Cheers to a Fabulous(o) Weekend

The extra 'o' is especially for Ailsa. I had a pretty darn good weekend, packed, but so fun! I finally got a hair cut after thinking about it since about February. It was nothing very drastic, I only lost about 3 or 4 inches. A very good friend of mine got married, so there was a very nice bachelorette party, the beautiful wedding and some post-wedding cocktails and an absolutly amazing conversation with some of my favorite people about saving the world, economic democracy, and monks. I love having intellectual conversations in somewhat unitellectual places. I'm so anxious to start back to uni. I saw the flat that I'll be living in for the year too. There's lots of couch and floor space, for any visitors that I might have. Hint, hint. I got to catch up with lots of people whom I haven't seen since I've been back from Bonnie Ol' Scotland. Your ears should have been burning because I was talking about Scotland a lot.

One of my visits was to see a priest-friend of mine who lives just ouside of Denver in the city of Boulder. As we were driving around town, I noticed a bumber sticker (I don't know if that's what you call them, but a sticker that you put on a car...) that read 'Screw Tibet. Free Scotland.' I don't agree with the bit about Tibet, but I have envisioned a 'free Scotland' bumper sticker since I first visited Scotland when I was about 13. It was a world cup year, so I think Scottish patriotism was running high and apparently I caught on. I guess I wasn't the only one. That's my craic. What's yours?

Go Fourth and Dream

I’ve been reading the autobiography of the monk, Thomas Merton. He recalls a headmistress telling his aunt that ‘[Thomas] might as well get some sensible ideas into his head from the very start, and prepare himself for something solid and reliable and not go out into the world with his head full of dreams.’ This really made me a little upset. What kind of a world would we be living in if we all acted ‘sensibly?’ Great things seem to come out of insensible acts, developed from dreams of what could be rather than what is or would be.

Today, July fourth, is the 230th birthday of the United States of America and its independence. It is often said that my country is one built on dreams. It’s curious to ponder how my life, how your lives even, how the world would be if some had not pursued their dream of independence from Britain. What if other revolutionaries (in all areas and fields) had settled for the status quo, settled for sensible? The world would be a dramatically different place indeed.

This is not to say that there is not room for sense in our lives. Really, we can’t all go around with our heads in the clouds, but figure out what is important and pursue that, even if it seems impossible. Finding a balance between the two seems to be key.

I’ve always been a bit of a dreamer, with grandiose plans and ideas. It’s even gone so far that my own mother tells me I’m delusional on occasion. Some of my dreams have come to fruition, while others have faded or changed. Those that I have held onto have led to amazing experiences and it is my hope that one day the fulfillment of my dreams will lead to a better world. Really though, in the end, I want to follow God’s will and plan for my life. I think though that He often makes His will a part of our dreams, and if certain dreams don’t line up with his vision for our lives, then I think that’s when those dreams change or lose their importance to us.

Father, make your will for our lives the dreams of our hearts and give us the courage and boldness to pursue them.