The word cool is an interesting word to me. To be honest, I’m not even sure what it means. Dictionary.com has 28 different definitions for the word, but none of them say what cool is; they don’t explain what qualifies as cool. Perhaps it’s odd that I’m thinking of such things, but I am. I think there is a phenomenon surrounding the word, something really interesting to me. For lack of creativity, and/or intelligence, I’ve named it The Phenomenon of The Cool.

Basically, The Phenomenon of the Cool is that every man and woman wants to be just that, cool. I know what you’re thinking, but just hear me out on this. I believe that everybody desires to be part of something, they want to feel wanted, accepted. They want to belong, they want to feel safe, loved, cool. Donald Miller described the phenomenon as a boat in the water that represents cool, he said something along the lines (I don’t have the book in front of me) that everybody wants to be in the boat, so much so that they’ll even throw others out just to get in. I think that’s a good assessment. Imagine a moment in time when a person you just met tells you how good they are at something, or when a person you know puts down somebody else just to be accepted by their present company. Or even better, imagine a moment in time when you have done either of those yourself. It happens, and, personally, I think it happens because everybody wants to be cool.

Now I know what some of you are saying. You are saying you could care less about the cool boat. You are saying that if there is a boat - which perhaps you don’t believe there is - you don’t really care about making sure you’re in it. I think that’s a good thing. But I imagine it is because you already feel as if you are in the boat. You feel accepted, loved, wanted. You feel as if you belong. But imagine if I said you were not in the boat. Imagine if I told you your present company did not accept you as you, you aren’t wanted. Do you still not care?

Of course, the boat isn’t real. I don’t believe in the boat, I just believe that we, as humans, have created a boat in our minds and have begun to believe it matters. What I do believe is that when God created us he did so by instilling those desires in our hearts. At the time, when God was fully present on Earth, when Adam and Eve had direct contact with God, all those desires were met…by Him. They were accepted and wanted. They belonged and felt the greatest of loves. But perhaps after the fall of man, when that direct link was taken away, we, as humans, became as fish out of water…or better yet, as humans out of the cool boat. We began to flop around looking for acceptance, hoping to get back in the comfort of the boat.

The problem is we’re looking in all the wrong places. We’ve looked for those desires to be met by other human beings when the only one who can fully realize all those desires is God. Perhaps that is why when a man or a woman fully accepts and realizes the scope of the Lord’s love, when they fully realize what Gods love is and means and can provide man, their heart settles. No longer do they try as hard as they can to get in the boat, they realize the water aint that deep anyways. The challenge then is to continually remember that what the cool boat has to offer isn’t all that great. Acceptance by other human beings isn’t what life is about, being cool isn’t cool. As a human being I know I can forget that concept. I can feel as if I’m drowning in the sea of uncool and start panicking. Not until later do I realize the cool boat is not so cool after all. I can stand on my own.

But let’s say, perhaps, that you really want to be in the boat. Maybe you often find yourself in the sea of uncool and the boat looks pretty nice. If so, I don’t blame you. We all do. Being cool may not be cool, but being uncool is worse. Or let’s say, perhaps, that you’re already in the cool boat and are beginning to see the leaks. Maybe it isn’t as nice as you once thought. Either way, we shouldn’t forget the other boat. As we all flop around in the sea of uncool, as we try our darndest to get in the cool boat - which I imagine as a little life boat directly in front of us - there is another boat lurking in the waters. It might be harder to see, it might seem like an illusion, but it is very real. This boat, of course, is God’s boat. It’s a yacht with all of life’s necessities: love, hope, comfort, belonging. And the best part is, there is always room. In fact there is a rope waiting for you grab ahold of so you don’t drown in the sea…uncool or not.

Did you hear what Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Biden said this morning? According to an AP report, he said paying higher taxes is the patriotic thing to do for wealthier Americans; which means he’s basically saying that every American who has worked hard and wisely taken advantage of everything our country has to offer should pay even more in taxes than they are already paying so that the people who haven’t can benefit. And they should feel proud and patriotic for doing so.

America used to bill itself as the land of opportunity; if you put your mind to it and work hard you can succeed and make a good living. Why do you think we had so many immigrants in the 1800s? It wasn’t the land, it was the opportunity. Now are we saying that you can still succeed if you work hard, but when you do we want to take even more of your money? Does that seem fair?

The report says, “People earning more than $250,000 a year would pay more in taxes while those earning less — the vast majority of American taxpayers — would receive a tax cut.” A direct quote from Biden is, “We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people.” Now, don’t get me wrong…I am middle class. I would most likely benefit from this…but is it right that I would? Should I be ok with knowing that the people who have worked harder than me - let’s be honest…the majority of those people who are making more worked for it, they didn’t have it handed to them (I said most) – are going to have to pay even more than they already do so I can have some relief? Do I deserve it?

This is just another reason I think I’ll end up voting McCain.

Another is the arrogance of Obama.

His arrogance is starting to drive me crazy. Don’t get me wrong, I want somebody in the white house who is confident and believes they belong there. But there is a difference between (1) believing you belong there because you will do a good job and (2) believing you belong there because you are the best and brightest person in the world. I want my president to love his country, not himself. And I am starting to believe that Obama loves himself and his ideas more than he loves his country. Why else would he create his own Obama seal? Why else would he campaign across Europe and say, “People of Berlin - people of the world - this is our moment; this is our time,” during a speech in Berlin? Is he running for President of the world or President of the United States?

Anyways, enough rambling…there are a few other reasons I’m not that keen on Obama, but I should probably get off my little soapbox. To be honest, I’m not quite sold on McCain either. But I learned a while ago that you’ll never be completely sold on a candidate. I guess that means you vote for who bothers you less, right? Ok, maybe not…but right now that’s McCain. And right now that matters.

Two weeks from now, I plan on leaving work early. I’ll head to a theater no more than ten minutes from my home. I may change first; I may not. When I get there, I’ll buy a bowl of popcorn and head to my seat - preferably in the front row - and I’ll sit there as long as my backside will allow. I’ll take in a movie or two, maybe three. And the best part of it all? It’s free. The European Film Festival in San Antonio always is.

I’ve been thinking a lot about love lately. Maybe it’s because I’m back with Stephanie. Maybe it’s because I went to a wedding this past weekend. Or maybe it’s none of those things. Maybe it’s because love is always on my mind. It’s a mystery to me and I’m constantly trying to figure it out. Unfortunately, I haven’t had any real success.

I received an invitation on my Facebook page the other day that said, “Come help the Republicans win the battle against the Democrats!” This made me chuckle a little bit. Is it really a battle? Is there a war going on between the Republicans and Democrats? I’ve never been into politics much, but this year, this time around, I am. And what I’ve found it is that I, as a Christian, am automatically made to feel as if I should support the Republican Party. Well, I don’t agree. I mean, why? Was Jesus a Republican?

I was listening on the radio today to a Christian talk show where two Christian leaders, or writers, were discussing global warming and other political issues. They brought up the fact that Rick Warren, a popular Christian leader, along with 85 or so other Evangelical leaders, signed a letter stating to help with the [...]

I think I have discovered my one true passion in life. Perhaps it’s my calling, or my final answer to what I want to be when I grow up. It might sound crazy, but this is a pretty big deal for me. It takes a while to nail these things down when you suffer a bit from ADD. If I become interested in something on one day, two weeks later it will be something else. That’s the way my mind has worked ever since I was a child.

I was listening to the radio on my way home from the grocery store today and the guy was talking about William Tyndale. Tyndale was around in the early 1500’s in England. His main passion in life was to translate the Bible into English and spread it through England and the rest of [...]

Something that intrigues me is the idea of right and wrong, or better stated the idea of morals and how we develop them. For some things, everybody’s idea of right and wrong is different.  For example, one person could say it’s wrong to speed on the highway, and another person could say they see no [...]

Is it wrong to be open and accepting to all things, even things considered “wicked”? I’m currently taking an online class on Christian Education and every week we have discussion forums where we answer questions and share our thoughts, etc. This week, one of the questions was to:
List and briefly explain some of the [...]