This morning started like other mornings, with people slowly getting up as we assembled in the main room and drank coffee. Mom made really good pancakes for breakfast. After we got all packed and things, we started driving out to Old Faithful!
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| This guy's hair is amazing |
The trip went well until about an hour and a half in when we hit (figuratively) traffic. And we remained in traffic for about two hours. Apparently there was a herd of bison fluttering about the road, so people were being all slow. There was a park ranger directing traffic, but he couldn’t really direct the bison. He did his best. Oh well. Kimmy, Jessie, Richard and I were in the other car (we took two), so Kimmy went to the van to make us sandwiches while we waited. She’s nice like that.
When we eventually arrived at Old Faithful, we ate lunch part 2 and watched the geyser erupt. It was cool and things. Afterwards we walked to the visitor center and gift shop. Kimmy and I got sweet ceramic mugs! And I got some awesome pictures.
When we got back, mom and aunt Shasta made dinner. We had grilled chicken, corn salad stuff, and some other thing that was really good. After dinner Kimmy and I brought up the cookie cake that we made. Amber was surprised… somehow she hadn’t caught on. I figured she would have because I’m bad at keeping secrets and at talking quietly. Oh well. She liked it and it tasted really good.
After dinner and cleaning up Kimmy and I went for a walk/sit down by the river. It was nice but there were not many places to sit. Dumb. When we came back we all played Scattergories. I don’t recall anything exciting happening.
My deep thought recently has been generally related to the book I’ve been reading. Something that the book has really focused on is how there are so many more important things to be worrying about than a person’s sexual orientation and how if we just focus on getting to know God better, he’ll let us know if we’re doing something incorrectly. If we believe that God truly is all powerful, then we really shouldn’t worry about changing anyone because God’s going to do it if or when he’s good and ready, and not a moment sooner. I also believe that there is an important connected thought that most people don’t like to think about because it’s scary: how do we know whether we’re going to heaven? There is never a straight forward “do these things and ye shalt forever be in heaven.” There is, however, a section that talks about how not everyone who calls on the name of the Lord is going to heaven. The implication is that simply “talking the talk” will not gain you access to eternal life with God. I believe that the crux of my idea rests in James where he talks about how we must “show our faith by our works.” This is different than acquiring faith through works. The idea of showing faith by works is that we love God so much that we want to do things for him and his friends. It’s like the way we treat our friends: we don’t love our friends because we hang out with them and do things with them, but doing things with them is our way of expressing love for them. Related: I don’t like catchphrases. Things that rhyme aren’t necessarily true. However, one that has true depth to it is that “they will know that we are Christians by our love.” Now, from my understanding “love” is supposed to be an expression of our feelings and a positive action. So by loving someone you are doing something for them. So people are supposed to know that we are Christians by the kind things we do. You know what else? I think that “they” doesn’t just refer to other people. I think that it also refers to God. I believe that God knows that we are Christians by our love. And if that’s the case, some of us (myself included) really need to start stepping up out game. Now, I do not believe that God has a check list of things we can and cannot do, using complex formulae to determine who enters heaven. I think that he’s simply looking for people that love Him and are expressing that love through their interactions with other people. Our interactions include our service towards friends, enemies and strangers, our idle talk, and our personal convictions. I personally believe that God would rather hang out with people who are away of their sin but are doing their best to be better people than those who pretend to have it all together and hold that as a point of judgement over those who struggle through life. By God's standard, telling one small lie is the same as conducting the Holocaust. So instead of pretending that we're better than anyone else (because we aren't), let's just working on respecting, befriend, and loving everyone regardless of their past, their opinions, and their convictions. Jesus did, and I think that's a pretty good example.
Alright. That's all for now.
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