I can breathe.

I can sing.

I can talk.

I can write a paper.

I can drive a car.

I don't really know who told me I couldn't do these things. I have forgotten. I guess it was me. I think a lot of people don't think they can do a lot of things because they forgot that they were the only one's who told them they couldn't. If they would have remembered this, they might have gone for it.

Today I woke up. I went to a fellowship, and then ate lunch in Taylor's Soda Shop in Clarksville. It was very quiet, and I guess I enjoyed watching everyone else today.

My mind is full. Too full. So I suppose I look for consistency somewhere in these times. I find I look forward to sleep. This never changes, I always sleep. I look forward to the routine of washing my face with the Apricot Scrub sitting on the edge of the sink. I look forward to watching my fish swim in that small bowl they call home. I even look forward to the occasional lady bug attached in some crevice of my wall. At least these things won't change. When my life, brain, and emotions, are tossed about I can look forward to these things. My brain is full. Too full. So I am going to wash my face, watch the fish in their bowl, and sleep.

I miss home.

 I just finished the book, The Barbarian way. And before I begin can I just say that finishing a book is more satisfying than eating a piece of cake. I love it. This book talks about how God calls us to a faith that is not safe, and that is pretty radical. This faith sometimes makes us look like barbarians to the civilized world around us. Anyway I wanted to pull some quotes from the book and post them.

"Barbarians on the other hand, are not to be trusted. They respect no borders that are established by powers or principalities. They have but one King, on Lord, and one mission. They are insolent enough to crash the gates of Hell. For the sake of others they are willing to risk their own lives and thrust themselves into the midst of peril."

"They had become so good at religion that they had no need for God. They were so full of themselves that they had no room for God. When it came down to it they loved their civilized religion far more than they longed to know the God who created them. They treasured the civilization built around their religion and despised the faith from which it was born. They would rather have the temple than His presence."

"When we choose a civilized faith God becomes, at very least, an irritant, and at worst, an enemy to our faith."

The book begins with a legend or historical event, (who can really know?) about two noble Scottish warriors. One was named Robert the Bruce and the other Douglas. Robert the Bruce died and ordered that his heart be cut out and taken into battle by a worthy knight. That knight was Douglas. He carried Robert the Bruce's heart in a box around his neck in many battles. One battle he knew that he was going to be defeated and...

"In that moment Douglas reached for the heart strapped around his neck, flung the heart into the enemy's midst, and cried out, "Fight for the heart of your king!" One historian quoted Douglas as shouting, "Forward, brave heart, as ever thou were wont to do, and Douglas will follow his king's heart or die!"

The author related that to us now. We need to fight for the heart of our God.

This is the best picture I could find of Douglas. They call him the "Black Douglas."

This is a statue of Robert the Bruce.

I like this song...