Labyrinth of Memories
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A short story by Jason K Powers
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*clack*clack*clack*clack* echo’s through the long concrete hallway as his heels hit the floor with each step.  He can hear the sound of metal sliding doors creaking and cracking in other parts of this maze of hallways he is walking through.  Somehow forces in the back of his mind make them open and close, each one independent of another, and seemingly at random, but they are so far off down other hallways, it doesn’t bother him really.
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He passes doors on the left and on the right, reading the plaques above each door as he passes.  December 17^th, 2005, reads one.  Chasing a Kite, reads another.  First Fight.  First Kiss.  Car Wreck 2001.  Death of a Friend.  December 19^th, 1998, and on and on and on.  Some doors are bigger than others.  Some plaques have fallen off over time and all that remains is the faded outline of what was once there.  Some doors are padlocked, some double.  There are some spaces where a door should be, but seem left unused.  Perhaps to be filled later.
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One door is open as he passes, so he looks in…
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Jumping Off Rooftops

I sometimes find myself wondering what’s next. What’s next? Seasons change for everyone, and so, mine has recently changed as well… hence, the thought.

Several years ago, this type of change would have turned me perhaps bitter at life, disgruntled, upset, lost or the likes. Through a series of events in life, directions I believe God has led me to, people that have come in and out of my life, and even the unexplainable, it didn’t turn out that way for me, thank God. Simply a new chapter in life.

Sometimes life deals us some cards that we aren’t sure what to do with. Sometimes we aren’t sure what direction to go, and it’s scary. It paralyzes us. It immobilizes us. The longer we think about which direction to step, the scarier it gets and the harder it gets to make that decision. We’ve thought about it too long.

I’m reminded of when I was a kid… Me and a friend used to play at his grandmothers house throughout the year. She had a lower hanging roof off the back of the house, with a nice large tree only feet from it.
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The WARRIOR
A short story by Jason K Powers
October, 2009
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You look out across the desert plain… a desert that is nothing but the dry cracked ground.  No piles of sand in sight.  No vegetation.  No critters scurrying around. 
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Nothing. 
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Only the vast plains and the winding cracks in the ground as far as you can see. 
Off in the distance, where the ground meets the sky… the horizon… you see what looks like a wall that runs as far east as one can see, and as far west and the eye can see.  It’s a wall that appears to move and shift, as the patterns roll within itself.  It seems to be made of smoke, and fire, and dust blowing.  A storm of sorts.  A wall so thick, you figure it could go for miles beyond its front lines.  A wall so tall and so wide, that you dare not go closer.  The dark black clouds mix with the wind and sand.  You can hear a faint rumble of the thunder and roaring wind that comes from the wall.  Lightning flickers and fire licks a glowing amber from within.  A whole other world lies beyond its barrier.  It’s a wall that speaks of fear.  No… it doesn’t speak… it roars…
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“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won’t need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don’t fire cannons to call attention to their shining- they just shine.”

Education and the Heart
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In October of 2009, a terrible gang rape happened in California.  An estimated 10 males gang raped a girl for over two hours after a homecoming dance one evening.  As if that wasn’t tragic and horrifying enough, an additional 10 or more people were standing around watching this atrocity go on. 

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Shortly after the news hit the airwaves, media outlets immediately launched in to discussions about how such a horrible thing could have happened.  Yes, it is indeed a terrible, terrible thing that happened to this young girl.  What prompts such acts to evil?  How do we prevent such acts of evil? 

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The parents of the young girl released a statement⁽¹⁾ urging people in their outrage over the issue, to please take a constructive approach to resolving this issue.  They then implied about the need for better education, and a change in atmosphere within schools, to prevent this type of thing from happening again.  News outlets discussed with several people about ‘the solution’ for this problem over the next few days… Better security and better education were the top listed ideas.

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I wanted to take a great point I was reading about on another blog and share it with you here in my own words.  There has been an endless amount of coverage on the recent Tiger Woods tragedy or scandal or what have you.  News channels have brought in a wide range of ‘experts’ to analize why and how Tiger could have done such a thing.
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The “expert opinion” given by most of these people has been all over the board, but, notice carefully which type of ‘expert’ you never see giving their analysis… We have the publicist, psychologists, lawyers; We have friends of Tiger, and friends of his mistresses and the ladies themselves; We don’t have any ‘experts’ giving a spiritual analysis.  Why is it that a pastor or other Christian leader (or, to be fair, other religious leaders) are not considered part of the panel that discusses the analysis of what the problem is?
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Why could this be?
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One person in the media, Brit Hume, recently “appealed to Tiger Woods to find redemption and forgiveness in Christianity… and presents the issue as one of objective truth …and gets right to the heart of the matter of alienation with others and God and our need for forgiveness and reconciliation. He doesn’t present Christianity as a placebo, faith makes us feel better. He offers what Woods needs, what we all need: redemption.”⁽¹⁾  He was soon thereafter ransacked with attacks from other media outlets and even comedian Jon Stewart, who openly and blatantly mocked the Christian faith, using Hume as his primary target⁽²⁾.
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I propose that the Christian worldview… the Christian message that we call the Gospel… the Good News, is a threat to todays western culture.
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Sometimes, some days, we find ourselves thinking that it’s just hard to get out of bed.  Sometimes, some days, we wake up, and just don’t want to go on.  We look at our lives and see the vicious cycle, day in, day out, over and over again.  Nothing changes.  Nothing rearranges.  Nothing new. 
“How did I get to this place?” we ask ourselves.  “Why am I stuck in this place, this job, this house, this situation?”
Sometimes, some days, we wake up and look back over our recent days, weeks and months and think that maybe it’s all just a waste.  Maybe we’re just wasting our time and our energy and efforts… all for what?  For some vague existence in some hole in the wall job, or some life situation you can’t seem to get out of?
“What’s the point?” you ask yourself.  “What’s my purpose?”  “There has to be more to it.”
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You’re right.  There is more to it.  But it’s probably not how you think…
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In the book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the main character, Eddie, was a maintenance man at an amusement park called Ruby Pier.  He had worked there most of his life, and died working there.  In this fictional story, he finds himself talking to a little girl after he dies:
“I was sad because I didn’t do anything with my life.  I was nothing.  I accomplished nothing.  I was lost.  I felt like I wasn’t supposed to be there,” Eddie says.
“You were supposed to be there,” she said.
“Where?  AT Ruby Pier?
She nodded.
“Fixin’ rides?  That was my existence?  Why?”
She tilted her head, as if it were obvious.
“The children,” she said.  “You keep them safe… It’s where you were supposed to be,” she said.^{(1)
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