The word "religious"

Before reading this, please know that this post is a copy of my own personal journal. Its a message that is not intended for any one person but for all.   These thoughts I have written down that I think are good things to think about.  Though I may fail at this at times, my goal here is to develop my listening skills with the intent to understand. Most people listen with the intent to reply.

The word "religious"

 

I often hear the phrase " I'm not religious, im just living a Christian lifestyle."  People who say this phrase are often the same kind of people who will use the example of a strict church or group of people that will kick someone out for drinking, smoking or being seen doing worldly things. They claim that living the Christian lifestyle is not about judging people who aren't perfect, but rather encouraging people to do their best in battling those worldly desires so God can bless us.  They then go on to say, "Christianity is not a religion, its the truth, its the way of life." 

 

They are correct in that as Christians, we aren't here to judge people. It’s not our place to. We are here to encourage people to seek the truth so they may be able to see and choose the journey that brings them to a fulfilling life with God.  However, they are incorrect in using the words "I am not religious."  I believe that before even using the word “religious”, we need to know what it means, to us, to other people, and the correct definition given in the dictionary.

 

In the online Miriam-Websters dictionary these are the definitions:

1: relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity religious

person> <religious attitudes>

2: of, relating to, or devoted to religious beliefs or observances religious

order

3: scrupulously and conscientiously faithful

In my own words, being religious is synonymous with being faithfully devoted to something.

You can therefore be religious because of your faithfulness to your spouse, devotion to consistently journaling and reading scripture or even unceasing prayer. According to these definitions every Christian should be religious, they are in fact called to be faithful to the lord and devoted to his kingdom are they not?  You can even be religious because you faithfully wait until every sunday just so you can watch the new episode of the Walking Dead or from this month, the Game of Thrones season 3.

When I hear, "It's not a religion, its a relationship, lifestyle….etc."  What I believe my good willing Christian friends really mean is "I'm not legalistic."  After all, it is the Law that condemns us but Jesus who sets us free.

 

Often I hear stories about many people who don't know much about Christianity stepping in to a church or running into a group of people praying somewhere like a public place, lets say McDonalds or Starbucks, and they think “those guys are religious, those guys are weird.” 

But many of my protestant brothers will do the same thing when they think about the Orthodox or Catholic Churches. They hear about a church that has icons, tons of traditions dating back hundreds of years, priests that wear robes, and no rock band and think, “that's weird. I don't understand that.”

 

The problem here isn't that it’s weird. It’s that we are failing to look at each other with the intent to understand. We just dismiss it as foreign and go on our merry way.  We want the world to look at us and see the light of God, but many dismiss us as a bunch of crazies.  But are we not doing the same thing when we look at our brothers of the other major branches of Christianity? We don't even try to understand where the traditions came from.. we dismiss it as religious and go on our way.

My call to my brothers and sisters who read this is to:

-Please do your research on certain terminology before you use it in conversation because it may mean something different to someone else.

-also, please open your eyes and realize that no matter what denomination you or anyone else is, Christians still have a lot to learn from each other no matter how different they look.

Happy Easter!  Sorry that im writing this at 2am, April 1st Japan time. -_- and  i don't have pictures of cute bunnies T_T.

7 years today.

I'm missin my mum.  This is the longest ive gone without those strange dreams.  I used to dream about waking up and realizing that all of it was just a dream. The sickness, all the bullshit suffering no human should ever have to go through and having to say goodbye. I would run to my mom and tell her how happy I am she is still alive. Then she would look at me with a sad expression, shake her head... that is when I would wake up realizing that this is reality. Bad things happen to the best people.

Im not bitter. Sometimes I do look back in anger, but not at God. I look at the person I was back then and I was a terrible son. Immature and had no idea how to treat a suffering loved one. I'm sometimes angry at the person I was back then. So selfish and concerned with my own escape from the situation.

In the end of it, my mum realized how much happier she would be with Jesus. After so much fighting with that evil cancer, she must have been tired of this temporary tent of a body we have as mortal beings. It was time for her to go home.



Despite all of the hell that broke loose after my moms passing, long story short, its a miracle my family is together still.  I can still say "I love you" to my father. I can talk to my sister like one of my best friends. Even though we are living in different parts of the world, I think we are much stronger as a family today than we were back then.  I hope they feel the same way too.


And to my mum, its been 7 years.  I still miss you and wish I could share with you all the things ive done and places ive been these past few years. Im the same son, a little bit more mature and less selfish I would like to believe.

So in your memory,  today ill hit the gym harder, take a nice bike ride and eat a nice meal. Ill continue to try to live as a son you can be proud of. Amen.

PS. Milo misses you too.

All seeing eye.

With March coming to a close, Cherry Blossoms a bloomin, and April just around the corner, one thing I am happy about is Spring Break! March and April are like New Years all over again for people living in Japan. It means graduation ceremonies, new jobs and just a fresh school/work year.

Before leaving school during my last week, I spent some time exploring the school buildings to find a few interesting things:

I was looking through one of the books in the library and apparently there is a detailed explanation about the structure of an Antarctic Base. What???!!  I didn't know this existed. It has explanations for this and that.. what this room is used for, what kind of equipment is used to keep the heat in, what kind of skis people use to make their way around... all kinds of stuff.

 In one of the rooms (only open because some teachers were looking for super old pictures (the school is over 130 years old) ) was this float. I dont know what they call them...

I thought it was pretty neat. "I wonder how long they have been using this. It must be super old." Started to sense the spirit of the history of the school until... I took a closer look.

WTF Nescafe makes this stuff?

 

Are flashcards in America this cute?

 

My nametag.

Because everything we read on the internet is true... 

Omg! Whats with this sign? Its an illuminati symbol right? They have even penetrated elemetary schools in Japan.

 This is actually kinda creepy.

Whoa, and there's another one. This one has an evil serpent tongue and a hopping foot. This is the special ed room too. Illuminati has got a damn eye on everyone.

 And then the exercise ball with.... cow utters??!

I have a week or so until the next school year starts up.  Until then, I have plenty of time to　筋トレー and drink lots of protein.  Yeah!

Last Day of Classes (for one school this year)

I can say I had a pretty good day at work.

It started off with celebrity treatment at an ありがとう集会。Basically an assembly in the gym to say "thank you".  I actually thought It was just a small part of some sort of practice for their upcoming graduation ceremony but it was an actual meeting just to put me up on stage in front of everyone.

I found out just a few minutes before realizing what I was about to get into. Luckily, I had enough tough to write my thank you speech in English on a note card and just translate to Japanese on the fly.  It was really nice. I got a couple of speeches from some students complete with their most memorable moments they had in my classes.  I even got flowers. >_<  (i was planning on going to the gym right after school so... i had to figure out what to do with them)

 I have nothing against flowers. But, as a dude, I really dont know what to do with them. I put them in a mystery box on my desk. It works as a good vase.

 

  After all the speeches I got the ultimate treat of running getting to run through arches of flowers held up by all the kids. It was like running the gauntlet.  On one had I had flowers and cards.. the other was open to highfives.  Instead of being able to run through I had to push my way through as kids were trying to highfive, hug, shank and kancho me all at once.  I really felt like "Michael Jackson Sensei"  without the controversial junk. The sweetest part of running through the arches was that they had my favorite kids song playing, "Banana Phone!"  

Running through all the arches and kids they just kept coming all the way up until i got from the Gym to the Teachers Room.  Celebrity treatment ^_^.  


As for the classes, I had some complicated stuff to teach but it all went well for the most part.  Ended up creating a new game by accident too. I wish i couldve taken more pictures.

To add icing on the cake, one of the 6th grade teachers approached me and asked if I had 6th period free.  I did. Instead lounging around reading books, the kids wanted me to come to their class where they did their own thank you party.  I got to finish this school year at this school with an awesome 6th grade class and some games.

Man, being an "English Teacher" here is so much fun!

Here's a printout of the school photo for the teachers. Can you find me?

From Jungle to Jungle (Late Feb - Early March Post)

I haven't done much blogging lately thanks to my own laziness.  Here is a quick update with a few pictures. 

Before that however,.. I would like to just mention how lucky I am to have the friends that I get to hang out with, the job that I have, the place that I live and just the great place I am in in life right now.

Without sharing too much, (mainly because i keep forgetting my camera) here are a few pictures of what Ive been up to.

Riding the huge ferris wheel in Yokohama. My friend realized he had his guitar... so we got some live entertainment too.

At the church ive been going to since I came here, ive met lots and lots of interesting people. Every month we have international parties and a ton of people come out.  This is not a picture of that.. but the after party... eating.... again. :)

Hama-boys... and a girl.

This is my setup I get to play with every Sunday!  Im still learning how to use it all... and still a beginner at Electric Guitar.

I mentioned being blessed to have a great workplace. One of the fun things I get to do is build animals and toys out of papercraft >_<! Its educational I swear.

Uhm... I don't know the proper name for this but this is a huuuuuge sucker fish.

 

Japanese Elementary schools dont mess around. They got books on all sorts of things, trains, cars, bugs, AIDS, sexual harassment, history, food, and even death.  They don't try to hide these things from kids, but they frequently use cute animations to explain many things.

 I get to walk down this hall filled with things the kids make every week.

I am also super lucky to have this lady in my life.  She is almost as goofy as I am... so we spent a day in Akihabara... Japans nerd capital, you could say.

I dunno bout u, but I have never had a "Nostalgia Drink" before.

 I took this picture thinking it was the first time ive ever seen restaurants out in the open right underneath a railway. I probably have but just didnt notice it before. Good use of space!

We went to Nicholai Dome... a real Cathedral still in regular use by the Japanese Orthodox Church.  Founded my a Russian missionary named St. Nicholas... something something. I recommend a visit on a service day to any Christian regardless of denomination. An amazing place you should see even if you arent any religion. Too bad the choir wasnt playing that day. They are amazing.

My weekend involved a long awaited trip to finally go hiking!  Its been 3 years since my last hike in Japan. Last time I literally climbed Yufudake in Kyuushuu which nearly killed my knees.  But this time was Takaosan.  Challenging but doable.

On a clear day you can see Tokyo Skytree. Today wasn't that day.

Who made that beanie??

 

My first thought was "are there Dragonballs here too?"

 Ummm, i forgot what they call those red dudes with long noses.

 Badass statues.

Grape Vinegar Ice Cream! Yum!? (i dont know)

Yo NO drink water!

Reallly nice public bathrooms in the mountains. Damn you American public restrooms providing no privacy or cleanliness.

This sign was appalling to me.  It says "no ice-cream" !!!!   look at the picture.

I love inaka restaurants.

Trick Art Museum!!! What better location that to catch all the people coming back from hiking the mountain?

Where does reality end!? and imagination begin...

Its like science for the eyes. Artists just know how to mess with your vision.

Whooooo!

My reflection is a girls... boooo >_<!

Rather good day going from the Takao Mountain, to the Egyptian themed trick art museum.. to...

 Shibuya's concrete jungle.

I promise to take pictures more often.. I couldn't even get Friday's acoustic live or Sundays awesomeness on camera.