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This time, were having a real milestone. Issue 27 was only a milestone because of my random choosing and the random nature
of the universe. Anyway, only Will, Jesse, Angie, and Rob know it (whether they know it or not), but as of today it has been
one year since the sending of the first issue of Randomness. Now its time for reflection . . . (everything fades away like
in some corny 70s TV show)
(Fade back in)
We come upon our hero in a church. He is sitting at a computer,
typing furiously. He has just received word from several people who are responding to an invitation he has made. Three are
positive. One declares that she would rather NOT receive our heros random thoughts anymore. He shrugs his shoulders. He
hadnt expected her to respond warmly to them anyway. He just prays and keeps going. Prayer is something usual in his life.
"Now that Ive begun a little bit . . . again," he mutters to himself. It is Monday night, and hes enjoying
himself. Hes typing up some thoughts. The screen reads:
Five people have responded to my query about getting my Random
Thoughts. One person said that she would like to no longer receive my random thoughts. When I asked another during a phone
conversation, she felt that my "Random Thoughts" were being forced on her, and she didn't want to subscribe. I applaud
Angie, Jesse and Rob on their wise decision to receive my "Random Thoughts".
He pauses. He immediately
thinks of a witty parenthetical statement and types, "(although Jesse seemed a bit confused about it all in his reply)".
He smiles. Jesses always been fun. As he types, his mind meanders.
The meandering of a mind is quite common,
especially amongst seventeen-year-old boys. Our heros mind meanders a lot. Hes wondering about why things are the way they
are. He questions if anything he felt for the girl whod just broken up with him on Saturday was real and valid. What was
the real point in all those I love yous? They felt good? Thats not good enough. Hes at a turning point, whether he knows
it or not. He glances at the clock, then continues typing. His mind meanders about God and his own faith. At least now
Ill be able to focus on Him more, he thinks. He hopes he can be done with his thoughts in time to get home because hes reading
an excellent book about spiritual journeys. He smiles. Gods been good to him. Everythings just in an upheaval for him is
all. The week before had been one of the worst ever.
"Abysmally horrid," he mutters. "Errg on them
all!!"
Hed become apathetic. No, not a pathetic, but apathetic. He feels rather pathetic at the moment, though.
His life was shifting. He didnt care about anything his friends talked about. He didnt care. He was sick of the company
of the group hed been hanging out with since before Christmas, and it was now May. He wanted a meaningful conversation, but
those seemed few and far between. He wanted to talk about life, the universe--EVERYTHING! But he didnt want to have the
same conversation it seemed the group had been having over and over again for the past six months. He was ready for something
new. Over the horrible week, hed tried to do fun things to inspire, and all of them fell flat on their faces. He was ready
for something better. The abysmally horrid week had reached a climax on Saturday when his girlfriend dumped him. He is still
struggling with that while he types. He has so much rushing through him, and he knows that God is always with him. Our hero
is about ready to explode.
He finishes typing with his usual closing, "Peace, Matthew". (Fade out again)
(Fade back in again)
We find our hero at home, typing on a computer in his dining room. He pauses, reaches
over to the record player, and puts on Let It Be, one of the most excellent Beatles albums ever. He sings "Hungry"
as "Two of Us" begins. Suddenly, he switches into Beatles-mode. He remembers that he promised hed show Amy The
Beatles Anthology. He nods as he types. Its been a year since our last encounter with him, and he is rather different.
He has given up on chasing girls and has refocused himself, pursuing God with all his heart, soul, mind, strength. He is
trying to make his faith more than an intellectual pursuit and mere words. He is applying it to his life more than before.
Now his discombobulation comes from the folly of the theology man creates trying to understand God and his own sin. Not girls
(as much . . .). He has felt the Spirit move in him mightily and sometimes finds it hard to stop praising Him. (And sometimes
sings out loud while walking down the street . . .) And he is well aware of the turning point he is coming up on. He wonders
if there are any he doesnt know about. He suddenly feels bad for poor John Lennon, who aptly sings, "Nothings Gonna Change
My World", and feels pity for all the non-Christians across the world who sing the same tune, quite often truly. (Fade
away)
I have had an amazing year and praise God for how gracious hes been to me. Jesus is awesome!!! Praise Jesus!
Raise the roof for God! Woo-hoo! RejOICE in the LORD!!!!!!!
And now, a reprinting of our very first issue:
Five people have responded to my query about getting my Random Thoughts. One person said that she would like to no longer
receive my random thoughts. When I asked another during a phone conversation, she felt that my "Random Thoughts"
were being forced on her, and she didn't want to subscribe. I applaud Angie, Jesse and Rob on their wise decision to receive
my "Random Thoughts" (although Jesse seemed a bit confused about it all in his reply). Will and Anthony are in the
list by default, and I thought, hey, what the heck, why not sent my thoughts to Lloyd as well? So, via my own executive decision,
I have doubled the subscriptions to this newsletter in mere moments. Ha, ha, ha! I am sooo powerful!!!!
Yeah.
<Deep pause>
Why do people perceive things so strangely? I mean, I got into a discussion with someone about
religious ideas and stuff, and she felt that I was "forcing my ideas" on her. What? By telling her what I believe
and why I believe, I was forcing my ideas on her? If I were to go up to someone and say, "Jesus loves you," chances
are, that person would say, "Hey, don't force Jesus on me." And I ask a good friend of mine if she wishes to receive
this, and she doesn't want my random thoughts forced on her (despite the fact that she'd had them forced on her ever since
we started having conversations with each other, if you really think about it).
Know what I've noticed? I almost
never win free pops out of my bottle caps anymore. When I lived in AB, I won almost all the time. Since moving to Thunder
Bay, I've won TWICE. Yeah, that's right, TWICE. A friend of mine who's native to this area (she's a perfect Aryan, if anyone
really wants to know) said she's never won. What's with that?? Is Thunder Bay some sort of abyss?????
Well, these
are all my random thoughts for now. Hopefully they'll be more meaningful next time.
Peace,
Matthew
In
Him,
Matthew
Random Quotes: (An idea of Robs coupled with the "Random Poems")
"I defy
any man to do something for somebody, comfort them, help them, and not come back happier and full of joy. This is cause and
effect."
--Henry Drummond
"What makes authentic disciples is not visions, ecstasies, biblical mastery
of chapter and verse, or spectacular success in the ministry, but a capacity for faithfulness."
--Brennan Manning
"We are not wasted space, we are temples of a Being greater than ourselves, temples being built to be inhabited
and brought to life."
--Rich Mullins
"A Christian is someone who is bananas for Jesus."
--Keith
Green
"A Christianity which does not prove its worth in practice degenerates into dry scholasticism and idle
talk."
--Abraham Kuyper
(Nuts! These three pages in Word still arent full!!)
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