Dreamed I went to Heaven....

Toei has been rather uneventful as of late! The wind howls at night and it gets cold, but inside my little room in the mountains I am surviving in style! Living in a one room apartment certainly makes me a more efficient person, and it makes me wonder about all the room I had at the apartment in Georgetown. I mean the third floor of the OK is about 10 times bigger than my apartment in Toei. I think that everyone should have to live in a small place at least once…is sure teaches you how to be organized, clean and cozy!
Last weekend Michi and I went to stay with our friends Eriko and Hiroshi in Tahara. Their house is the exact opposite of mine, and very big even by American house standards. Their house is half Japanese-style and half Western-style, and I admit that I would love to have a place like that one day. We ate some great food, Michi and Eriko enjoyed some $100 a bottle sake, and we ate strawberries that were $10 FOR ONE. I kid you not. Needless to say I get to try things here that I never would at home. It helps to have a lot of rich friends!
This weekend I have a meeting in Nagoya and will be spending the weekend in and around there. Nagoya is one of my favorite places to go, just because I have always been fascinated by the big city. Of course I get to come back to tiny Toei after the weekend, and it is amazing to contrast the two. Nagoya, with its millions of people going here and there to this shop and that shop, and Toei where at 6pm, the town is pretty much tucked in for the evening.
We have a busy couple of weekends coming up. Michi is going to Kyoto with her teachers for a school trip. Then we both are going snowboarding in Gifu the next weekend. We are planning to go back to Ise the third weekend in February, and the last weekend we have plans to go back to Takayama with friends. March brings us to the Roppongi beer festival and spring break—where I hope I have a friend or two come and visit. Needless to say the spring is going to fly by.
Some of my elementary kids found out today that I have a tattoo, which needless to say in Japan is not as accepted as it is in the states. One of the boys that I really like saw it and he told me that my secret was safe with him! Some of these kids really are great people. I wish all of you could meet them and be there when I teach class!
Speaking of tattoos in Japan, I have a friend here that has quite a few! Basically his whole body is tattooed, but you can’t see any of them when he is wearing his business attire. It does create a problem when going to onsens (Japanese hot springs). Some of them have signs written in English that say they do not allow people with tattoos. You know when you are in a small mountain town and you see signs written in English, they are meant for you!! Luckily I don’t have a big one (yet!) and a good-sized bandage can cover it. Even still, I have yet to go to the onsen in my town, and it is supposed to be very famous!
Today is a beautiful day in Toei and the mountains look amazing. After school I plan on heading to the Board of Education to pay my rent, stop by the local grocery store, and head back to my apartment for an evening of relaxing. Sometimes living here can be lonely, but sometimes it is just what the soul needs.
I am reading The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. I love it so far. It has some really amazing insight into grace and why many cant accept it. Also, he quotes Aristotle when he said; “I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer.” I have become very fond of that quote to say the least!
Of course if you know me, you know I am going to say this book has me thinking. It has me thinking about how we as Christians are not quick to neither receive nor freely give grace. Often times we have trouble forgiving ourselves, and even more trouble forgiving others.
Which brings me to the question that I have for you:

If you were to die right now and you found yourself in Heaven, I am sure you would be overjoyed. What if, when you looked around in Heaven, you saw a drunk from your town that never could hold a job, didn’t provide much for his family, and used ‘colorful’ language? What if you looked the other way and saw a woman that you knew to be more than slightly promiscuous? What if you turned around and were staring face to face with none other than Saadam Hussein?
What if Heaven was full of drunks and rapists and child molesters? What if Heaven was a place for liars and stealers and abortion doctors and saints?
How would that make you feel?

Why is it that for many of us, our reaction would be, “WHAT? WHY ARE THEY HERE? Lord, I thought you said that only good Christians who did what you said got into Heaven? Why did you let them in? They never even came to church!! He was always a drunk! He killed little kids!!!!!”

Why is that our first reaction isn’t, “Thank you God! In your infinite and obscene GRACE you sacrificed your SON to save the sinners of the world to come and live forever with you!!!”

I’m wondering about God’s obscene grace, and how it just defies all logic. I’m wondering about man’s brain and how we are so quick to judge others and limit who is in and out. I also wonder if the drunks and scoundrels and sinners really do go to Heaven. I sure pray that they do.
I love it in the book where Manning quotes Fyodor Dostoevsky when he talks about the same situation. I love it when Dostoevsky wonders if God will say to the ‘righteous’: “If I called them [the sinners and drunks and scoundrels}, it is because not one of them deserved it.”

How amazing it is to follow the God of Obscene Grace, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the Great I AM, the Prince of Peace, the God that forgives Hitler and Jerry Falwell, the God that loves me even though I don’t understand him, the God that gave us the mind to create chocolate cake and beer and the atomic bomb, the God that always was and always will be.

I’m anxious to hear your thoughts.

Time for breakfast.

I must admit that I love watching people that argue and are good at it. Or at least I love to watch people who think that they are good at it. There has always been something about me that loved to watch and take part in a debate. I loved it in class when the teacher would let us pick sides on an issue and debate. Really it didn’t matter which side I was on. Give me some time and I will try to convince you of something, even if I don't believe it at all.
In recent years I have tried to not be an argumentative person, especially about issues such as religion. I believe when Walt Witman said “Argue not concerning God”, that he was right in many ways.
Yesterday I watched every video of Ann Coulter that I could find. She fascinates me to no end. I think what really gets me excited about her is that she doesn’t actually believe everything that she says. I think she just says things that she knows will cause a stir, and make her money. The more crazy things she says and write, the more people buy her books. The more crass and rude she is on TV, the more we tune in next time when she is on. I think she is smart enough to pull it off.
Yesterday one particular video particularly captivated me. Ann started talking about the US involvement in Iraq, and how we needed to win the war and stop trying to fight a “hygienic war”. If America truly wants to win, we have to fight like we want to win. If we want to stabilize the area (at least for the present) then we must use widespread and deadly force. We someone throws a rock at you, shoot back at them. When someone throws a bomb at you, bomb three houses. When someone tries to blow up a tank, blow up a city. You get the idea.
Ann said that we cannot be worried about civilians that die. In war people die. That’s true. That’s what war is. War is killing people and trying not to be killed. So what if a few Iraqi families die? Ann said that she would rather their civilians die than our civilians. She would rather blow up an Iraqi hospital than have an American hospital blown up by terrorists. Her argument is America must stop caring about causes like Amnesty International and start caring about winning the war. More US soldiers? No. She just wants more bombs and more deadly force without worrying about collateral damage.
What stuck with me from what she said is that it is 100% true, if you look at the world from an America first worldview. If you believe that America and your identity as an American is very important, then we must defend it. We must defend it at all costs. We must give our lives and take others to defend it. In World War II we fire bombed cities in Germany and Japan because we wanted to win, and we wanted America to endure and vanquish our enemies. We weren’t worried about civilians; we were worried about winning the war at any cost.
So what changed? Has the Internet and the ability to see mutilated Iraqi children and women as well as soldiers made us lose our appetite for indiscriminate killing? Has TV and the ability to interview anyone, anywhere, anytime made us broaden our worldview? Now is it easier to put a face on your enemies? Is it harder to stomach a bomb hitting a school full of children?
For me, the reason is that now I identify with being a Follower of Jesus more than I do an American. For me, my American citizenship and the institution of America is not the most important thing. Loving others becomes the most important when we follow what Jesus told us. When he said that loving others was the second most important thing we could do, he meant those inside and outside of our borders. As Derek Webb says on his album Mockingbird, “How can I love the ones I’m supposed to kill? My enemies are men like me.”
I applaud Ann because as an American-first-person she sees what America must do. She is brutally honest and her insensitivity hurts. But she knows that as a person that puts America above all else, that is what we must do.
It’s time for Follower’s (Christians) to be just as honest. America is not more important than the second greatest commandment. War has no place in the Christian life. For the past 2000 we have tried to justify war and convert those around us by force. For the past 2000 years, it hasn’t worked. All we have succeeded in doing was killing thousands of people, and teaching generations of people from other nations that WE are the evil ones and the killers in this world. We have taken the stance that now it is un-American, unpatriotic or a waste of time to even TALK to our enemies, much less LOVE them.
Rob Bell recently took a lot of flack for attending a “multi-religion” gathering ifor breakfast n America. Christians picketed and protested the fact that it was being held. Many people on the inside thanked Rob for even choosing to show up; in the past, Christians didn’t come. Rob Bell thought about this and said that we are commanded to love the Nations, and many people won’t even sit down to breakfast with the nations.
Breakfast is served America, don't let it get cold.

God is in the Mountains.

I was walking home today and I was looking at the mountains. I am sure that someone intended them to be the way that they are. I started thinking about God. I am pretty sure that He is a Big guy and much larger than I can imagine. Could He accept Buddhists and Muslims? Could He find a place for Jews? He made the Mountains and the Creek near my house and Love. And that makes me Hopeful.

Sadie.

So I have a new niece. Sadie is her name. She is cute and I lover her more than anything else in the world. I wonder about her... How will she look back on her years as a baby? Will she remember Joe holding her with his massive hands as he looked at her and remembered Emily when she was young? Will she remember Miss Emmons sayin' "Yes Indeedy~!" like she always did when she looked into her big blue eyes? Will she remember her grannies like I remember mine? Will she love me like the uncle that always was there for her when she needed me and not just some relative that she smiles at because she knows that she is supposed to?? I hope so...becuase when I sit here in Japan, 7,000 miles away, I am thinking of her.

Back to school....

Today was my first day of work in the new year. All of my fellow teachers where excited to see me and to hear about Christmas in Kentucky. Was it cold? How was your family? What did you eat? I guess it sounds pretty exotic to hear from the foreigner who traveled around the world and back just to see his friends and family for Christmas. If they only knew! My friends in Kentucky think it is so exotic that I fly home and back to Japan just the same!
I think I am prideful in the sense that I love to be on an adventure. I enjoy meeting people and telling them that I live in Japan. What? Why? What do you do there? I could never do that.... These responses to the fact that I live across the world only help feed my ego and my pride. Somehow I think that living in another country and being unique can make up for the fact that I am 27 and have yet to think about entering a career yet.
It is becoming more and more evident to me that I don't have it all figured out. The older I get and the more that time passes the more I realize that I am kinda just wandering through this old world of ours. I'm already getting out of touch with the new music of the day. I found myself listening to oldies and old CD's when I was home and turning off the radio. I wonder if one day soon I will utter those fateful words..."How can kids listen to this crap?" The world is forgetting about me, that is for sure.
Time ticks on. It hasn't stopped for anyone yet, so I guess it is silly to expect it to stop for me.
I wonder why we have the need to have it all figured out. Our parents didn't have it all figured out, and they did alright. When they got married they didn't know how they would make it and neither did their parents.
I guess in the end all we can do is find a girl that we can love and serve and fight for her. We can find something we love to do and do it just for the enjoyment. We can work hard and answer to no one but the voice in our heads when we sleep and God when we die.

So, here's to you faith. Here's to hoping it works out. Were gonna work at it for sure, but we could use a little help along the way. You'll know where to find me.

Back to Japan!

Well, we are heading back to Japan now... Michi and I are sitting in the airport and waiting to get on the plane. Our time was short, but well spent. I wish I could have spent more time with all of you and I assure you it won't be long until I am home again! I enjoy teaching in Japan but it just isn't home! We should get back to Nagoya in about 24 hours...a long time to travel for sure! Send me emails or messages here or or on facebook, and I hope to talk to you all very soon!!!