When the revenant came down.

tonight at the gathering isaac spoke about things related to this song.

When the revenant came down
We couldn't imagine what it was
In the spirit of three stars
The alien thing that took its form
Then to Lebanon
Oh, God
The flashing at night, the sirens grow and grow
Oh, history involved itself
Mysterious shade that took its form
Or what it was, incarnation
Three stars
Delivering signs and dusting from their eyes

first of all, almost any pastor that quotes sufjan is fine by me. second, it was really good. his talk that is. anyway the song basically is talking about God coming down to us on earth. isaacs talk was a little longer than this will be but i will try to get the point across nonetheless. we all understand that Jesus came to earth lived with us. but something i have been struggling with, i think unbeknownst to me (i have no idea if thats a word), is the idea of God pursuing me. i like to be pursued, and i think we all do to some extent, some obviously more than others. and i knew that God loved me and whatnot, but what does that mean? i even know he sacrificed his son for me, which is unthinkable to us as humans. but for reason that didnt seem like enough to me. i realize that is a horribly ungrateful attitude, but i think thats how i felt. the idea of God truly pursuing me was slightly foreign. but God in the scriptures does it time and time again, he comes down and walks with adam and eve in the garden. he commanded solomon to build a temple so that he could live amongst his people. then jesus came to earth. jesus lived among us for 33 years, which meant he experienced alot. i always realized it was a sacrifice for him to die on the cross for us, but i hadnt even thought of things like jesus having to learn how to walk and talk, and make friends and tell time, he was cheated and befriended, lied to and laughed at, humilated, stabbed in the back, taken for granted and tortured to death. the point being, he will stop at nothing to pursue us. i dont know, i realize this is a simple and basic point that has just been made, but i think at a time in my life when being pursued feels really good, this is the most comforting thing i can think of. but as dallas willard says

"what is truly profound is thought to be stupid or trivial,
or worse, boring, while what is actually stupid
and trivial is thought to be profound."

that is such a sweet quote and i use it alot, but its very true.
anyway, maybe one of these days ill write something intricately profound on here. until that day comes, be content with simplicity.
everyone go listen to music that challenges you in some way and live a crazy life.
LOVE.NICK

copeland

i have been listening to copelands new cd. and i like it alot. i like it because i didnt love it at first like their old albums. i had to listen hard and often (haha) to fully appreciate the subtleties in the music. i think alot of things in life are like that. not immediately enjoyable. i also think that once we learn to look deeper into things we develop a deeper appreciation for them. whereas the joy we gain from simple "earthly" pleasures that provide immediate satisfaction, is quickly worn down leaving the desire to find the next form of enjoyment.
this might not actually make sense. but it does to me, and i could go further if you care to have a discussion about it.
and by "you" i mean adam cooper, because i think that you, adam, are the only person who reads this. and i am ok with that. i like it. and you. this is getting weird and personal.
LOVE.NICK

testing...

i am kind of testing this to see how it all works. lately i have been thinking about a lot of things, i guess specifically relationships and time. how we take care of our relationships, and how we spend our time. and ive been thinking a little bit in the area where they overlap. i just told my good friend adam cooper that girls do give the "unlikely" guy a chance, but the girl you want will never give the "unlikely" guy a chance. which makes the whole chance giving theory worthless. i changed the quote around a little bit to make me sound less shallow, but the main point is still there.
ive found that lately i will make remarkably honest statements, not necessarily mean statements, just honest ones such as the "me sounding shallow" one above. ive also found that people for the most part do not even give credit for the honesty. they simply get mad, and ignore the fact that i was just painfully open to them.
i like poetry these days.

"You, madam, are the eternal humorist,
The eternal enemy of the absolute,
Giving our vagrant moods the slightest twist!
With your aid indifferent and imperious
At a stroke our mad poetics to confute--"
And--"Are we then so serious?"

i need to go to bed.