A Life Well Lived

When I opened my blogger dashboard on Friday night, I recieved an unpleasant surprise. There seemed to be a theme among many of the blogs I follow- there were at least three posts, all from different people, about one young man. One man, and how his life impacted them.

That young man's name was Joshua Eddy. He was a nineteen year old, on fire for God and in love with life. But on May 5, one misstep proved fatal and the river became his coffin.

Now, his family and friends grieve. They pray. They question. But even with the tears comes joy...for Josh ministered to thousands more people after his death than I'm sure he could ever have imagined.

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I never met Josh Eddy. I came into the league one year after he left and never heard his name until Friday night. But Josh's testimony has touched me in a way that nothing else of yet has.

In the middle of April, Josh wrote a blog post entitled, "To die well..." There, he documented for the eyes of his 60-some followers thoughts that were going through his head in the early morning hours. They were thoughts about death.

"But now, having grown beyond childish fantasy and realized the reality of my duty as a man… the thought of giving my life for something… what would it be? A day rarely passes that I don’t think about it.

Will I die in an explosion saving a woman and her child from a car engulfed in flames? Will I throw myself in front of a truck to save a child playing in the street? Will I die protecting my family from an intruder in my home? Will I take a bullet to the head while standing between a sick thug and the woman he intended to rape? Will I give away the last parachute or life ring? The last piece of bread? The last ounce of water? Will I freeze to death having given away my last piece of warm clothing?

Will I sing songs of praise as I am burned alive for refusing to deny the One who endured far worse for me…….?

Do these questions scare me? No. I would give anything to die like that… To die so that someone else might live… the thought shakes me and sends tears streaming down my face. But more than that, so much more than that, I want to die a martyr. To die for the overwhelming love of Christ, and the honor of bearing His Name and image; to be counted “among whom the world was not worthy”… I can’t even imagine… That would be dying well."

Josh, you did die well- you set an example for us not only through your life but also through your death. You didn't die exactly how you hoped you would. You died doing what you loved- capturing life through the lens of a camera.

But your death had an even bigger effect on those around you than did your life, if that's possible. You did die so that others might live- so that we could see what a good and holy death is. So that we could experience the grief of a role model gone, and grow closer to God through the pain. So that we could muse on how we want our deaths to be...and arrive at the realization that to have a holy death, we must live a holy life.

Your blog, The Bright and Hopeful Unknown, went up 7 thousand views in 2 days after your death. Hundreds of those visiting probably never knew you, like me. But you ministered to them too. You were a role model for us through your life and also through your death.

You're the first. Over the years, there will be more tragedies, more people we know and love who will leave our lives forever. There will be more tears, more grief, more stories that end far before they should have.

But we're learning. I'm learning. Learning how to say, "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord." We're all asking why. "Why did you take him just when his life was starting to begin? Why didn't you let him stay here, let us learn from him longer?"

We begin to cry the words that Louisa May Alcott wrote in Little Women, "The good and dear ones always die."

And it's true.

But maybe it's because God has smiled on them and said, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the eternal happiness of Heaven!"

We don't always like God's timing. We think we know better. I wish that I'd been able to meet Josh Eddy in person...but I might never have known about him if not for his tragic, young death.  Those 7 thousand viewers on his blog may never have known him if he hadn't died.

Thank you, Josh, for being a shining example of a holy death through living well. Your passion for life and bravery until the end is an inspiration that only God could have planned.

"To surrender a precious dream is a fearful thing, but to pursue anything but the full measure of the glory of God’s love is a wasted life." ~Joshua Eddy

An Ordinary Sanity

Over the past year, I've developed something of a passion for GK Chesterton, who could very well be the most significant writer of the 20th century. I have a section of my library dedicated to him, which although small now, I am actively trying to increase. Interestingly-and sadly-enough, for all of his amazing works (The Man Who Was Thursday, The Ball and the Cross...), Chesterton has been called the "master without a masterpiece."

I have to say, I really think that's a misguided perception of Chesterton. First off, you could debate that Chesterton never really had a masterpiece, but it could totally be argued logically on either side. And secondly, if you're looking for a masterpiece, you're going to miss the richness of Chesterton's work. You're just going to keep looking for the best, the grandest of his achievements.

But that's not really what this blog post is supposed to be about. What it's really supposed to be about is what I - and many, many others- believe Chesterton's magnum opus to be. That is, Orthodoxy. Oh yes, the title may seem harsh and uninviting. But all you have to do is open the book to the first page and you're already engrossed.

There's so much to say about this book that it's not going to all fit into one post. To be perfectly honest, I'm probably going to be posting about sections of Orthodoxy for a long time. But this post is on just one part of the book...that of sanity and lack thereof.

I've never really thought much about insane people- it's not exactly a thought that pops into my mind all that often. =P But apparently, Chesterton thought about it a whole bunch, seeing as he has a whole chapter dedicated to it. And there, he makes a really insightful point.

"The man who begins to think without the proper first principles goes mad; he begins to think at the wrong end. And for the rest of these pages we have to try and discover what is the right end. But we may ask in conclusion, if this be what drives men mad, what is it that keeps them sane...For this moment it is possible in the same solely practical manner to give a general answer touching what in actual human history keeps men sane.

Mysticism keeps men sane. As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you created morbidity. The ordinary man has always been sane because the ordinary man has always been a mystic. He has permitted the twilight. He has always had one foot in earth and the other in fairyland. He has always left himself free to doubt his gods; but (unlike the agnostic of today) free also to believe in them."

Mystery isn't often regarded as an aid to sanity. Actually, it's thought of as quite the opposite. After all, when I first think of mystery, a crime searching for criminal and thereby justice comes to mind. A mad search for the wanted.

But what I think Chesterton is trying to say is that human intellect desires, needs, mystery. When you think you have all the answers, you start to become your own god. And while we're on the subject  of gods, there's one sentence in that quote that really leapt out at me. "He has always left himself free to doubt his gods; but free also to believe in them."

There comes a time in every person's life where they begin to doubt God. Maybe it's after a tragedy, maybe it's because they think they have it all figured out. Regardless, that period of doubting God and his soverignty will come. And I think it's ordinary, healthy, and can be strengthening...as long as you don't let it end there. Doubt is not an end-it's just a step along the path.

When doubt comes, the rational and responsible person will want to find answers. They'll want to analyze and find out if this God whom they have worshipped all their lives is really true. And as they do that, they'll move along their path of doubt and eventually a realization, a change will come.

It might be easy and soft. It may be as loud as thunder. But the realization will come that somewhere along the line, that doubt disappeared and was replaced instead with a childlike trust. A trust that invites the real, ordinary, sane man to search deeper for the Truth. And maybe that will turn into what it did for Chesterton the man.

Not Chesterton the writer. Not Chesterton the playwright. Not Chesterton the poet. Chesterton the man.

Maybe it will turn into what it did for him- namely, orthodoxy.

"This is the thrilling romance of orthodoxy. People have fallen into a foolish habit of speaking of orthodoxy as something heavy, humdrum, and safe. There was never anything so perilous or so exciting as orthodoxy. It was sanity- and to be sane is more dramatic than to be mad."

~GK Chesterton

Snapshots of Inspiration

Potpourri

A lot to catch up on...

-success, failure, and debate.
For the first time I participated in Team Policy debate, so that meant I got to do a lot of research about taxes and US revenue generation policies. I definitely learned a lot from that, but more importantly I got a crash course in success and failure.
My partner and I decided at the beginning of the year that we wanted our goal to be NITOC (National Invitational Tournament of Champions). We thought that if we gave it our best, we could get there.
We did not do well in our first tournament. We got a very low score and low speaker points. After the initial disappointment, we both sat down, together and individually, to assess what we did wrong. I realized that I had let myself grow over-confident and quite honestly, that was a big part of what lost us the tournament.
The next two tournaments, we achieved an even score and were tantalizingly close to winning one more round in both tournaments, which would have allowed us to progress farther. However, we ended up not qualifying to NITOC-which means that we didn't make our goal. Therefore, in a literal sense of the word, we failed this year.
But after doing some thinking about it, I think that in a different way, we succeeded. We wanted to show ourselves just how well we could do- and we did. We also debated two different resolutions, since for one tournament we went to a different league. That meant that we had two weeks to write a case/gather neg information on the criminal justice system. We had an even score at that tournament, which I'm really pleased with. Overall, even though I of course wish we'd made our goal, we had a good year.
"Success is not to be measured so much by the position one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome." ~Booker T. Washington

-impromptu.
My last tournament was just a week ago, and I participated in impromptu. In this event, you draw three topics, pick one, and have two minutes to prepare a five minute speech. You can't take any notes up with you.
I didn't compete in this event all year long, but just for some practice, I decided to do it at this tournament. I'm so glad I did.
In my first round, I got the word "dare." I talked for over five minutes on why we should dare to do things, why we should take risks (because that word is synonymous with dare), etc. It was fun, and I liked the speech, even though I messed up once. I said, "We should dare to do whatever we want." The instant the words came out of my mouth, I knew it sounded wrong...but oh well, that's impromptu.
The second round, they had questions. Things like, "If you could have a superpower, what would it be?" >.< I really don't like those kind of hypothetical, never-going-to-happen scenarios for impromptu, and I think I would've had a really hard round if I hadn't drawn one of the questions I did. I got two lame questions and this one: "If you could do anything without failing, what would it be?" That's when I started grinning at the prep table.
I again filled my time because I got to talk all about success and failure and had such a fun round. Basically, it was a five minute version of everything I just wrote about success.
And third round, I got "defiance." This actually was my best round according to my judges, even though I didn't think so. This was enjoyable to speak on too, because I decided to look at the positive aspect of the word "defiance" instead of the negative way that everybody usually hears it.
And then I broke. Which wasn't expected at all. Really though, I was just having so much fun that I was really glad I broke in impromptu! :) Semi-finals round, I got the word "insufferable." Thinking back on it, I could have done a lot of different things with that speech that would've made it better, but it was still good. There were a bunch of super good competitors in that room, so I'm not surprised that I didn't make it to finals. But it was still a good ride and I had a ton of fun with impromptu- and that's really all that matters. A lot of competitors are forced to do impromptu, but it can be such a fun, insightful event if done well.
And to be absolutely honest, I think that a huge factor in why I broke is because of my topics. I was EXTREMELY blessed at this tournament to draw topics that I actually felt strongly about anyway and wanted to speak on. I'm not an amazing impromptu-er, by any stretch of the imagination. It's about speaking from your heart, every round. Whenever I start using head knowledge in an impromptu round, I don't do well at all. Even when you get a topic that you can't really relate to, go somewhere that means something to you. Become vulnerable. And have fun.

-quotes.
If you were to look at my laptop right now, you would see a whole bunch of virtual sticky notes. All of them have quotes on them about various things, so every time I turn on my laptop I get to instantly see all these quotes. (It really helps with impromptu, I had a quote for every round.) I've collected them over the year, so here are a couple of my favorites. I may post one or two once in a while, as their own blog post if I'm running low on time.

"The sane man knows that he has a touch of the beast, a touch of the devil, a touch of the saint, a touch of the citizen. Nay, the really sane man knows that he has a touch of the madman."
~GK Chesterton

"When the world tells you, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try one more time."

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point."
~CS Lewis

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."
~Thomas Jefferson

"All right Mister, let me tell you what winning means. It means that you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else."
~Vincent Lombardi

-Titanic Heroes.
A lot is going on right now with Titanic Heroes and Benjamin and I are both really excited about it. We'll be presenting at the Christian Heritage conference this weekend, which is a pretty big deal and should be very rewarding.
Benjamin just put together this awesome video for Titanic Heroes...and because he's my brother, I'm going to brag on him and tell you that it really is amazing. We literally sat down on Wednesday evening, story-boarded the idea, and got it on YouTube last night. It looks super professional.
Blogger/YouTube are being dumb and won't let me put in the actual video so here's the link.
Introducing Titanic Heroes

-and just because Google rocks.

Titanic Heroes - Inspring True Stories

There were many heroes onboard the RMS Titanic, 100 years ago. These heroes showed fortitude in the face of danger and valor in attenmpting to save women and children on that fateful night.
I believe that heroism flowers in Titanic moments, but it's cultivated in the day-to-day practice of virtue. Our family calls these virtues: Titanic Heroism in 3G. The 3G's are GIVE what you have, GIVE more than you take, and GIVE it your all.
Our family is excited to announce the launching of our new website: www.TitanicHeroes.com Our mission is that, through the information provided on this website, people will be inspired to ask us to come to their school, business, event. etc., and give our hour-long presentation. We'll speak on the 3G principles, give two survivor accounts as "living history", display an inspiring slideshow, and show how you can apply the 3G's in your own life.
Please take a look at the website, tell us what you think, and help us spread the word!

The Ultimatum

Being Pro-Life During Advent

One of the news sites that I love to look at is called National Catholic Register.  We don't have an actual paper subscription to this great Catholic newspaper, but I try to take a look at the website about once a week.  Today, I was scanning the articles listed and saw under "Hot Topics" the title of an article called, "America, We Won't Go Away."  Well, to me, that sounds interesting and controversial, two things I like to see in an article.  So I clicked on it.  Here's just a little bit of the article.

"I’m sure you’ve seen us. We may have made you angry, or sad, or we may have made you turn quickly away and find something else to look at.
You may have seen us two days before Christmas outside the Planned Parenthood building. The old man with the rosary, the college kids in sweats, the sad-looking woman clutching brochures and an “I Regret My Abortion” sign — that was us.

Maybe you felt offended that we stuck abortion in your face as you rushed out to do last-minute shopping, cheered by Christmas songs on the radio. Well, we felt offended that the“clinic” was open that day. We wanted to enjoy ourselves, too.

We may have made you uncomfortable that day. We’re sorry for that. But we’ll be there again at the next town meeting, too. And the next. And the next.
We won’t go away, and we won’t stop talking about abortion. We won’t stop saying, again and again, that this is wrong, and it has to stop."
(Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/we_wont_go_away/#ixzz1fyj6KdCN)

Wow.  Those are just the opening paragraphs!  I want to meet whoever wrote this, because it is amazing.  This article voices something that every pro-lifer has felt at some point in time.  I've gone to the March for Life for the past two years in a row (here's my article about it from this year: March for Life: Reviewing the Day) and it's a really interesting experience.

As the article points out, we don't exactly want to be standing outside, in the 30 degree weather, sometimes in the rain, holding signs.  We don't want to be yelled at, screamed at, or have profanities thrown at us.  We're not out there because it's our idea of a pleasant Tuesday morning!  We're out there, voicing our opinion, showing the truth, because it's the right-and only-thing to do.  And we're not planning on stopping anytime soon.

We're also learning courage and fortitude in the face of difficulty.  One of my great friends, Katherine Eames, goes once a month with a group of other adults and stands on the corner of one of downtown Seattle's busiest streets.  They're with a campaign called Show the Truth, and they stand with signs showing pictures of the effects of abortion.  The signs have huge pictures of aborted babies and sometimes have a pro-life message underneath.

People have gone up to them and screamed in ther faces.  People have thrown disgusting things at them.  People have shaken them by the shoulders while screaming at them.  They still refuse to leave and they continue to come back.  Why?  Because they enjoy the rage and fury that is shown to them? No.  Because they know that what they're doing is the right thing to do.  And they're doing because they know that if they don't speak up, then no one will.

We can't always count on others to speak up!  We can't always say, "That's awesome...but I could never hold those signs. I don't want to offend anyone."  A Protestant pastor named Martin Niemoller, who lived during the Holocaust, once said, "In Germany, first they came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.  Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.  Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. And then, they came for me.  And by that time, no one was left to speak up."

Silence doesn't make things go away.  Action does.  That's why we're fighting this battle.  We're fighting because if we don't fight, then our generation is going to fade away, one aborted child by one.  It's Advent, a time to prepare to celebrate Christ's birth. But soon after Advent we celebrate the Marytrdom of the Holy Innocents.  On that day, we should remember both those holy children who were slaughtered so long ago and those who are being killed today. May God have mercy on us and equip us with the weapons necessary to continue in this battle.

"We want to think we would have told the slave-sellers, “No way. Not here. I will use every legal means to stop you.” We like to think we wouldn’t have sat still in World War II Germany as the trains rumbled by. We wish we could have sat with Rosa Parks or prayed with Ruby Bridges on the way to school.

But we can’t do any of that. What we can do is remind you, America, in season and out of season, of the words you were founded on: “All men are endowed by their Creator with the right to life.”
So you’ll see us shivering in the cold again this January for the March for Life. And you’ll see us next January, and the January after that, and the January after that, until we wear you down at last and there’s no more reason to march.

And if we die before you change, America, we’ll be able to stand before God and say, “I defended the defenseless. I stood for the weak. My brothers and sisters couldn’t cry ‘Stop,’so I cried it for them. And I refused to go away.”

You Are More

I just got my iPod touch fixed, so I've finally been able to listen to my iTunes music! :D I synced this song, You Are More, onto my iPod along with others. After hearing it a couple times, I remembered how much I love this song.

Tenth Avenue North has a lot of really insightful songs, but this one is a must-hear. This is my favorite of theirs because it tells a story that all of us have lived at some point. I'm not going to give much commentary because the song should stand on its own. (It's one of those songs that means something different for each individual.)

For me personally, I've gotten a lot of comfort out of these stanzas. It makes me want to run to the Sacrament of Confession and reconcile myself with God.

Go listen to it on iTunes or YouTube-you won't regret those 4 minutes.