Video Games

I figured I'd post one last time before March is up. I was thinking about just how fast paced life back home is compared to here for me and ended up writing out my thoughts some. I don't know how much sense it'll make to everyone but, meh, as long as it somehow makes sense to someone.

Again I'll throw in random photos you may not have seen yet. Enjoy.
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I often wonder if our consumerist society is having a negative effect on our souls. Video games are a great example (but we could talk about clothes, cars, blenders, you name it). We find ourselves always wanting more of what we already have, craving the newest and greatest thing. The video game industry is practically designed to pray on this.

Every year new improvements are made to hardware capabilities, moving even faster than the coding of the software to utilize it. Thus new games aren’t just ‘new’ in the same sense that a new book is ‘new,’ they’re vastly improved in a number of areas.

It’s said Shakespeare wrote all that could be written, but no one has even imagined what video games are capable of yet. And so we keep coming back for the newest improvements, whether that's better graphics, sound, playability or a random novelty (like the Wii’s controllers, seriously people, one-trick pony). Of course even those random novelties are only the beginnings of potentially greater things.

And so we’re constantly moving from one thing to another: one console to the next, an old wardrobe for a new. The most ridiculous might be the way we have new models of cars every year; the manufacturers rarely make vast improvements. When I bought my car I read that between 1990 and 1992 Honda had made a seatbelt adjustment on the Accord. That was the major difference between the three models (they might have changed the headlights too, but I can’t remember, the seatbelt part blew my mind).

Similarly so many people are constantly adopting new spiritualities until they need something more, something new. And so the Christian tries some Buddhism, the Buddhist tries some “new” Hinduism, the Hindu converts to Islam, and the Muslim tries his hand at “Science.” We mix, we match, we choose parts of religions that appeal to us and construct something that from the outset is certain to meet our spiritual needs.

But when that fails to meet our needs, where do we turn? Ultimately there are only so many spiritualities to try, so many combinations to make. You could make your own; but someday in a moment of honesty you’ll know that it was self-made. It doesn’t transcend your soul.

And are we just being fashionable? Is the contentment of putting on of a new religion similar to the excitement of wearing a new coat? Fitting perfectly today only to become raggedly insufficient tomorrow?

If we have this hole in our hearts that is constantly crying to be fed mustn’t we assume there is something out there that can sufficiently fill it? If not I suppose there’s no point to spirituality as all of them will fall maddeningly short of fulfilling. And besides, that can’t be because to give up would be to forsake all hope and admit that we are horribly incomplete and can never be made whole.

We need something stable, something true. We need something that will not only continue to feed and grow us throughout our lives, but to do so in increasingly deep and meaningful ways. If it doesn’t continue to open up new worlds and impart greater truth into our lives as we grow and meet new struggles then it won’t suffice. We need something more than the mundane, the ritual, we need God Himself to come in and transform us.

We need God to make us what He intended for us to be before the world went awry. And we all have a sense inside of us that it is in fact awry. Things certainly don’t seem to be getting better, at least overall in the big picture (even if my beard is getting longer and thus making me more handsome).

I’d challenge you to find whatever the Truth is and to hold onto it. Don’t settle for less. Don’t settle for a dissatisfied state of existence; even though finding the Truth will always leave you hungering for more you’ll also find yourself incredibly content. Hunt down that contentment and dive deeper into it. It exists, and it’s wonderful.

EXPLODING CARS!

I was almost in an exploding car today. Before heading to Nice from Grasse, Vincent “topped off” the car’s oil. I say “topped off” in quotations because he put waay too much oil in. And by way too much I mean he was on an incline and guessed he put between 5 and 10 liters in... so the pressure went crazy and the engine started to pour out obscene amounts smoke while we were driving on the highway.

It was more smoke than I've ever seen, and then the engine started revving really REALLY high on its own. He put it in neutral and it just kept revving and screaming in the most insane manner. He even turned the ignition off and removed the key and it kept going and going despite.

So finally we pulled over and jumped out, I had to pull the baby out (hero moment) but after I'd already taken my stuff to the bottom of the ditch (not so heroic). I got down there and realized they weren't coming and was like "oh, they can't get out on their side of the car... hmm..." so we had to hurry. There was a sense of panic but we got down and felt a lot better being at a distance from the car.

Three fire trucks and some police later the car got towed and we got a ride from another friend.

Crazy day.

Fun Times

Just to give you an idea of how awesome my school is...

the other day I was sitting in the teacher's lounge at my school reading a bit of National Geographic with my ear buds in when one of my teachers, on the computer at the time, freaked out and jumped. I looked up to see a pigeon flying in and resting on one of the book cabinets.

Not sure what was up I opened another window, took the crate and shook the pigeon gently until she flew out of the room. As I carried the crate, however, I realized there were twigs poking out of the holes in the bottom. Further inspection led to the realization that there was an egg in the crate as well.

I went back and took photos the next day, letting the pigeon back in so I could get some photos of it. It was awesome. Video too, expect that later =)

Finally!

So five years ago my buddy Erik and I had the great idea to create a cartoon based off of a joke made by one of our high school teachers. Five years later I've scrapped the idea of making an animated Flash cartoon and have just decided to start drawing it. I got tired of waiting.

I ALSO can't wait to post the two I've finished until more than a day have passed. So I'm gonna just go ahead and do them both. I think I'll try to release a few a week as time goes by. In case you're wondering I created a whole separate blog for it. I'm hoping to slap together a website when I get home to host it, but until then blogger gets the honor. So check back regularly to see how things go.

Just be warned that the www.worldsworstsuperhero.com url will be redirected to that blog soon. You'll have to get to this one through the direct link (http://perilousjourneys.blogspot.com) after that. Just in case you were wondering that's why I bought the domain (worldsworstsuperhero) so long ago. It's not because I'm a terrible superhero, I'm pretty good actually.

Oh, and feel free to leave comments on the comics. You don't have to have a blogger account and I'd love to know what you think. The history of the comic is posted in the first post, the comic in the second. I'll put up the second comic here in a minute. ENJOY!

On this day in history...

On this day some years ago (if I gave the exact number I might be killed) one of the world's most wonderful and beautiful women was born. Her name is Sue Swanson and she happens to be my mom.
Sadly I can't spend today with her, and I wish I could. Outside of the free meal it would entail I miss just sitting and talking with my mom.
I don't know if any of you have cool moms, or ones that listen to you and spend time helping you figure life out, but I happen to have just that. She's so cool, in fact, she spends a certain amount of energy letting you know how cool she is just to make sure you don't forget.
Some of my favorite memories are in Basilio's or Sella's just sitting and eating a meal on a date with my mom. She always had time to listen and wisdom to share, and I've appreciated every bit of it, even if it sometimes takes me a few years to listen up.
My mom was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, something she'll have to struggle with for the rest of her life, but she's already taking it head on. She's a tough cookie, and between yoga, pilates, and walking the family dog who-knows-how-far every day I think she's going to do well. That and she would die before she let you think she wasn't tough enough to handle it. Either that or she might punch you for suggesting it.
I'm proud of my mom, and I'm grateful for her love and passion for the Lord; it has helped drive me to do the same. Her endless love and encouragement have always been a source of strength for me, even if she was a terrible nurse when I was sick. She wasn't that bad of one actually, I just give her crap for it like any good son would.
Anyways, I love you mom and I hope your day is special. Even though I'm not there to share it with you =)

Fears

So I started working on this blog last night because I felt like getting some thoughts down on... paper... well, you know what I mean. The point is that life has been anything but certain over the past year, and it's funny to see how I've come nearly full circle in a process that will probably continue to cycle throughout my life.

So I'm sitting at McDonald's, and I'm going to make myself sit here until I get something written out... and some old guy just stole my receipts. Uh... ok. So... that was really distracting, sorry.

Anyways, I'll try to write through my headache and the random thieves that manage to steal my precious pieces of trash.

Basically I've just been resting on a few of God's promises throughout my time here and through my life and I thought that I would share some of my struggles with whoever reads this. I'll also throw in photos from my weekend in Provence for aesthetic value.

I look at my life and there are a few key ingredients missing by the world's standards. One is having a clue as to where I'm headed or what my life will look like after the next two months. In 2 months I'll be in Dublin, spending a few last days in Europe before heading home for the summer. After that I really don't know what's up.
This winter I really wrestled with what I needed to do after the assistantship in France, where I'd live and what I'd do there. The two most prominent options were Paris and Spokane. One might think "duh" but it wasn't so simple. Film school in Paris sounds rad, but the Master of Theology program sounded great for different reasons. There were a number of things pulling on me in both directions and through it all I didn't fell God leading anywhere. I'd turn one direction and He wouldn't be there, so I'd try the other and He still wasn't there.

His peace didn't rest on me, I didn't know where He wanted me to go.
The second thing I'm missing by the world's standards is a lady. I don't know if there's a plague passing through the states or something but practically all of my friends are getting married this year. I start it off with a wedding in Spokane on May 31st followed by one in Boise June 1st, and then finish up with Dalbey's German wedding in September. And I'm still not finished because I'll be in my friend Erik's wedding in January too. What's wrong with you people?!

Now I don't know if there's anyone else out there who's been saving their first kiss for their fiancee, but this whole singleness thing can be really hard. I mean I'm hard wired to be un-single and here I am stuck in the world of ain't-got-no-one country song tragedy.
A third thing I don't have by the world's standards is stuff. I don't have money, I don't have a car (here at least), I don't have a lot of clothes and did I mention Eastern sucked my future self's wallet dry? So I'm stuffless. More importantly I'm cash free.

Thankfully, like I said, God is good to have given us promises and there are a select few upon which I've not only been resting, but with which God has been transforming my view of Him and the world in general. I'll start with my future plans.

I've been in this clueless position before. Last year I was in fact stuck between two options, debating between interning at New Community or coming to France. There were multiple factors that left me struggling for months as to which I should choose. And it didn't help that I had MONTHS to think about it. Once again, I've had an extended period of time to think and debate, to pray and wrestle.

Among many things what led to my decision to come to France was ultimately my desire to get out of Spokane. I wanted to speak French and to experience something new and exciting. It's a long story, but I went with my desire because it was the only thing that differentiated the two options from each other. God gives us the desires of our hearts, so I had to trust that it was where He wanted me, and after that I felt a great peace about my decision.

What was key in that decision, and similarly with my decision to apply to Whitworth, was God's promise in Proverbs 3:5-6 which says "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him,and he will make your paths straight." I had to trust that if I would draw close to the Lord and walk as He did in as close of a relationship as I could manage that I would end up where I needed to be.

In fact things became so dark a few months ago and I had such a difficult time seeing where I was headed that I was really forced to put my theology into action. I had to cling to God in hopes that He was headed where I needed to go. I had no choice, I couldn't see three feet in front of me. And in the end, I've ended up with a decision and a great amount of peace. Whether or not I do the program is up in the air still, but the decision to move in that direction was the right one.
Regarding girls my time in France has been AMAZING for me. And not in the way that you (Rob) are thinking. Back in the States there's such a twisted mix of Christendom that plenty of people that don't really believe in Christ as their savior, in God's grace, still manage to call themselves Christians. This makes finding real Christians a bit more challenging, especially if you want to date one. There are other reasons, but those would lead to some intense debates so I'll leave it at that.

My time in France has been amazing for the complete lack of Christian girls. In fact, there are uncensored ads for porn on every street, and it too has been a blessing of sorts. See, every girl I meet here is almost guaranteed to be a pagan, and each one I talk or hang out with drives one single conviction deeper into my heart: I need a God-fearing woman.
I've met awesome, gorgeous, cool and funny girls with great and benevolent aspirations; but each and every one of them is missing something on a level that she cannot supplement on her own. The presence of God's Spirit, or the lack thereof is incredibly evident to me. As Dallas Willard puts it in his book Hearing God,

James, the brother of Jesus, uses the image of planting to portray the relationship of the additional life in the Spirit to our natural, fleshy life. He encourages us to "welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls" (James 1:21). After the "additional" life has been planted in us, our natural powers are not left to run their own way under or alongside the new life; they are to be channeled through and subordinated to that life from above. All are redirected to spiritual ends, appointed to higher purposes, though they remain in themselves normal human powers.

The uniqueness of each individual personality remains in the beauty and goodness of its natural life. But a holy radiance rests upon it and shines through it because it is now the temple of God, the area over which the larger and higher power of God plays. An additional, spiritual life comes through the word of God as that word possesses and redirects the energies of the natural life to promote the ends of God's kingdom.

I'm content to wait on God to find someone through whom His 'holy radiance' is shining in power. The reason these girls and the street ads for porn are a combined blessing is that the desire for a "perfect girl" or for external beauty is losing its grip. I believe that attraction is necessary, I mean if you're gonna make beautiful babies you're gonna need to want to sleep with your spouse. But for guys especially I think the challenge is that we get stuck on that external beauty and we let it rule the day and our subsequent decisions.
The Proverb (31:30) "charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised" is gaining sway in my mind. I've always 'known' this, but it's really becoming a belief, something I know and, more importantly, act upon.

In all of this I also rest on God's promise in Isaiah 49:23 that "those who trust in me will never be put to shame." I've been trusting God my whole life that if I hold out on my sexual desires and wait for the right woman to come along that all will go better for me. The world and many of my friends would disagree; I've had plenty of discussions about it both at home and abroad. But as for me I'll trust in the Lord.

Thirdly (and lastly, sorry this is so long) I'm finding contentment with what I have and who I am. God's been freeing me from my insecurities, and helping me to just have fun and be content while poor and often alone. My time in France has been one of the most isolated in my life, and my list of social activities has shrunk notably. I've met some really cool people and had a lot of fun, but overall I'm as isolated from relationships as I've ever been.
And yet I'm so stinking happy. I think relationships are necessary, and I've found some particularly good ones here, but I've also found how much fulfillment and joy comes from simply being with God. My mind returns to Him so often, and I don't even need to say or think anything in particular; we just enjoy each other's presence. He's a good God, and a great friend.

"A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked" (Psalm 84:10).

The best part is how these verses tend to come at just the right moment, and how much they sooth my soul in hard times. God's promises are good, and He stands by them. My time in France has been anything but easy, but entirely worth it. God is so good, I'd suggest you get to know Him if you haven't managed it already.
And if you're wondering what that "other stuff" that makes Christian girls scary you can shoot me a note and I might tell you if I feel daring enough. =)

Coolest souvenir ever

If this isn't the coolest souvenir in the world I don't know what is. At least the coolest affordable souvenir ever.

I got an idea on my way to school. You see I walk by these two shops every day on my way to school that do a number of things like repair shoes, make keys, and more eye-catchingly make license plates for cars.

So for the past 5 months I've been walking by thinking "I should go in and see if I can get them to make me one..." not knowing if it's even legal. I've never seen anyone come home with a European license plate before, and in the states the closest thing you can get is the cheesy blue "Washington" plates with your first name on it in blazing white.

So I passed by, always thinking it was a great idea, never jumping on the opportunity. Until finally, I couldn't contain myself any longer. Last Thursday I went in and asked the guy if he could make one for me. The example plates were the square ones (for motorcycles and scooters) and the little rectangular ones (for SUVs apparently). The big rectangular one, the one I wanted, was nowhere to be seen.

So I went for the little rectangular one, similar to the big ones and cooler than the squares. He said he wasn't sure they could do it but he would check, took down my name, told me to come back the next day leaving me wondering what would happen. Honestly I had no idea if they'd start asking me for paperwork or proof of... car... you know.

The next day I came back by, hoping that it would work. As I walked in I looked down at the base of the counter and, to my horror, saw the big rectangular plates I wanted sitting in plain view. I freaked out, cussed under my breath, and hoped that they hadn't gone ahead and made a little one for me. The guy came out and I asked if they could do it, he said nope, they were too small.

Of course I was relieved and asked if they could make a big one, because that's what I wanted anyways. He said yep, went to the back, and came back out with my totally legit license plate.


Suck on that! Coolest idea ever, and though I'm sure someone else has done it I can honestly claim to be the first I know of. And to top things off this license plate is getting phased out as the EU switches to a unified system, so I got it just in time apparently. It's ok to be jealous, it may not even be legal.