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good-bye.
this is a big mess, like a blog... i mean glob.
"Lent, in Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year leading up to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ." [source: wikipedia.org]
as lent was starting, i began thinking of what to do for lent. in the past, i don't think what i did for lent really helped me prepare myself for Easter as i usually just gave up doing one of my bad habits, like playing video games or something. but this year, i really want to get back to the purpose of why we even go through lent. to spend the time in fasting and prayer, denying ourselves of things we enjoy for the sake of enjoying God who is even greater. with this purpose in mind i have committed to the following things.
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."nowhere in there do i see "and he was willing to sell all he had to buy the field, but ended up not buying it and investing the money in something else". but somehow i have always had this thought in my heart, that God doesn't call me to give up the riches of this world, but just to let it go "in my heart".
"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me."i have been 20 for about 50 hours now, and surprisingly i do feel significantly older than i did a few days ago. maybe it's because i'm not a teenager anymore. maybe it's because i'm entering a new decade of life. or maybe i'm just getting old. whatever the reason may be, i do feel like i really need to "step it up" and be a man. it's kind of weird, because that verse up there was going through my head and when i actually searched for it, i was surprised that it was stuck in the middle of a passage about love. i guess God's trying to show me that a man isn't just this macho guy who lifts heavy objects and eats lots of meat, but someone who loves. so what does this mean for me? it means i can't avoid people i'm uncomfortable around. it means i can't hold grudges against those who've wronged me. it means i can't be selfish and hoard everything for myself. all these things are "childish ways" that i have to put behind. i must love with Christ's love because that is the life Christ calls me to. to love with the kind of love that stretches out to enemies, to outcasts, to the lost. who knew that being a man was so hard?