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- 2008 Colorado Election
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- The Rise and Fall of Hip-Hop
- Why I chose to become a Christan
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Index for posts concerning Stories
Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 15, Back home) by Darth B'strad
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Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 14, Man! I’ve got to take a leak!) by Darth B'strad
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Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 13, Minn-e-soooo-ta) by Darth B'strad
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Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 12, That’s a big church) by Darth B'strad
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Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 11, Learning to forgive) by Darth B'strad
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Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 10, Making our way on through) by Darth B'strad
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Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 9, Off to the dungeon we go!) by Darth B'strad
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Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 8, The day) by Darth B'strad
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Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 7, A holy moment) by Darth B'strad
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Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 6, Wake up!) by Darth B'strad
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Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 15, Back home)
Posted on July 17th, 2010 by Darth B'strad.
Categories: Orig. Literature, Creative Writing, Cultural, Stories.
The last day of my trip was quite lazy. The speaker had one more talk before moving on and he did finish it all off well. We had a small lunch afterwards, just sandwiches but I certainly noticed something missing. Being from Colorado you naturally assume that there will be some jalapeños on the table especially for a meal like this but there wasn’t any there! We certainly aren’t in Colorado! After that we just laid around in the hotel most of the day. That night we had the ordinations and I pastor handled the introductions and we had a nice dinner there. I needed a ride back to the airport and it just so happened that the financial director also needed to leave that night so that he could return his rental car. So we left early and made our way to the airport and I help them find their way. There in the car, I played some Frank Sinatra for them and they seemed to enjoy it. We ended up at the airport with the whole night to spend there. They didn’t have their flight out till 6 in the morning and mine wasn’t till 8 in the morning. We tried to get into the terminal but it ended up that no one was there to give them their boarding passes but we did actually get an overnight kit. There in at the airport, I started writing up this story and I did get most of the way through. It’s a bit strange walking through an airport when there’s hardly anyone there. There pondering over my life and all the things I’ve been through– it’s been quite a rough road. None of the things that I pictured in life or the things that I wanted to be had ever panned out. But yet it was still something amazing to live through. I’ve seen some wonders that you couldn’t imagine, but yet, also some terrors that I would never wish on anyone. Coming back home still left me with some longing in my soul and it’s been several weeks since that trip. But there just last night, I was sitting in a place that used to be something that caused me a wealth of pain but now it was all fine. I had been lost all my life but here I am found. Just thinking over everything in that trip, it was amazing because I had my family there with me. It had been suggested that I should finish up my schooling at Eastern university and that was quite a tempting thought. I had just made my decision just a little bit ago, and it’s just too simple to ignore. I’m only alive right now because my friends have become my family and they took me in and took care of me when I was hurt and lonely. I need them in my life and they rely on me to be there for them. So I can not go, I could not live without them. For better or for worse, I’m sticking with them. There are a few people that come and go in my life but God had given them to me so that we could all serve Him together through life. Even though the world often seems so wrong, it will be all good again. It filled me with a renewed sense of hope and a continual longing for His peace.
Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 14, Man! I’ve got to take a leak!)
Posted on July 16th, 2010 by Darth B'strad.
Categories: Orig. Literature, Creative Writing, Cultural, Stories.
I was told that I have to include this part of the story so here it is. There’s apparently a bit of a tradition for the pastor’s kids at these conventions and it’s just that you have to go pee! Supposedly this is a game although I think somebody just came up with a dumb idea one year and they’ve been doing it ever since but we still did mange to have some fun with it. The game is like spoons only this time it’s with water and peeing. You have two decks of cards that you shuffle together and then you have one person deal out four cards to everyone. Then that person takes a card from the deck and then either passes it along or replaces it with one of their own to the next person who does the same. The goal being that you need to make a four of a kind and then once you have that then you must slap your hand on your head and look like an idiot. When the first person slaps their head everyone else must do the same so that your not last to slap yourself. If your the last one to make a red spot on your head then you have to drink the agreed amount of H two O. When your little bladder sack can’t take anymore of that lovely liquidity drink and you then go pee then you’re out. So the person with the most endurance with their bladder sack is the winner. The game had no real challenge to it considering that cheating was rampant amongst thous good little Pks so it really was best to just watch for them to just hit themselves because there were a certain few that were always close. We were causing quite a bit of noise, well the people on the other side of the building could hear us, but we weren’t being all that bad! Me and D bean joked that if guys had created this game then we would replace water with beer and peeing with puking but considering that we had at least one teetotaler with us we kept go puke to ourselves. We got board of it after awhile and were trying to come up with something else to do but no body really wanted to leave. But we did manage to have a good conversion on what the speaker was saying and how we think that will look in our lives. Certainly, we did leave an impression on some of them.
Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 13, Minn-e-soooo-ta)
Posted on July 15th, 2010 by Darth B'strad.
Categories: Orig. Literature, Creative Writing, Cultural, Stories.
After the services the girls wanted to get some ice cream so me and my pastor deiced to go ahead and take them to the store. We were staying in a hotel without a freezer so we had to eat it all that night. As we’re going to check out my pastor makes a bad call and lets the girls drive back and as is typical they do try to dive off without us but the ice cream got them to stop. Since we’re in Minnesota and most of the movie Fargo takes place in Minnesota we all figure that it’s a good night for it! But then again I was tired after all that traveling so I went to sleep while they were all watching it. But then I come to find out in the morning that the girls didn’t like it all that much! Now what is wrong with Fargo! Heck, even my mother loves that movie! You just have to love it when the guy is having trouble shoving the guy’s foot down the wood chipper! That’s just the crowning jewel of the whole movie! But anyways, we had some more pastors workshops in the morning and now everything was laid on the table. The mega church had their youth pastor come up and say essentially nothing for an hour till he finally go to the end of it and then said we need to get rid of the local church. We just marveled at how you could make a text that says one thing say something completely different. Now I’m not placing any judgment on this man. He certainly is a good man and he does have a passion for God but I do think it’s misguided. After a short break we got back into it with the speaker of the conference and now my pastor was interviewing him to get him to draw out a bit more. They talked a bit about his life and then they got around to putting the whammy on the table. We all pretty well expected him to tap dance around for a bit so that people would understand him a little better and not let it be so harsh, but no, he just laid it out there. He said he thinks the church has become the idiot puppets of the right and that it will only be a sort thing of the past. He said we need to get out from the politics of this county and keep only the kingdom of God as our loyalty. Considering what sort of church we were in, that was certainly a bit of a gutsy move there but then again he did say that he didn’t care about your feelings. I still do have to applause us all though on still being caring an loving during that conference. There was certainly much disagreement there but we didn’t lash out in anger, we put it all up in prayer and we’ll let God settle things here. After lunch thous of us that didn’t need to be in on the business side of the conference went ahead and bowled!. It was a bit of a ghetto bowling lane but we still had fun with it. It was hard to make a decent shot and it wasn’t still my last frame that I actually got a proper strike. Quite pitiful but that was more about us all hanging out. We went to service again that night heard the speaker put on yet another great talk.
Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 12, That’s a big church)
Posted on July 13th, 2010 by Darth B'strad.
Categories: Orig. Literature, Creative Writing, Cultural, Stories.
I had to wait at the Minneapolis airport for a couple of hours while I waited for my ride. Apparently my pastor had just arranged my ride down the day before and so it seems I was lucky to get a ride at all. The couple that gave me a ride were from England and they quite clearly had an accent just as well as the locals also had their perceptive accent as well. They really do talk like that around there. I arrived in Mankato and chilled out with the family for a bit before heading off to the service. Now the church where the convention was being held was actually a mega Church and I usually don’t like thous types of churches. I’m much more of a smaller local church type so this one was one of the sorts that I don’t like being in. I walk into the sanctuary and I see flags of various countries all over the roof of the room and most certainly the American and Israeli flag are front and center. Since I believe that the kingdom of God is above all nation and that the church is a home to that kingdom then I feel that flags for nations do not belong in the church, so I was slightly offended. But even worse, I had a good look around the place and I couldn’t find one single cross in the place, so quite clearly, my values and the values of this place didn’t match. They turned down the lights and turned on the black lights and they had the band start blaring out and I couldn’t help but wonder if I was coming to a worship service or a concert. But then D Bean had reminded me of who was speaking for this convention and he was a man that shared my values and I knew that this would get quite interesting. So I strapped in for the ride that was to follow and for a theologian like me that was one hell of a ride! He started off with a line that would confuse people and then explained it and kept building it up until it finally came to the point that he was going to expose the elephant in the room that I already knew for a fact what it was but all the rest of the unsuspecting people there didn’t have a clue to what is happening and then at the last minute he just cut if off and made us wait till the next day to hear it. I thought I was going to have a heart attack! Now that’s quite a way to start a convention!
Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 11, Learning to forgive)
Posted on July 12th, 2010 by Darth B'strad.
Categories: Orig. Literature, Creative Writing, Cultural, Stories.
I got into the airport and said my goodbyes and then made my way to the security. When I made it up to get through the line the guy checking my boarding pass and license. He was a black man and I could just tell from the way he looked at me that things were going to be a bit of trouble. He just had a look at me with my shaved head and I just knew that he judged me just by the way that I looked and wrote something on my pass and I ended up having my baggage searched. As much as you think there is no more racism it’s not the case and that’s what happened to me here. He completely judged me based purely on the way that I looked. Without knowing a single thing about me he sent me to get my baggage searched. One of the security officers took me over to the searching area who promptly started wanding me. I couldn’t help but have the sense that this was just all absurd, I clearly didn’t have anything at all on me except the cloths on me but none the less I still did mange to comply without complaining. After the wanding they had another officer look through my bag that I had just nicely packed in and now it’s coming out all over the place while another lady officer started to have a chat with me most likely to start assessing what sort of threat I am. She asked me where I’m from and I respond in my usual proud manner of when I’m talking about my home state “Denver, Colorado, born and raised.” There was a bit of a traffic jam where I was while some lady was trying to get passed me and I took my attention off my bag and tried to help her. While that happened the lady started pointing out that I should be keeping a close watch on my bag here and then said “you people from Colorado must be trusting.” I felt like saying “well you have the guns and the nightsticks so what exactly am I going to do” but I held my words on that one. It seemed that I did surprise her a bit there and now that I’ve had some time to reflect on this event it makes sense. She probably used to people yelling at her all day long for being searched but I was calm and kept my composer and she had even said that I put people at ease. I had one of my favorite shirts on that is yellow and says “I’m just one big freaking ray of sunshine” and she seemed to like it. The guy searching my bag gave me an interesting look as he came across the two bibles that were in it that also brought up more questions. I told her that I was working on becoming a pastor and now I certainly glad that I kept my composer, otherwise the lady might have gotten the wrong impression. I talked with her a bit on where I’ve been and where I’m going and she said these are places that she never heard of. I was able to get out of the search with plenty of time and arrived at my gate only to find that I was also delayed. But I couldn’t help but wonder if that nice conversation actually changed anything for her. Even though I didn’t give her any speeches on salvation, I do hope that left her wondering why I was so different. God had granted me the ability for that moment to act like Him. Instead of pouring out rage for the injustice that had been placed on me, I just took it all on and let myself be judged. Having now seen the screening process first hand at the airport, I now feel that this is a system that lacks any sort of consistency but based purely on the opinion of the person checking you and this is an unjust system. But even so, Jesus was unjustly killed so how could I protest being unjustly searched. I hope that lady finds what she is looking for.
Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 10, Making our way on through)
Posted on July 10th, 2010 by Darth B'strad.
Categories: Orig. Literature, Creative Writing, Cultural, Stories.
After some story telling and singing, we all deiced that we wanted to have a better look at this cathedral and perhapses make our way into the sanctuary to say some prayers. P muse took up His book of common prayer and we walked on through the church trying to get to it’s heart. We kept on running into locked door to locked door and wondering about– just knocking on heavens door. Till finally we found the courier room was open and it opened up to a balcony overlooking the sanctuary. So we just did what any good Christian would do and climbed over it. We got down and looked around a but we quickly found ourselves kneeling at the front saying a prayer out of the prayer book. Theirs something quite refreshing when you go back into the old traditions and reenact things that have been said for centuries and most certainly the place had boosted the feeling of being fully submissive to God and His Kingdom. We started off on our own prayers as well till we reached the end of what the Holy Spirit had for us that night. Then we looked around to see just how beautifully constructed this church was and then made our way back over the railing and then up to bed. When I woke up, P muse had already taken the scholar to the airport and I did hope to say goodbye to him but I just ended up sleeping on through it. P muse and his wife had lunch with one of their professors and I didn’t want to crash in on that so I just went to chill out at a coffee shop. It just so happened that one of the guys at the wedding that I didn’t get the chance to talk to very much was also there and so now I did get the chance to get to know him a little better. After that, P muse, his wife and I all went to visit some friends around town and stayed with them for the night. We got up early the next morning and went to the airport. I had my flight to Minneapolis ready and it was time to move on.
Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 9, Off to the dungeon we go!)
Posted on July 9th, 2010 by Darth B'strad.
Categories: Orig. Literature, Creative Writing, Cultural, Stories.
Most of us went off on our separate ways but a few of us met up at a nearby bar but we were still faced with one more problem of the day. It’s about 10 at night and we have no idea where we are going to say the night. We guess we could try crashing at the Brides parents house but that just didn’t seem right. So our only option open to us to try to find a friend back in the city of brotherly love and hope that friend is still feeling “brotherly.” But that’s still a three hour drive back and we know we aren’t going to make it till about one in the morning. So now it down to four of us– P muse, his wife, the scholar and I. Well I don’t know anyone in this town so I leave it to the rest of them and they deiced to crash with the sexton or in other words the grounds keeper of this catholic church and his place is on the upper floor. So we drive on through the night and we do make it there at about one. Walking up to the door it really does look like some old castle out of the middle ages that you could confuse with a mental institute or a university. But we walked up to his door and he was kind enough to take us in. Walking up into the upper apartment set a completely different tune, the place had nice homely wood floors with a picture on the wall draped by one of thous string of lights you usually see lining walkways. The place had a room full of books and such things. We hug out for a bit but we were so tired that we ended up sleeping completely through all of the services that day. When we finally got moving we went to the Wawa! And now I do know what a Wawa is!! But if you don’t know what a Wawa is– well, then you’ll just have to go to Pennsylvania! From there we headed over to Eastern university and had a look at the old school they attended and had a good look around the place. After that, it was off the visit with another friend and have dinner. We kept it short though and found our way to yet another bar but this one was a bit different than the last one– it actually had good selection to it. P muse’s wife went back to the friends place while P muse, the scholar and I went back to the dungeon. There I told my story a bit and some if the things I went through but it certainly wasn’t a self serving story but one where I had failed yet God in His grace carried me on. But it was time to put our due in.
Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 8, The day)
Posted on July 8th, 2010 by Darth B'strad.
Categories: Orig. Literature, Creative Writing, Cultural, Stories.
They stood there saying their vows and father of the bride gave the sermon. He took the fairytale stories that he and the bride would make up when she was a kid and he weaved it together with the realities of this life. At the end of it all, he didn’t wish for them to have a fairytale sort of life but a real life that had hardships but yet that they would have love that would endure through it all. He didn’t wish for them to have the Hollywood sort of life but one that was full of service. But most of all, He wish that God would take lead of their lives and take them to where God wished. Everyone present could clearly see that the words weren’t easy to for him to say but knew he was wishing for all of the right thing in this life. The bride and groom had washed each others feet to show their service to each other and everyone else and they had shown these things are done out of love. As the crowd moved outside, I took a little shortcut through the side door only to find the bride and groom, the newly married couple, hiding out in the hallway an it was a great blessing to be one of the first to congratulate them. The caterers gave us some trouble being late and not knowing what to do but it still went soothly and beautifully. It was in a certain sense a reunion of a class from collage because they were all there. Talking about the old days and thing things that are in the present but yet still hopeful of the future. Some were things that we all knew were bound to happen while others were ones that took everyone by surprise. But yet, we all enjoyed being together, being part of something greater than ourself. Or perhaps I’m just getting a bit sentimental here. We took our time saying our goodbyes and made more plans to meet up again. Life just keeps getting more and more interesting as time goes by.
Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 7, A holy moment)
Posted on July 6th, 2010 by Darth B'strad.
Categories: Orig. Literature, Creative Writing, Cultural, Stories.
Sitting in the car with the groom, brother of the groom and the good friend off to the grand event of this whole trip the wedding. The groom started asking where the rings were and the brother said it was in the glove box but yet the box that held them was all cracked up. I opened it up and saw both the ring there and just fine saying “safe and secure.” Then the brother responded with “from all alarms.” From there we started in on the Hymns that we knew. We sang the songs with our hearts meaning every little bit of it and even more all of our voices started to form in perfect harmony. It was as beautiful as any professional choir could possibly muster up and we knew that the Holy Spirit was working through us. We were just simple men but we became much greater by what God did with us. We cool the emotions the present and set the focus back to what was important– the worship of King and the ways that he works through our lives. We kept it up throughout the drive and we all knew that this was a holy moment that is rare in this life. For whatever we find in this world is not of our own making but of His. Whatever accomplishments that we have made He allowed to move forward. We made it to the wedding with time to spare and I had only anticipated to be taking pictures but yet I still managed to end up part of the wedding. The mother of the bride was a bit distort because she did have anyone to MC the reception. The DJ wasn’t willing to speak in front of everyone and as she just started talking about who could we have to do it– I could just see P muse’s wife look at me with eyes that said “you know you should do it!” So I just gave in and I would go ahead and do the speaking. That ended up sucking me into this whole bit of figuring out just how exactly that was to be done and the order it’s all in as well as trying to calm all of the fears present but really all I did was talk. The wedding went forward and it was stunningly beautiful.
Do you even know what a Wawa is? (part 6, Wake up!)
Posted on July 3rd, 2010 by Darth B'strad.
Categories: Orig. Literature, Creative Writing, Cultural, Stories.
I wasn’t conscious for this part of the story, me and P muse managed to sleep though the whole thing. The water heater in the groom’s cabin just started pouring out water all over the place and there at about 4 in the morning the brother of the groom comes running over to the passed out cabin to find some help for the disaster that befell them. First he found someone sleeping in a car but couldn’t see who it was. Trying to wake the man up, it just so happened to be the scholar of this story himself, or at lest that’s what I’m calling him here. The scholar muttered his name and then “oh that’s nice” or something to that effect but wasn’t being quite helpful. So then he moved on into the house finding guys all over the place but also not willing to wake up. The crazy man just stood up and proceeded to start relieving himself in the middle of the cabin and to that the groom took him and throw him outside while the brother went to wake up the caretaker. With his eyes lit up, the caretaker almost gave him a karate chop and choke hold but finally came to his senses before hurting the brother and then like the good hearted servant that he is quickly took care of the leak, by just shutting off the valve. Most of the water poured off the back deck as I am told, I didn’t have a look at it and I’m sure I’m off in this recount. It’s still interesting to note that while this whole ordeal was going on, the mechanic– me and the carpenter– P muse, were fast asleep and no one tried to wake us up for it all. Needless to say, the caretaker saved the night and went back to bed. We woke up and started cleaning everything up and surprisingly enough it wasn’t very bad at all. We packed up and set for the road now with one more thing to accomplish. Still first I some more things to do here before we could really make it all work for good.