Fri: I look forward to Edge Preview

A quick explanation for the 2 people who check this blog and aren’t sure what Edge preview is. The Edge Corps is the entry level position for someone working full time with the Navigators which is a ministry with various arms including college, military, and publishing divisions. The Edge preview is a small 3-day conference that is designed to give young people who are interested a “peek” at what committing to edge would entail. (That how I understand it anyway, I’m not totally sure because I haven’t actually gone yet). So I somehow got signed up to go to this thing, at the time I really had no clue what it even was, I was just told there was a castle and some mountain goats, and really they had me at castle. Aside from the castle though, there’s a bunch of other things I’m looking forward to concerning the edge preview trip.

Travel
So in case for some reason you didn’t know, I like driving. The aspect of a 12 hour trip isn’t something that bugs me; I’m actually looking forward to the traveling part of the trip quite a bit. I’ve traveled to a painfully small amount of the U.S. so anytime I can add a couple cities and states to that list, it’s something I can get behind. It's just an added bonus that we're traveling through northern Arizona which always a beautiful drive.

Snow
As if just traveling wasn’t good enough, there’s a good chance that there will be snow will be involved at some point. I’ve lived in the desert my whole life so seeing snow is basically the equivalent of a blind person going to the movies, Kanye West making 808’s and Heartbreak, getting assigned a take home test for a final, or the Cardinals being in the playoffs. It’s highly unusual but a really nice change of pace. Who knows, I might even get to wear a scarf.

People
Aside from family, I’ll also get to spend a lot of time hanging out with friends I haven’t really seen since winter break started, and you know, it’s possible I might've kind of missed them or whatever. Anyways moving on…

Listening
Aside from all the trimmings of the trip, I’m also looking forward to just having a chance in the middle of a work week no less to just sit back and learn about God. Have some time to really just try and listen to Him through his Word, and get additional guidance on how to better understand his messages. Sure I’m also interested in finding out what the deal is with Edge Corps and what that whole deal is about, but it’s somewhat of a side note. In reality I’m rarely able to wrap my brain around just what amazing position God has put me in, where I can go somewhere and meet other believers and just learn about stuff that will be interesting, and valid forever. So I do my best to recognize those opportunities and look forward to them.

Mon: I like Driving

I think most guys enjoy driving. Maybe it’s instinctual, the ability to go fast makes us better hunter/gatherers and we can better claim dominion over this planet that God gave us. Except somewhere along the lines people forgot the purpose of going fast (myself included) and now just go fast for going fast’s sake, and anytime you’re doing X for X sake there’s a good chance X just might be getting abused. Outside of activities requiring a radar detector or at least an eagle eyed passenger there’s a bunch of other things I enjoy about driving.

I’ve heard this from a lot of people and personally find it to be overwhelmingly true: driving can be very peaceful. Obviously I’m not talking about that bumper-to-bumper stuff when you’re already 10 minutes late and the guy in front of you keeps threatening to switch lanes but never actually does. I mean the regular driving, where it’s quiet and you have time to just think, listen to music or podcasts (but definitely not talk radio), and just kind of coast and reflect. It’s hugely cathartic. In fact if cars were around in King David’s time he wouldn’t have written most of Psalms. Whenever he was feeling that need to refocus he would’ve looked at his harp, looked at his Lincoln Navigator, looked at his harp….and hopped in his Navigator (I don’t really see David as a sports car or Ferrari type of guy). He would've just drove around his Kingdom, talking to God, listening to Ethan the Ezrahite on his MP3 player and feeling better about life.

While we’re talking about characters in the Bible who would’ve enjoyed driving, I’ll throw out Paul which ties nicely into my next point. Driving is so, so, so convenient. Living in this time in history sometimes I’ll just stop and try and realize the vast improvement in everyday things between the past and now, and I can never really grasp it. So sometimes I have to imagine how people of the past would have reacted to being in today's situations. Paul is a prime example, that guy would’ve considered taking on a second affliction in turn for making the missionary journeys in a Toyota. He could’ve avoided all those shipwrecks, and snakebites. So I try not to take the convenience part of driving for granted.

Finally I have a small control freak streak in me, so if you thought at some point in this entry “oh yea riding in cards is nice” you’d be close but not right. Driving cars is nice; being able to control any object with that much potential is nice, watching someone else control and make decisions about that object is only ok. I can’t even explain the control thing, because really you’re at the mercy of the other 90 drivers on your little stretch of road so it should be something that people who enjoy being in control hate. mysteriously that’s not the case though.

Sometimes I wonder how much longer they’re going to let us drive before everything becomes automated for “safety”. I hope it’s not in my lifetime, or at the very least later on in my life after 2051 when my driver’s license expires (I love AZ). I just don’t think it would be the same to hop into some bubble that takes you where you tell it while you just sit there, because you wouldn’t just sit there. You’d have to bring along work or a textbook, or something to make sure you stay busy, always busy. Driving gives you an opportunity to look busy, feel productive while having your mind free from regular the craziness of work, school, or the dreaded "other". It’s a secret bonus time outside of quiet time, or bedtime that let’s you think about the things you’d always wanted to think about. I like that.