R.I.P. Johnny D

My second cousin passed away this week in a tragic car accident. I say tragic because that’s what you say when someone young dies; right? When a grandparent dies, it affects us in a different way than when someone our own age or younger leave’s us. It puts the reality of death into perspective every single time it happens, and for me, it makes me contemplate the afterlife. Although I haven’t seen him in two years or so, Johnny was one of those people who knew everyone, and everyone seemed to like him. He was gifted when it came to music, and melodies just flowed through him. He loved living life. If there was something crazy or strange that he could get into, he did it, and enjoyed every second of it. These are the things we know.

Here’s where the topic gets a little less popular. I have seen message boards on memorial sites for Johnny, and many others for that matter, that are filled with sentiments like, “Miss you, but you are in Heaven now”, or “Now you get to sing in Heaven”. The list goes on. For some reason people need to comfort themselves with the thought that whoever has just passed away is in Heaven and not the eternally worse alternative. To some extent I share these sentiments. I mean, no one wants to live the rest of their lives thinking that a great friend or loved one is suffering for eternity, but the harsh reality is that the Bible says that the way is narrow to enter the kingdom of Heaven. That means that the MAJORITY of all people that have ever lived will not enter through the narrow gate. I don’t mean to be grim, but that is the truth. For this very reason, not I or anyone else on earth can judge someone who has passed on. We can hope, and I do hope that his soul belonged to God, but that is only for God himself to determine.
I find that people handle death in one of two ways. The first; they take stock of their own lives and how they’re living, and determine that changes need to be made and that they’ve been taking life for granted. The second; they feel that for some reason this was DONE to them out of spite by God, and they completely abandon any hope they may have had in Him. I find myself in the first position, really putting value on living and loving those around me to the fullest of my ability. Then the memory fades, and I find myself thinking about life less, and my own selfish ambitions a lot more, until someone else tragically passes away at a young age, without explanation. The though process begins again.

Johnny, you were loved by many and will be sorely missed. I hope you made some good decisions with your last days here, and if you are where we hope you are, get together with JC (Jesus Christ) and JC (Johnny Cash) and sing us a song. We’ll be listening.

J.W.

should i stay or should i go now?

At almost 25 years of age, I've never lived on my own, in dorm or otherwise. Some may see this as pretty pathetic, but I've always been content with the fact. Why move out when I don't absolutely need to? I love my family and the dynamic we've got going on. Sure it's loud, and there's a lot of fighting(non verbal), and I have some siblings that are absolutely insensitive to the fact that people have jobs and therefore need to sleep, but it's what I choose to endure. As the oldest in the house it would only be natural that I be the first to move out and get a life. My family is going from a seven person household to potentially no household at all within the next year and I'm not one of the departing. My sister is moving to B.C. next week, my brother is moving to Peterborough after he gets married this summer, and my youngest sister is going to school in Toronto in the fall. That leaves me and my brother, and that's just the story of my siblings. My parents are heavily contemplating a move to Alberta, where my dad bought a piece of property(he's a bit like me, in that, when he is into something, he goes overkill).

So let's review. We went from a tight family that has never been apart, to being scattered across Canada within the span of a year. It's on its way, and eventually I'm going to have to embrace the fact that I actually can't live at home forever as I once promised my mom. I guess I should really be ready for some new challenges by now, after all, I'm about to eclipse the quarter century mark. Here's to the next quarter century, and a probable location change.

a little excessive maybe?

I read an article today about salaries for Canadian CEO's. They found that among the top 100 CEO's in Canada, the average yearly salary for 2008 was $10,000,000+. To put that into perspective, the average wage in Canada is just over $40,000. And we wonder why our economy is the way it is. There is no job on this planet that deserves, or even requires that many zero's, yet it's happening, year after year. When it does eventually come down to an all out depression, these will be the people not only surviving, but thriving. If they were willing to "live" on a million dollars a year, and donate the rest toward solving the worlds problems, think of the difference that could be made. The reality is though, that it's not just multi-million dollar CEO's that should have this mentality. I'm a Christian, and if I follow the basic laws of my faith based on Jesus Christ, I should give of myself to those in need, and love the unlovable. This is what being a Christian is supposed to be about. I read a shocking statistic that said that if all professed Christians in North America were to tithe the basic 10%, we could provide the basic needs for every single person on this earth. We're not talking about mansions and fast cars, but shelter, food, medical care, education and clothing. That tells me that I'm not doing my job, or at least not to the capacity that I could. There needs to be a change of direction or goal overall, and that goal is more we and less me. If we can make that happen, than we've got something.

jake

"excuse me? young man?"

Picture this if you will. An aging amazon of a woman wearing a purple knit wool sweater, squat-thrusting. I'm talking all 6 foot a millions inches of her. This is the scene some days at the gym where I go to try and maintain some sort of physical respectability.

Here's where it gets a little more humorous. A young guy, maybe 19-21ish was lifting about 175lbs on the inclined bench press, when this woman(who will remain nameless), sees what's happening out of the corner of her eye. Worry set in. "Excuse me? Young man? Do you need a spotter?", She shouted in her almost barbarian voice. He couldn't here her. He was intent on his exercise, and also had the added distraction of a blazing set of ear buds in. Panic set in. As she quickly left her bench, and made her way to his side, she bellowed again, "Excuse me? Young man? Isn't that too much weight? Do you need a spotter?" He finally saw the commotion she was creating and assured her that he was fine. "Are you sure? I couldn't lift that much!", she says. From across the gym I couldn't contain the laughter, and felt like telling her, "Maybe that's because your like 100." Needless to say, I'm pretty sure that guy is cancelling his membership after that episode.

I just thought that was worth sharing. Some of you might know this woman, or someone like her. Just imagine the situation and I'm sure you'll laugh to yourself.

jake

weekend update

First... The Packers lost, ending any slim possibility of a potential playoff birth, and it leaves only the hope that we don't get embarrassed by the Lions in week 16.

Second...The Jets won, but barely. That keeps their playoff hopes alive and makes the next two weekends that much more intense.

Moving on.

This weekend I drew some conclusions and also some questions about a few things. I attended a concert featuring some local bands and a couple youth guys in Windsor at the Chubby Pickle. I find that bands, no matter how good or well rehearsed they may be, NEED stage presence. The first two bands were terrible to begin with, but also lacked any sort of energy, and what they did have seemed like the same generic stage movements in an almost choreographed way. Then the guys from youth came up and I forget now what the band was called(queen Anne's lace...maybe?), but they are all super young. The majority of the band can't even drive, but they have what it takes to be on stage. The sounds weren't always appealing, mind you, but that's not necessarily important when thrashing around to a chainsaw breakdown. If there was a point in this paragraph, than here it is. I absolutely love seeing young musicians take what they love(music), and absolutely take ownership of it. When you can tell that it's something that is born in them and not just the most recent fad to take part in. When you know that 10 years from now, that person will still be passionately using their gifts in one way or another, professionally or otherwise. That's all on that.

Friday night we had our staff Christmas party in Windsor. I find myself meeting new colleagues every time I go up to Windsor and this was no exception. After the main portion of the party, some of the staff went to a bar just up the road to hang out afterwards. I was there for just over 3 hours and I found myself very uncomfortable with my surroundings. I kept looking around to make sure that no one I knew suddenly walked in, which left me questioning whether it was good or even right for me to be there. Now, I don't drink and that's not because I think that it's necessarily wrong, but in my experience I've always seen the harm and destruction alcohol causes outweighs the pleasures. In the Bible when Peter talks about eating meat sacrificed to idols, he basically says, "I don't NEED to eat it if it's going to cause someone else to stumble." I also took note of the conversations happening, and there were many. They were really no more Christ centered than those of my Christian friends. Some crude jokes, some profanity, a little bit of gossip, but you know how it is. And please don't think I'm pointing fingers, because the first person I'd be pointing at is myself. I heard a speaker once say that North American Christians are an absolute joke for the most part, that the only difference between us and everyone else, is the fact that we go to a building with a cross on it once a week for an hour. Sometimes I believe that. I remember one Sunday that was supposed to be incredibly spiritual at church, and the worship leader invited people to stay and worship after the service and there were 3 people in the entire church that stayed behind. If that is any indication, that only 3 people out of 300 have a few extra minutes to worship God, than what this speaker said is entirely accurate. I refuse to believe that the we are not capable of more. The onus is on myself, and each one of us individually to change that perception, but that will only come when we are in fact in the world, and not of it.

jake

hooked...for some reason

Yesterday, I made my blogger debut, and this is an awfully quick followup. I was just reading some articles this morning on ESPN.com and really got to thinking about how much energy and emotion I spend on football alone. I'm not a sports fan who knows everything about every sport, but I do know what I need to get by.

Football though, has really taken over as the primary sport of choice. The last few season's I have grown more and more in love with the sport, and therefore have committed that much more time to watching and reading about it. This year has proven to be a trying time. I've been a huge Packer's fan since I started watching football, but with the messy departure of my favourite player, Brett Favre, I've been conflicted this year, having two favorite teams. Right now both are not in ideal playoff standings. The Pack basically needs to win out, and both teams above them lose out in order for them to make the playoffs. You might think, "impossible!", but that's just it; it's not mathematically impossible, so it continues to occupy my mind every day until Sunday comes. The Jets are in a slightly more favorable position, being tied for first, but they've got to start winning some games and soon. I almost envy Lions fans. At least with them, you know what your going to get every year.

Another three weeks the battle continues...than...the playoffs.

jake

The Beginning

Well... let's see how this goes. After spending about 6 hours over the last two days reading blogs, I figured it was getting to be time for me to create my own. I really don't know what to write about, but maybe some comical stories and possibly some insightful thought could seep out at some point.

I have been listening to the same 5 songs on repeat on my computer at work for what is approaching two weeks now. The purpose being, to memorize the lyrics. I'm not positive that it's working. Somewhere along the line my brain lost that capability, and probably used that space to store some useless information about some obscure bands' favorite past time. The reason for the memorization is that my improvised "band" is playing a Christmas show and for some reason I can't contain some simple song lyrics. Let's hope it works out.

In other news...my brother John is engaged. The first of the clan to head in that direction. It may be a while before there's another. My dad asks me the other day in a thick Mennonite accent, "So, John's getting married. How does that make you feel, that your little brother is getting married before you?" "Ummm....pretty good?" I really didn't understand what he wanted as a response. If this had happened a few years ago, I probably would have been pretty bummed, but something has changed in me over that time that has completely contented me about the whole marriage thing. The Bible talks at some point about commending men who have the self control to not marry. I'm not saying I'm one of those men, but I've learned that it's not going to happen in my time or on my agenda, and that is perfect for me.

That's all for now, or maybe ever, we'll see.

jake