Cure for the pain

Ever since I proved my love by driving to a show in North Philadelphia shortly after having abdominal surgery, and nearly passing out in the process, I have admitted to myself how much I really like the band Switchfoot. Yesterday I discovered this lovely song. Apparently, Jon Foreman, the lead singer, is releasing four acoustic EP's over the next year. I am quite excited. I will definitely be purchasing this CD when I go home. I really love the honesty, simplicity, and passion in his songs. I'm really just a fan of new music in general.

Cure for the pain

So I'm not sure why it always goes downhill

Why broken sisters never could stay filled

I've spent ten years

Singing gravity away

But the water keeps on falling from the sky

So here tonight watch the stars look black and out

And every hope and dream I've ever had in doubt

I've spent ten years

Trying to sing these doubts away

But the water keeps on falling from my eyes

And Heaven knows

Heaven knows I tried to find a cure for the pain

Oh my Lord To suffer I can do

It would be a lie to run away

To bury fire Pulsing through our veins

Well are the writers the fools behind the reigns?

I've spent ten years

Trying to sing it all way

But the water keeps on falling from my tries

And Heaven knows

Heaven knows I tried to find a cure for the pain

Oh my Lord To suffer I can do

It would be a lie to run away A lie to run

It would be a lie to run away

It keeps on falling (x4)

Water keeps on falling from the sky

And Heaven knows

Heaven knows I tried to find a cure for this pain

Oh my Lord To suffer I can do

It would be a lie to run away

A lie to run away

It would be a lie to run away

In Las Palmas

I have been in Las Palmas for four days and have been deeply appreciated it. Liberia has made me appreciate things like safety, electricity, running water, and public sanitation. It's so nice to be able to walk off the ship, whenever you want to, in as small or large a group as you desire.

Our ship is docked at the port closes to the center of town and it's an easy walk to an endless road of beach front cafe's and restaurants.

The Grand Canary is a part of Spain and I am enjoying seeing a bit of Spanish culture, even if it's touristy Spanish culture. The streets are lined with cobblestone, musicians, and cafe's. The buildings are square but have a beautiful variety of color, detailing, and texture. The beaches/mountain/building backdrop is quite beautiful. And the coffee is amazing. Oh how I have missed going out for coffee.

It feels nice to regain some independence.

Las Palmos

After six days of sailing on the open water of the Atlantic ocean, we arrived yesterday at Las Palmos in the Canary Islands.

The Canary Islands are a part of Spain and already I have gotten enjoy a bit of Spanish culture I have had two cafe con leche's...yum) Last night, their was a mass exodus off the ship. Our berth is right near the center of town so it is easy to get around simply by walking.

It's so nice to have a change of scenery, to be unnoticed, and to walk somewhere alone. I'm enjoying the western world.

winter wonderland

It doesn't really feel like Christmas to me. Sweating profusely and Christmas are not two things I generally associate. But the crew on the ship is trying to make it feel a bit more like the holidays.

Last night we had something called, "winter wonderland". I think the idea comes from holiday markets that are held in Germany. All around the common area of the ship, various crew members decorated booths and sold crafts and baked goods, all while Christmas music played in the background and popcorn was served to all.

I don't really remember who originally thought up the idea, but David Cox and I decided to have a photo booth. That tripod I lugged to Africa was finally put to good use.

Each crew member could choose between four backgrounds, could have their picture taken in a cut out, or have a photo of themselves as a Liberian man or woman, an UNMIL solider, a Mercy Ships nurse/doctor/patient, or the "festive" pose.

For two hours strait I took photos. I think we were a big hit. And more importantly, that everyone had fun.

sailing

stars

On Sunday night I made several unsuccessful attempts to contact my family. I finally gave up and decided instead to meander up to the 8th deck in the late hours of the night. As I walked up the steps leading to deck 8 I was greeted by an enfolding canopy of vibrant white stars that hung proud fully in the clear horizon.

I really love stars. At home I have spent many a night stretched out on a blanket gazing at their beauty.

Stars make me feel small. They remind me that their is so much more than simply what I can feel and touch. They remind me of how vast and deep and wide their Creator must be. They remind me that He who hung them in to place surely has my entire life carefully kept in the center of His hand.

And they are just lovely. I also enjoy them for no other reason than just because.

Sara Groves wrote a song about her similar passion for star gazing, the chorus says,

Maybe this was made for me
For lying on my back in the middle of a field
And maybe that's a selfish thought
But maybe there's a loving God

If someone told me three years ago that on December 2, 2007 I would be sailing off the coast of West Africa on an international hospital ship, admiring the bold sky on the open waters, I would have said you were completely crazy.

But here I am.

Being a Christian is such an adventure. We just never know what's next, which terrifies the reasoning mind's and frees the faith filled heart.

I hope that if someone told me today what I will be doing on December 2, 2010 I would think they are crazy. The endless possibilities make life so much more exciting.

When the Saints

When the Saints by Sara Groves

Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know

It's more than I can handle

But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones

and I cannot let it go

And when I'm weary and overwrought

with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard

I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

And when the Saints go marching in

I want to be one of them

Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind

but your word has compelled me when

I think of all who've gone before me and lived the faithful life

And when I'm weary and overwrought

with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard

I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharaoh's court

I hear his call of freedom for the people of the Lord

And when the Saints go marching in I want to be one of them

And when the Saints go marching in I want to be one of them

I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad

I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul

I see the young missionary and the end of the spear

I see his family returning with no trace of fear

I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights

I see the sisters standing by the lepers side

I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor

I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door

I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road

I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load

My best friend Veronica told my via email that Sara Groves new CD is excellent. Sailing has made me tired and desiring to simply sit in my room and play on my laptop. I encountered this song while meandering through endless void that is the Internet.

I love reading the Old testament because it's not filled with stories, it's actual accounts of people who breathed the same air and have the same bone structure and need the same nourishment as you or I. They had fears and loves, strengths and weaknesses. They had success and failures, faith and doubts.

I wonder what it was like for Esther to go before the king knowing that she could lose her life for coming uninvited? What was it like for Ruth, whose husband had just died, to follow her mother in law, who was newly named Mara (bitter), to a land and culture foreign to her own? What was it like for Joshua to lead the people of Israel into the promises of God after 40 years of wondering, his mentor and leader dead, carrying a responsibility he probably didn't want or expect. How did Joseph keep from losing faith in God's promises after spending 14 years in slavery, prison, and disappointment, betrayed by his own brothers? How did Daniel stay pure in a licentious country after being stripped of his identity?

Hebrews 12:13 says

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

A desire for eternity woven through the fabric of our beings. It's an echo we can't silence, a song we can't sing, a vision we can't express, a thirst we can't quench, a realization in the midst of a beautiful moment that something is still horribly wrong. An acute dissatisfaction with the world we live in.

C.S. Lewis said this "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

Our dissatisfaction in this world is caused by our yearning for another. Our frustration and disappointments are derived from our duplicities which cause us to strain as we try to hold on to the best of both worlds. Wanting treasure is heaven why we store up treasures on earth. Wanting the praise of men while desiring the humility of Christ. Reveling in self preservation while knowing we should be dying to ourselves. It's the bondage we place ourselves under.

But there is freedom in surrender.

Surrendering to God's hand. Trusting His will. Realizing that if we gain the whole world and have not love we still have nothing. Letting our plans be changed. Relinquishing our weakness and insecurity to the strength of God. Not living for man's expectations but walking humbly before the Lord. Having an eternal worldview.

I only get that for about five seconds a week, but it's a blissful five seconds.

Before Esther went to the king she said, "If I perish I perish." (Esther 4:16)

Ruth told her mother in law, "Whither thou goest I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die." (Ruth 1:16-17).

We chose what we value and from that will decide how we want to live our lives.

I don't really care about what I do or don't become. I don't need to accomplish much by the worlds standards. But I pray my soul would ever be bent on one day hearing the voice of the Lord say to me, "Well done my good and faithful servant."

When the saints go marching in I want to be one of them.