arise, jerusalem.

take your place.


Isaiah 60:1 has always been a scripture that stood out to me as incredibly moving, but also full of potential power, as it certainly prophetic, not necessarily calling it as it is...

"Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you."


now, as Jerusalem is symbolic for the church, or rather the people of god, i find this scripture quite interesting. Isaiah begins its first few chapters giving a synopsis of the city of Jerusalem. “The children I raised and cared for
have rebelled against me. Even an ox knows its owner,
and a donkey recognizes its master’s care—
but Israel doesn’t know its master.
My people don’t recognize my care for them.”

definitely interesting.. . . 11 “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?”
says the Lord.
“I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fattened cattle.
I get no pleasure from the blood
of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to worship me,
who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?

as we see, they certainly go through the motions, but god, as he says in 1 Samuel chapter six, that while men look at the outer appearance, god looks at the heart. the people of Jerusalem missed it. they continued to sacrifice their cattle, but god didn't want it. he was disgusted by it. the people of god had forgotten why they did what they did, and what their responsibility was. these people represent Jerusalem. personally, i don't think ancient Jerusalem is a lot different than we are in many ways, and i think the church, while I'm not pointing fingers at my church, yours, his or hers, i mean the church in general, has forgotten that following god means giving up everything you are for his call. Jerusalem forgot. the bible says Jerusalem was sinful. they were evil, and focused on their outward appearance rather than the matters of their heart.

"Once like pure silver,
you have become like worthless slag."

brutal. yes. brutal. worthless slag. i don't think god uses terms like that flippantly.... its very evident that Jerusalem was sinful, hardly different from that of Gomorrah. BUT! God said "Arise." take your place Jerusalem. . . verse two says, "Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,
but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you."
amazing. Jerusalem was once compared to Gomorrah, but is now smothered in the glory of the lord. "All nations will come to your light;
mighty kings will come to see your radiance." if we look at this symbolically, Jerusalem -> the people of god -> the church, once forgot the importance of what it means to follow god without the front, the actions, and outward appearance. . . they are now covered in the glory of the lord. all nations will come to the light of Jerusalem. the world is covered in darkness... as i see it, the world is so evil and corrupted and looking for something real. and the church ditched the front and found something real. it says, "mighty kings will come to your radiance. . ." that says to me, people of all sorts, regardless of their title, are so desperate, and see the church as the answer, because it is covered in the glory of god. in all the darkness, its the one thing that shines.

this isnt our reality, yet. its prophetic. arise, people of god. arise, jerusalem. were called to great things. ive been praying my heart out, saying god, what on earth am i here for? whats the calling you have on my life? and i read my bible that said seek justice. feed the poor. go into all corners of the earth. . .

"Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows"

if that isnt a calling, i dont know what is. does it get more clear?

its our world.

A child dies every five second because they are starving. In 2005, almost 1.4 billion people lived below the international poverty line, earning less than $1.25 per day. May I ask why this is a reality in our world? Turn off your music. Put down that peanut butter sandwich. For just one second, think about our broken world. Families all over the world are dying off. Starving mothers crying over their starving sons. Theyre eating dirt and bark to fill their stomachs. It’s a temporary relief of the instense hunger pains, but they’ll come back. You’ll forget about this blog three minutes after you read it, I know. But just for a minute out of your day, if it’s not too hard for you, pray for the families that are starving because they cannot find food.

january 20th and all is well..... here, at least.

i feel very lame for not updating this is a long time. however, that's only because my life is so full of other, much more important things. ok.

sometimes i wish i was a superhero. . . or at least had superhero powers. you know... i could even make do with super stretchy arms. . . today, i was at Uranus briefly.... and i saw the most brilliant invention ever. it was a fork... that stretched out like an old tv antenna. you pull it and it stretches out to two feet long so that you can enjoy your dinner AND everyone else's! there was also this clock that i really wanted, but it was an outrageous amount of money that i could put to better use like feeding the starving Africans. anyway... it said "this clock is not the boss of me!" and i wanted to buy it very badly. i couple weeks ago i was there getting luggage tags, because the ones i got for Christmas were ugly, and i got one that said "does this bag make my butt look big?" and another that said "take my bag, do my laundry." i thought they suited me quite perfectly really.... you know... i would hate to eat sand. or grasshoppers... it makes me cringe... but how many people eat that daily, if they're lucky??? probably a lot... man, you know what... life is a lot easier when you're ignorant. before i learned about sex trafficking and forced prostitution and slavery... and hunger... and abortion... my life was so simple. so easy. now i have this deep conviction that hurts my heart so badly that i always have it on my mind. whenever i spend money now, not that i feel "guilty" but i'm thinking about where else it could go or should go. maybe i'm just not so selfish... maybe... maybe i'm just learning to think about somebody other than myself and how wide my butt is. who gives a rip anyway. life is more than a series of "ironic" events and "opportunities". when were living right, its not because of "irony" that we meet people that change us. its not a "good job opportunity" because were all that amazingly special perfect and wonderful. its because gods got a plan. sometimes i worry about his plan... because at this rate ima be some woman living out in the Congo doing undercover investigations of human trafficking. god forbid. i guess i wont be worrying about how wide my butt is there, either. anyway... perhaps i'm learning an awful lot... but, it is all good. its good to learn. its good to be burdened. its good to have a broken heart sometimes. if you're hearts broken because someone else's heart has been broken, you're in the right place. so... do something about it. nobody's asking you to enjoy a hot tub of woe... just, think about somebody else. think about somebody's day.... waking up in a brothel.... being violated constantly by gross men you don't know.... being treated about as equally as an alley mut.... and then going to bed in a brothel.... that's somebody's reality. and it hurts me... it makes me just break down. i cant imagine it for me, but more than that, i cant imagine it for my sister... it makes me so angry. god i just frigging hate these disgusting crimes that our world just... thrives on. because you know, its somebody's daughter, sister, niece... some parents have to sell their daughter to provide for the others in the family, knowing exactly whats going to happen to her, and what her fate's going to be. they have to deal with that. that hurts me. that any parent should have to make such a brutal desicion that to survive they have to SELL their own daughter. can you imagine how horrible it would feel spending the money that came from your daughters worth? can you imagine getting pennies as the "worth" of your daughter, when you know how priceless she is? can you imagine selling her to sick men that will treat her like a scungy dog? can you imagine being the other members of the family remembering her? i cant. we are so blessed to be where we are. and why. darn it, why are we here? why is it that some ppl are born into such poverty while we bathe in wealth? it makes me mad. im ashamed to be so thoughtless with my spending... ugh this just frustrates me more than i can even write. how can i do something... its just not enough. this isn't okay. and this is our worlds reality. what can we do.... frig... what can we do. . . do something... for the love of god, lets do something for somebody else

... think you've got it bad, huh?

Canada: GNI per capita (US$), 2006

$36, 170.00

Democratic Republic of Congo:GNI per capita (US$), 2006

$310.00

GNI - Gross National Income is the total value produced within a country.
It's similar to the GDP - Gross Domestic Product, which is a measure of national income and output of a given countries economy. The Democratic Republic of Congo has a population of 63 million. Canada has a population of 33 million. The Democratic Republic of Congo has a life expectency of about 46 - averaged for men and women. Canada has a life expectency of 80. The infant mortality rate in the Dem. Rep. of Congo is 129 (under 1). In Canada - 5. The annual number of deaths under 5 years - 620,000. In Canada - 2,000.

I hope you feel blessed right now.

You're blessed to be a blessing.

progess.... end

its wednesday. darn it.

i have to finish this essay.

i have a pile of books to read.

politics.

democracy.

poverty.

division.

race, gender, pereferential hiring.

globalization.

power. impunity.

economic...

no thanks.... hey sean paul. are you busy? no? me neither. wanna have a dance party? sure. why the heck not. hey rihanna wants to come too? aight. whatevs. lets keep this on the low down. .. heh heh. if you know what i mean. BREAK IT OFF! SEAN PAUL. RHI RHI... CHEKC CHECK IT....

okay. i really do have to do this essay. im so not in writing mode. wow. thats so weird sounding. okay. l;atazx

the broken earth.

i want vs. i need.

the gap between wealth and poverty is growing so very steadily.
the middle class is virtually disappearing, as we are shoved into
one category or another. theres the victoria beckhams, and then...
theres the typical, everyday people that nobody sees. i dont know
why we care so much about the super skinny screwed up stars, but
we do. we spend more time reading about their crap than we do
our broken families. who gives a rip about the millions and millions
dying worldwide anyway? doesnt affect you... doesnt affect me.
wrong. it does affect you. you have an option to eat, you have an
option to live. but we dont recognize that as a privilege. its our right?
it is not our right. just because you live where you do, doesnt mean you
get to watch broken nations dream. that is not your right. why do you
live in canada? why the heck am i here and not in malawi?
i get so angry that i am a canadian sometimes... because
of the stereotype that white people are in. i hate the stereotype of rich and
careless, but as much as i hate it, i fit into it. not because i want to... it is not
because i want to. it is because im a white canadian with everything i want.
its a battle between our wants, their needs. our pride, their life. do you realize
it isnt our right to watch nations die off? were giving starbucks their hope. i can
be as ripped off as i want, but if i dont make some sort of step, i can forget about
her hope.
1
2
3
gone.
1
2
3
gone.
1
2
3
gone.
1
2
3
..gone.

there. three people died. and then another. and now... another.

theyre starving. theyre crying for hope and we dont give a rip?

get over yourself.

get over your wants.

get over your "needs."

put somebody else before yourself. do something, would you?
do you want to be clumped into that sterotype? tough beans, friend.
youre in that stereotype, and its your responsibility to prove yourself
real. you dont need it. you know you dont need it. sacrifice something
for the sake of someone else. even one. even one person... every one person
affects hundreds. theyre crying, and if you'll shut up your ego for even ten
seconds, you'll hear it. you'll see it. i hate it. i hate it. i hate it. i hate it.
im not saying drop your every belonging, sell it and move to russia.
im saying be aware of whats going on around you. sacrifice something for
somebody else, because you dont have the right to stare at them while theyre
dreaming without an ounce of hope. you do not have the rights you claim.
our right, as canadians, with everything we need, is to put it all together, and
make a dent in the world's hurts, not to have a trillion shoes in your closet, and
if thats all you care about, you need to re-adjust your priorities.

how can i choose a title for this mess?

4

8

15

16

23

42


"when everything feels like the movies, you'd bleed just to know youre alive."

WHAT!!! I wish my life was like the movies!!!!! like for example ...lost... i would KILL to run in the wilderness with mr. echo. mr. echo is so strong that he would protect me from the dark cloud, polar bears and the others. so... i dont need to worry. but, if i were in an adam sandler movie i would probably rather be shot than be alive. why am i talking about this? i need a topic. okay. i have one. natasha bedingfield did a coldplay cover... to scientist... oh em gee, I KNOW!! it blows. like, for real, so bad. i didnt even recognize it. i dont think i will ever listen to her again. why is it that over people think that they can go ruin somebody else's song just because they have a record deal? man, if i had a record deal, i would never do that. well, maybe if i was lindsay lohan or paris hilton who have a record deal without any good songs... i might. but, i would never be either of those, considering... well.. . we all know why i wouldnt be one of those. this all started about 54 minutes ago when i logged onto YouTube. I typed in "Iris" and this beautiful song pops up, like its my long lost lover. It would be rude for me to ignore my long lost lover, so I quickly threw my hand on the mouse (because I am on a PC! SHUT UP! I KNOW!!) and I clicked on Iris. My consequences were quite rewarding. But then... I noticed Avril Lavigne did a cover WITH Goo Goo Dolls, so I clicked that. It was dumb. Anyway, then I noticed that Avril Lavigne did a cover for Coldplay. So I clicked that. Then I noticed Natasha Bedingfield did too... so I clicked it. It was horrible. For real, I wanted to reach into the computer, grab her shoulders with long fingernails, squeeze and shake her repeatedly until she stopped singing, if thats what you call it. wait a second. its november fifth. what the heck? facebook said to vote yesterday! isnt that on nvember fiftEENTH? anyway!!@ natasha bedingfield . . . please keep your pocketful of sunshine in your pocket, because... well, frankly, nobody likes the sunshine thats coming out. back to elections.
i find john mccain a cudly grampa kind of guy. he would do good at the baby holding part... but mr. obama is one fierce lion. i bet if jack tortured him, he wouldnt even give up. but mr. obama wouldnt be like charles logan who gave the terrorists the go ahead to bomb the entire flippen nation. so. . .in the words of mercedes gaglardi... "mr obomo! i vote you!"