1 in 4 Homeless Americans are Veterans - WTF?

A Philadelphia Inquirer article today reported that Untied States Military Veterans comprise 25% of America's homeless population. That makes me sick. Have we really that little heart to reach out to these who have stepped up to serve, then have to live alone in suffering? Think what you will about politics, war, etc, these men and women deserve our respect and our assistance.
I watched the move "Jarhead" the other day. While I can't recommend it for everyone because of explicit language and sexual content, I get the impression from some former Marines that it paints an accurate picture. If you're interested to see WHY so many veterans find themselves so lost when they return to civilian status, I believe this movie provides some answers.

Back to Basics

Forget everything I wrote yesterday. Well, it was all true, but I was way too concerned about fitting the word "listless" into my post. In the last 24 hours I've screwed up a lot and have been led back to the fact that all this is simply about following Jesus. That's it. I seek to follow Jesus. I do a lousy job of it, but that is what I seek to do and that is the task at hand that I need to remember. "A life in non-fiction" sounds sexy, but really I just need to follow Jesus. So, scratch what I said. I want to live a life that follows Jesus. Donald Miller is right. It really is that easy. As the wise Matt Spainhour once said, "Life is simple."

Life in Non-Fiction

I'm through with the vanities of Amory Blaine. The protagonist in F. Scott Fitzgerald's (remember reading The Great Gatsby in high school? same author) first successful novel This Side of Paradise, Blaine spends his days chasing hopeless romance and selfish ambition, leaving him lost and alone. The novel ends as he adjusts to the realization that his intellectualism is bankrupt: "He stretched out his arms to the crystalline, radiant sky. 'I know myself,' he cried, 'but that is all-'"

I have decided to know more than myself, more than the comforts that surround me, more than the affluence I'm blessed to receive. The life of Amory Blaine was a life of fiction, and I mean that in a far deeper way than the simple fact he was a character in a novel. He choose to capitalize on the corruption of a culture that Fitzgerald wrote, was "a new generation dedicated more than the last to the fear of poverty and the worship of success; grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken." I see a lot of this blinded view of reality in America today, in its Church, and in myself. We choose to see the world through fictional lenses, stained with security few in the world know.

I want to live a life of non-fiction.

I've been throwing this idea around in my head for a while. Lost in a sea of stress and errands and preparation to leave the country last minute for a disaster response trip to Nicaragua a few weeks ago, I said to myself that I was at the time lost in non-fiction, burdened with the realities of the world to a point at which I longed to escape. It was then that I picked up Fitzgerald's novel off the shelf, seeking to self-medicate with stories of Amory Blaine's attempts to woo various women in a fictional paradise.

It didn't take me long after reaching the hurricane ravished, rural village of Tuara, Nicaragua, to despise the vanities of Amory Blaine, and more so my desire to allow my own life to drift into such listless realms. Somewhere in a woman's story of loosing her 23 year old son at sea during Hurricane Felix, or a mother's explanation that her beautiful 10 year old girl had been raped when she was 7, I realized that life rarely exists in the world middle to upper class Americans have created for themselves. It was in a moment walking to the well to retrieve water to bathe when I saw the before mentioned 10 year old girl scrubbing the laundry of her family that I resigned myself to break the American mold and live a life of non-fiction.

The world simply isn't safe, comfortable, warm, with riches and a full belly for most of those who live in it. I live the simple life as an individual born into the upper 1%. I believe there is a place here, and good I can accomplish, so I have no intentions of simply disposing my blessings. However, I must keep my life's relation to the rest of humanity in focus, and I must keep the picture clear. My life must be one of non-fiction.

Jimmy Eat World Does it Again

With the announcement of a new album, I wondered if Jimmy Eat World could once again pull off a flawless album. After Clarity, Bleed American, Futures, and a few solid EP's, they have secured their position in my permanent top five favorite bands. But can Chase This Light live up to the others?
Yes. Yes it can. Chase this light is a solid new album with brilliant lyrics and songs that build in masterful progression (see the epic last track, "Dizzy"). Buy it today. Love it forever. This sounds way too much like an add, but I swear they didn't pay me to write it. Jimmy Eat World has simply done it again.

Back From Nicaragua

I made it home from Nicaragua late last night and although I'm still getting over the intense food poisoning I came down with the last day, it was an amazing trip. There are those rare moments in life where you can honestly stop and say you know you are doing exactly what the Lord would have you do. My time in Nicaragua was filled with these moments. My feelings are hard to express as Nicaragua is an extremely impoverished nation also hit by a Cat. 5 Hurricane, so the contrast between what I saw there and the comforts of my home has me speechless at the moment. I spent twice the average yearly salary of a Nicaraguan on new tires and maintenance for my truck today. I'm more than a little ashamed. I'm mostly humbled that God has chosen to give me these opportunities. Two international disaster responses in as many months? Why me? Where does this all lead? It was a blessing to serve. More stories to follow as I readjust.

Nicaragua Disaster Response

I'm headed to Nicaragua in the morning with a disaster medical team in the wake of Cat. 5 Hurricane Felix that struck the Eastern coast in September. Please keep me in your prayers.

Doubting the Dream...

Tonight I had my first official meeting at the Philadelphia Fire Academy to discuss my possible employment in the near future. It wasn't just me, but an orientation for myself and about 60 others to explain the final steps in the hiring process for the next class they plan to put together for February. On Sunday I stumbled upon the fire pictured above and was reminded about my love for firefighting, but in the excitement of these developments I confess I still possess a great deal of doubt about my current path. I've spent the last two years trying to get this job, and now that's its within reach I find myself asking if its really what I want. I've been blessed lately and I've been developing other passions and making progress in jobs an organizations, and the the thought of starting all over again tires me.

But its ok. If the Lord has other plans He'll lead me to them. Right now this is the path I am pursuing and I intend on following one day at a time. Its difficult at times to truly let Him lead, but easy when faith is properly understood. Give me faith to understand faith...