states away from each other, I am reminded of those times. Times of laughter, crying, yelling/jumping/screaming/fist pumping/catching/performing/blasting/WINNING. And as much as we won in the activity that we were in, it wasn't about the activity after all. It was about winning a friend. We could have lost every time we went out and at this point in my life there would be a big check mark in the Win Column. Not only winning her friendship, but the simple fact that she knows that I would die for her, travel five hours to her if she needed me, and always...ALWAYS take care of her. There is a very small number of people who come close to how much I care for her. This relationship is totally platonic, totally pure, totally loving, totally caring, totally selfless and it is definitely totally tenure.

This Is Pim. Love Eachother. Be Cool.

Home

I feel more like a stranger each time i come home. My bed is no longer my bed. The room feels empty, depressing, and lacks the memories of past events. I went back today, back to a time of less worries, when things felt hopeful. I'm not saying things are not hopeful now, it's just less evident in day to day activity. As for my travels back through time, they were interesting to say the least. I miss it. I miss it tremendously. I miss old friends and reflect on new ones. I miss a certain house that really did feel like home even though it wasn't my own. I miss dress up dinners and park dates. I miss cramming nine hundred people in my car to go reek havic on the city. I thought about all this. When my mind returned from the past, i thought about people and places i have now. I thought and i smiled. I do have a home, its a part of everything around me. My mentors words of wisdom are home. My friends and their open arms are home. My music is home. Having coffee and dessert is home. All of these things are just pieces of home. Home is a reflection of Christ. The room no longer feels empty.


Love
Bear

Hope you do well?

Today is going to be really easy. Serve eachother and love eachother. There is nothing more profoundly selfless then serving and loving other people. There is a little bit inside all of us that thrives on helping people and doing what is good. We always tell people to do well. It has become one of the key phrases of our earthly existence, do well. But I think, although I might be just staring too deeply into syntax, that we once again could do better. How about "Do Good". Although it is not proper grammar in a sense, it is actually what I mean. Do good for people, do good for the world, do good for the existence of humanity, do good for God. Do your best, your very best, and although most of the time our best sucks, it's all we have. What if this new generation of college kids and young adults (one that is highly criticized for our laziness and desire to have our parents' lives, one who's integrity is questioned by older generations) could be a beacon to the darkness? A lighthouse to dark and troubling waters. We have no idea what God can do when we do good. We live in a bad world. Do Good.

This Is Pim. Love Eachother. Be Cool.

Example

Mother Teresa said something profound when asked about her prayer life. She was asked what she said to God while praying. She responded by saying, I don't say anything I just listen. Then she was asked, What does God say to you? She responded with, He doesn't say anything He just listens.

Be Loving, Pray and Listen
Bear

Waiting...Paitently...For Perfect Love.

As Bear and I (and about 10 of our colleagues from work) conclude season 4 of the O.C., I have so many questions. It has been a wonderful experience, being intertwined with all of the characters relationships, mistakes, and drama. *SPOILER ALERT* And as the final episode ended with the marriage of Seth and Summer, I try and think of everything they went through. Of how he was a dork, and she was the coolest girl in school, and somehow they found each other, soulmates if you will. I look deep inside my life and realize that I want this! I think that the majority of people who take part in these kind of shows all do. It is the draw, the bait that tricks them and gets them reeled in. We become depressed at the state of our lives and look for guidance. We see the relationship that such two people have, a relationship where it is quite clear that they are each other's "saviors". We get so enthralled with it that we start putting ourselves into that situation, and my big question...Is this even possible? I am not trying to be a critic of Love, because I am quite convinced that God has done enough on this planet and for his people to show us that it is the most essential fabric of the universe's workings. I guess what I am really trying to find out, Is that really love? I can't explain the feeling that I get when I see Summer and Seth. It makes troubles go away, it has a unique feeling of the underdog fighting through the storm, hands raised in victory. It ignites emotions within me that I feel need to come out every now and then. But the question remains, Is that really love? Is that a true form of possible love? And as I expand my thinking, I am forced to come to the conclusion of...no. As much as I hate it, the answer is no. The thing we must understand about shows such as the OC, and sappy love songs, and even fairy tales, is that it leaves no room for error. Most fairy tales end with "and they lived happily ever after". Well the truth of the matter is, in real life, they didn't live happily ever after. The lived a really stressed life, where they had numerous problems with matters such as raising kids, lust, and financial security. The thing about people in real life is, despite these problems, they get through it. Most successful relationships work, not because they don't have any problems, but because they truck through them. They do not let those tough situations break eachother up, but help bind together. True love is not about feelings, and trivial thoughts, but about a choice to consistently choose that person daily. And to be honest, I am scared for the Summer and Seth's in the real world. They do not stand a chance. The kind of love that these shows, songs, and fairy tales promote is completely and utterly unrealistic. In this savior love, they do not have a chance. If we are basing our relationships on the fact that the other person is, as John Mayer so poetically puts it, "our saving grace", the relationships are doomed. It is too much responsibility for any human to have on their shoulders. And in contrast to that there is the true saving grace of Jesus Christ, who can take the burden to be our "savior love". I guess the short of what I am trying to say is, do not put that responsibility on one another, that love cannot exist between two humans, but put that responsibility on Christ to have that saving, redeeming, perfect love. It's the only place you will find it. So while all of you guys and girls are looking for your Summers and Seths, I choose Christ.

This is Pim. Love Eachother. Be Cool

The Political Taco

It's always gratifying to sleep in on rainy days. What is it about the rain that makes a person feel depressed and hungry? I was starving when i woke up. A quick decision was made and suddenly my vehicle found itself sleeping in the parking lot of an empty Taco Bell. Pim came along to make the occasion less lonesome. So there we were, tired, hungry, and soft spoken, eating our deliciously made grade F meat. Usually rainy days are filled with naps, T.V, and emotionless stares. It was during an emotionless stare that i heard conversation that would break the curse of my rainy day depression. A woman working at the Bell was surprisingly open about her past. She spoke shamelessly about her previous work as a female stripper. Pim and I were the only two in the place. Her words caught my attention immediatlely. Lets be serious, if a girl starts talking about being a stripper you listen. She reasoned with her idealogy for quiting the job. It turns out she was a mommy stripper and did not want her kid to grow up knowing his mother took her clothes off for creapy old men. I pondered the situation after giggling with Pim for a moment. Later, after we returned from our journey and our tummies were filled with refried beans, i again thought of the young Taco Bell employee. I wondered what her past might have looked like. I wondered if her parents were loving, if her friends truly loved her. I ultimately wondered if she knew God. For awhile i wondered if there was anything that i could have done to make her life truly better. Maybe an understanding tone or smile that could have created a better atmosphere for her the rest of the day. Then i began to think about thinks on a larger scale. My net expanded to thoughts of a larger crowd of people, the people in which i live with and work with. Today is Super Tuesday, a big day for American politics. Potentially a day when we find out who will be running in November to lead us into a new era. "Where does God fit in all of this", I asked myself. We are called to lead by example. Hopefully the next presidential candidate will do the same, and hopefully his example is Jesus Christ. My answer, "God is a part of everything". As a human being i cannot will my support of a presidential candidate into office. All i can do as a Christian is pray that God is behind what is really taking place in our lives, and in that faithfully support the person that takes over as our countries leader. My job for now is to help create a movement of love among people. I hope and pray that you will join in this movement and maybe together we can create a better world for people like the Taco Bell employee that had a problematic past. Maybe just maybe we can create a world where depression doesn't exist on rainy days.

Remember, Love one another

Bear

.Be You.

It's interesting what feelings can arise by conversation. It's the most simple of things isn't it? Just talking. We are subject to it every single day, and if you can get over the typical banter such as, "how's the weather?" or "so how about those cheating patriots getting crushed?" people have some amazing thoughts. Here's one. I was talking to one that I dearly love and as the typical, "hey, want some coffee?" conversation was going on she said something that I never would have thought. "I used to try so hard to be cool. I just wanted people to like me. I would do anything to be cool in those days". Nostalgia. And maybe nostalgia isn't the right word, because those days were not happy days for me. But for a couple seconds I got blasted to my past. To a time where I tried so hard to be cool...I wanted so much for people to like me that I would do anything. And as I sit here typing, thinking about the memories, regrets, of doing things against my personality just to look "cool", I wonder what cool really looks like. It is an appropriate thought, since I end our daily's with "be cool". Being cool is not something we do or do not do. It's not about smoking a cigarette because everyone around you is, or drinking so you move up on someone's personal ladder. It's not about being a democrat to rebel against your parents, or choosing republican because it is the social norm in your city. It's not about the clothes you wear, the car you drive, the music you listen to, or the boyfriend/girlfriend you have. Being cool starts inside. And I think everyone is cool in some way. Such as every girl is pretty in some way. If you look at girls, really look at them, not just outside, but inside, you will realize this. Each and everyone has something about them that is intrinsically beautiful. And we are cool in such a way. I believe it is God showing himself in each and everyone. I have a friend who might be the most socially awkward person ever. He can't speak well, girls do not dig him, and the way he dresses is completely vile. He is the bane of societies "cool" existence. He also is doing amazing things for starving children in Africa. He is in complete dedication to the needs of those less than him. He sacrifices much. And to me that is cool. When we realize that who we are as individuals are cool, we will make incredible strides. Don't try to be cool. Be yourself. You're cool. Don't do things to please people, do things because it is who you are. And to the girl that I had that conversation: You are not only a blessings, an incredible woman, and an inspiration, you are one of the coolest people I have ever met. And to the ambassador of "cool", the one who pressures, and who is faking it yourself: Jokes on you.

This is Pim. Love Eachother. Be Cool

Techno Meets the O.C.

Sometimes it takes really bad techno to appreciate the truly good music in life. Sometimes it takes a group of newborn friends, sitting in a hazy bubble, to crush boredom on an otherwise disappointing Saturday. Putting aside the techno surplus that forced my ears to bleed, the moment came out as one unique connection. Sitting, watching other people set their worries aside and become completely selfless within the music created a thing of beauty in my mind. So when the hose came to me, I thought about God. It's hard sometimes but in all things God can be represented. I found God in the small community cramped up around an ashy end table at a techno dance party. I found God in the faces of friends around that table. I found God in the silence of the car ride back home. Later that night i found Him in a very unusaul setting. I found myself watching the O.C. I know it sounds lame, but somehow there is something about sexy, dramatic, unrealistic teen drama that brings people together. In those early morning hours filled with heartbreak and tears reflecting from the glowing telivison i found a since of community. A community among friends, and it was in that community that i found God.

Remember to always love one another.
Bear

The Real Question

As I sit here, exasperated from dancing to a song (one which will remain unnamed), I wonder if we all have missed a huge part of life. When did everything become so complicated and serious? When did humanity become numb to the fact that simplicity is cool. When did the status quo of life become worry, trouble, and stress? It is all around. We need to do exactly as that overused cliche recommends. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. I am not blameless. It took me dancing to this unnamed song to finally come to the conclusion that I need more of this in my life. More joy, more brilliance, more out of controlness. At the end of the day what are we to do but simply laugh at ourselves. There will be enough worry, trouble, and stress for an entire life. And what do we fall back on, except the fact that everyday brings new mercies, new graces, new opportunities to find who we truly are, and enjoy the simple things in life. Like dancing crazy, and then laughing because you look like a huge tool. I want to laugh harder, love deeper, serve bloodier, and give worry, trouble, and stress hell. Everyone says they want to live life to the fullest, and it starts with everyday. So the real question is not, what do I have on my plate today, but how am I going to kick tail today. How am I going to live in such a way that the very joy I think about becomes a reality? Think about it, then crank the tunes, and dance.

This is Pim. Love Eachother. Be Cool

Enjoy.

First thing's first. Hi. It's Pim, Bear's around. We want to officially welcome you to this. If it is anything, it is two people hoping that their stories can be a real, encouraging, reminder of life in all its various lows and highs. We hope that, whatever state you may be in, you might be able to check regularly, commenting about the ideas you like, and screaming about the ones that piss you off. Some will be funny, sad, pissy, joyful, arrogant, or just plain out of control. It's cool. Life is composed with all of the above. More than anything, we want real emotion, real feeling, real thought, real life to be exposed, and through our stories of trial and error, loneliness, togetherness, happiness, whateverness, you can relate and have a good time. It is appropriate that "Dream of Destiny" is our first post. We have all been there. We hope that you all have dreams, and that you believe in them so much that destiny can be attached. This is us saying hi. Stay a while. What we're trying to say, in too many words is...enjoy.

This is Pim. Love Eachother. Be Cool.