Marvelous Happy Things

I have no clue what the congregation of Emanuel AME Church is going through right now. I can't pretend to understand, because I don't. Sometimes I wish that I was visibly emotional so that I could literally cry about people and events to God. But that's not me. I am extremely inwardly emotional. When difficult circumstances take place, I struggle to express grief. Yes, I hurt for the people of Charleston. But you could not tell that by looking at me. A song has been going through my head since the shooting in Charleston. The lyrics are "Brother let me be your shelter/I’ll never leave you all alone/I can be the one you call When you’re low/Brother let me be your fortress/When the night winds are driving on/Be the one to light the way/Bring you home." (Needtobreathe) I don't know how to lead the people of Charleston right now. My faith is not even close to being as strong as the faith of the families who told Dylann Roof that they were praying for his soul. Ho

I read Out of a Far Country  by Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan early last semester. Though I do not agree with everything that Christopher states about homosexuality, I will share some of his thoughts and experiences with you today. I encourage you to read this book if you want to know more about this issue from a first-hand (Christopher) and a second-hand (Angela) basis. All of these quotes are from Christopher's chapter titled "Holy Sexuality." Christopher first discusses the idols in his life. "The most obvious of all the idols that I had in my life was drugs.... for some reason, the pull was no longer their for me- maybe it was because their were other idols in my life that God wanted me to deal with." "Music pulled me back to the years when I lived for going to clubs.... But nightclubs could too easily lead me back to drugs- I didn't want that.... I decided to try to fast from listening to music.... eventually, it got easier, and finally it was