Call Home Often

On Knowledge

callhomeoften — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:13:47 +0000

If you knew everything, would you be happy? I used to think so. I wanted omniscience. I wanted to bask in the truth and the absolute. I wanted to know the answers to all the whos, whats, wheres, whens, and whys. I took pride in the knowledge I already possessed, so if my knowledge became infinite, certainly I would be all the more satisfied. Such were my thoughts. I have been of the mind for a few years now, that to know is not to understand or to appreciate. To know is simply to acknowledge and nothing more. In my Biology class at John Brown University, we’ve recently been covering some rather large issues. Evolution, the age of the earth, the order of the sequence of creation events in Genesis, etc. In the ongoing world debate, people who believe in God and profess Christianity seem to want to side with scripture. They become literalists in their views regarding these topics, while Christian scientists tend to side with the research they’ve done. At the end of the day, it seems that these people have begun to argue their points for the sake of being right, rather than to further the kingdom of God. They choose their side, and become vehement advocates of whatever that side is trying to sell, just so they don’t end up wrong. The example that has been set here for future generations of Christians has evoked nausea within me. Therefore, I have decided that none of it matters. I don’t know how old the earth is and I don’t care. There is ample evidence for several theories and you know, they just don’t matter to me. I can profess whatever I want in this life; whatever I believe to be true and right, but if I do it for myself and not for God, then what exactly is the point? I already know a lot of things, but there are infinitely more that I don’t know. And isn’t that beautiful? Think about it. You know a whole lot of things, even if you don’t feel like you do. But that’s boring, knowing things. I have found that it is much more interesting to not know. That’s where faith comes in, no? I think I much prefer that. There’s mystery and adventure there, and the potential for growth.

Go love someone today. But don’t make it about you. Make it about them.

-Alyssa

Infatuation

callhomeoften — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 06:20:15 +0000

[ in - fach - oo - ey - shuh n ]

Definition: foolish or all-absorbing passion

Synonyms: fascination, obsession, passion

The purpose of this post is to inform, and maybe to advise if you feel like keeping an open mind, so listen up kids. A friend of mine recently suffered a break-up with a boy she cared a lot about. She is profoundly upset because she believes that she loves him, and all she can talk about is how she has never felt the way she felt with him in any other relationship. She throws the word “love” around A LOT regarding him. Here’s the thing, though; she just met him. She says she loves him, but she has known him all of a few weeks. I don’t want to completely discredit love at first sight or any of that business because I can’t prove that it doesn’t happen, but I do know that it at least isn’t too common. I keep telling her that love is something that develops over time, and that what she feels now is merely a strong infatuation, but she insists on reverting to “love”. So now I’m telling you. Maybe you’ve felt this way too. I know that I have. My aim is not to reproach people for experiencing strong romantic emotions, because honestly that really can’t be helped. I just want it understood that those feelings are not love. Love, romantic love specifically, is something that happens after all of the chemicals and hormones of infatuation die down. It is, I think, the closest to selfless-ness that mankind ever gets. This is not because we become truly compassionate and empathetic all of a sudden, but because our significant others become such a part of us that there is no other logical option than to make that person feel loved and cherished. It is a love second, unfortunately, only to self love.

Maybe this helped you, and maybe it didn’t, but I felt pretty strongly that I needed to post it. Call it coincidence or call it God, but lately I’ve only felt the need to post something when it’s been about love. Personally, I don’t believe in coincidence.

February Fourteenth

callhomeoften — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:21:20 +0000

I hate Valentine’s day. Not because I am a feminist, not because I hate pink with a vengeance, and not because I have the mindset of a hipster in that I inherently avoid conformity. I hate Valentine’s day for two main reasons:

1. I puts pressure on people to show love to someone or to be loved by someone.

2. It was meant to be commemorative of Saint Valentine, and now it’s about chocolate and hearts.

First of all, if you love someone, you should show it YEAR ROUND and not just on your anniversary, Christmas, or Valentine’s Day. I know, easier said than done, right? Regardless, Valentine’s Day has been put on a pedestal as a day that husbands/boyfriends better not screw up or their significant other will poison their coffee the next morning. If Valentine’s Day is supposed to be about showing love, WHAT KIND OF LOVE IS THAT, I ask you? If someone screws up in a relationship, ESPECIALLY if their intentions were good, what kind of love rejects them for their failure? It would seem that the world has gone COMPLETELY MAD. This so called “holiday” has made love about material things and turned acts of love into trophies that we can show to all of our friends. It becomes less about mutual affection and more about what we get from the other person. i.e. HOW DESIRABLE THEY MAKE US LOOK TO EVERYONE ELSE.

And then there’s the UNFOUNDED IDEA that there is something desperately wrong with you if you are single. (Yes, I just began a sentence with “and”. Get over yourselves, grammar Nazis ) This has been slowly integrated into the psyche of the western populace, and IT’S NOT OK. Being single can be lonely at times, but for the most part, there is an INVIGORATING FREEDOM. Maybe that doesn’t sound as good to you as being with someone, but think about it. People who are single can make drop of the hat decisions without consulting their significant other. They can have as many pets as they want, they can buy whatever they want, etc. Obviously some people go overboard with this, (CAT LADIES & HOARDERS) but that gets into moderation which is another story altogether. I’ve heard that love is very hard to define, but I’ll take a crack at it.

Dictionary.com defines love as “a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.”

Urbandictionary.com says love is “the most spectacular,indescribable, deep euphoric feeling.”

1 Corninthians 13 states:

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;^[b] ⁶it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. ¹²For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

¹³So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Ok. Maybe adding the Bible verse was a bit cliché, but if I’m being honest, it’s one of my favorite verses so I’m keeping it. Anyway, it is an excellent description of what REAL LOVE is. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a better one. Even with all of these lovely definitions, I still haven’t scratched the surface of the nature of love. The truth is, I don’t think love can be defined. It’s different for everyone who experiences it, but one thing stays the same; IT MAKES US BETTER PEOPLE. Not good people, just better people, because finally we are more worried about someone else’s happiness RATHER THAN OUR OWN.

Written Works of Wisdom, Witicism & Wonder

callhomeoften — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 06:15:07 +0000

These are in no particular order. Read all of them. May they change your life as they have mine.

The Book Thief (Marcus Zusak)

I Am the Messenger (Marcus Zusak)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky)

The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruíz Zaffon)

The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandré Dumas)

David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)

Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)

The Harry Potter Series (J.K Rowling)

Stargirl (Jerry Spinelli)

Twelfth Night (Bill Shakespeare)

Cold Mountain (Charles Frazier)

The Odyssey (Homer)

Notes From the Underground (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)

The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)

The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis)

Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)

The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)

The Hunger Games Trilogy (Suzanne Collins)

House of Many Ways (Diana Wynne Jones)

Howl’s Moving Castle (Diana Wynne Jones)

The Hobbit (J.R.R Tolkein)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)

The Princess Bride (William Goldman)

The Neverending Story (Michael Ende)

Tuck Everlasting (Natalie Babbitt)

The Glass Castle (Jeanette Walls)

The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)

The Hiding Place (Corrie Ten Boom)

A Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemingway)

Introspection From the Deep

callhomeoften — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 07:08:14 +0000

Every time I post something on here, I feel like it should be something profound. This has been a major problem for me in the past as well as in this very moment because the second I start typing, I realize that I have nothing important to say. Why should this be problematic? Loads of bloggers write a profusion of useless drivel, so why should I feel the need to make an effort? Great question, rhetorical questioner. I have no idea. Maybe it’s because I’m a bit of a perfectionist. Maybe it’s because I hate reading things that I feel are a waste of time. Maybe it’s because I want the things I create to matter. Another thing that bothers me is that I haven’t posted a single thing about art, which is what I had initially intended to use this for. Oh look, now this has turned into a list of complaints, and about blogging of all things! I don’t know if you tend to read things more seriously or with a bit of humor, but in all seriousness I’m laughing at myself as I read back over what I’ve written. Not with mirth or self-deprecation, but with grace. I assure you that I am in no way actually frustrated, this is just my way of thinking. I guess what I mean by all of this is that I dearly wish for the things I post to make you laugh, and maybe ponder life a little bit. I don’t, of course, intend to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with my thoughts, but I hope that you at least find them mildly entertaining.

This has been rather short, hasn’t it? Compared to my previous posts, anyway. Oh, well. A Merry Christmas to you. Yes. I dared to go beyond the safety of “Happy Holidays.”

-Alyssa

The L Word

callhomeoften — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 04:57:27 +0000

Ok, so as you’ve probably gathered, I like to draw. In fact, I prefer it almost to ANYTHING ELSE. I detest pencil, probably because it is the easiest for me, and also because it’s too shiny for my taste. I like the bold, flatness of charcoal, and I absolutely LOVE pen and ink. I’m not like normal art kids in that I don’t doodle ALL OVER EVERYTHING all the time. Not that doodling is a BAD THING, I just don’t feel the need and I never have. Sometimes it makes me feel like I’m only HALF of an artist, but then I rationalize it and I tell myself that NO ONE CAN BE HALF OF ANYTHING. People can only be something completely or not at all. UNLESS YOUR BODY HAS BEEN BISECTED. Then I guess you could argue that you’re half a person. Physically. I guess. Moving on. I don’t really know what I want to do with art, I just know that I love it. I really think that people throw the word love around too much. I KNOW I do. E.g. “HOMYGOSH I LOOOOOOVE THAT MOVIE!” The English language, unfortunately, is not like Greek. In Greek, there are several words for love. Take a look:

AGAPE ah-gah-pay: the “I love you” kind of love

EROS eh-rahs: denoting passion and physical desire

PHILIA fi-lee-ah: brotherly love, like in friendships

STORGE stohr-jee: the kind of love you have for family members

If you didn’t notice, none of these kinds of love could be used to describe a movie, or really ANY KIND OF MATERIAL OBJECT.

Question: If the Greeks, notorious lovers of art, music, nature, etc. don’t have a version of love to describe love for material things, then who are we to use our ONE word that encompasses ALL FORMS OF LOVE to describe material things?

What does it all MEAN? It could mean that the ancient Greeks who formed and perfected the Greek language weren’t part of a BOOMING INDUSTRIAL CIVILIZATION, so they didn’t have a lot of material items to love. It could mean that the Greeks were PRIMITIVE and their culture just didn’t care. It could mean that as a predominantly first world culture, English speakers are superior to the likes of the archaic Greeks. Or, it could be that the Greeks were on to something. Maybe only subconsciously, but they were on to something. You see, when it really comes down to it, what do YOU REALLY LOVE MORE: your car, or your brother, sister, mom, dad, significant other, WHATEVER. Which is it? Are people REALLY capable of love for an inanimate object? A lifeless substance? You tell me. The reason there is no version of love for material possessions in Greek is because ANY LOVE WE PROFESS FOR AN OBJECT IS SUPERFICIAL AND UNREALISTIC. Whoever invented Greek knew what was up.

May you all use the word “love” LESS so that when you do use it, it will matter MORE.

-Alyssa

The Plague

callhomeoften — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 03:48:36 +0000

I was sick recently. Allow me to reiterate. I WAS SICK recently. I NEVER get sick. EVER. What does this mean, you ask? It means that THE END TIMES ARE HERE. No it doesn’t. All it means is that I am devastated because my perfect record of health and well being is now completely shot. The last time I was sick must have been in the 10th grade. It’s been four years! For FOUR YEARS I have had the immune system of a pure bread RACE HORSE, and what do I have to show for it? The vestiges of a RAGING SINUS INFECTION. Even though half of these words are in all caps and emboldened, I still don’t feel that I am fully communicating the severity of my passion regarding this subject. I need you to understand that I HAVE COMPLETELY DISGRACED MY STANDARDS OF LIVING. The most ironic part of this experience is that IT IS SEPTEMBER. Not even LATE September, and Cold and Flu Season has yet to begin. It is still technically SUMMER. I am young. I eat healthy foods, I take part in moderate physical exercise, and I regularly practice general hygiene. There is NO LOGICAL REASON that I, of all people, should contract an illness. But NO, THE UNIVERSE DEMANDS SACRIFICE! Well, let me tell you something, Universe, YOU SUCK. God may have created you, but you REALLY SUCK RIGHT NOW. To atone for your crimes against humanity, I DEMAND a Florida sunset. RIGHT NOW.

God HAS blessed you, and will continue to. Jeremiah 29:11-14

-Alyssa

A Formal Apology

callhomeoften — Thu, 10 May 2012 04:28:40 +0000

Anonymity is a dangerous thing. It makes us feel powerful and invincible, but it has a way of getting out hand. This is due to a complete disregard for ACCOUNTABILITY. This holds true for many things, including BLOGGING. If a year of college has taught me ANYTHING it’s that I am SEVERELY JUDGMENTAL. I already knew this about myself, but God has really been putting it on my heart lately that, as strongly as I may feel about something, I don’t always have to VERBALIZE my opinions. Despite my borderline ARROGANT self confidence, the world does not thrive off of EVERY WORD I SAY. That is why I am apologizing to everyone who has read my previous posts. While not all of them are bad, I have crossed the line in a few. Some people in the world may do things that irritate me or cause me to complain, but that does NOT mean that I have the right to post COWARDLY VIRTUAL INSULTS. Honestly, I think I would have been a better person to have just said what I typed to those people in person. That said, I will try my UTMOST in the future to rein in my opinions about individual groups and/or people because it DEFINITELY is not my place to call them out for their weaknesses and short-comings when I have just as many if not more. As much as I would like to delete these posts, I will be leaving them up to serve as reminders of what I am desperately trying to control.

God HAS blessed you, whether you believe in Him or not.

-Alyssa

Spirit Inebriation. Wait, WHAT?

callhomeoften — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:58:59 +0000

As an EXTREMELY rational individual, I would like to point something out.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to experience a high by “smoking the Holy Spirit”.

Where in the HELL would ANYONE get such an outrageously STUPID idea? As much as I really don’t want to believe that Christians are SO DESPERATE to feel physical pleasure that they could even ENTERTAIN the notion, there is evidence all over the internet that ENTIRE CHURCHES are on board with this absolute LOAD OF GARBAGE. There are videos on YouTube featuring metro-sexual hipsters with disgusting beards holding imaginary joints in their hands and toking the air saying that they’re actually INHALING the Holy Spirit. But if they truly believe they’re smoking Jesus, WHY WOULDN’T IT WORK? Oh, yeah. BECAUSE GOD IS NOT A DRUG OR EVEN A PHYSICAL BEING AT ALL. Sure, he was physical in the early first century, but HE DIED in case you neo-hippies didn’t get the memo. You know, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if you had FORGOTTEN that part, because you are all so completely WASTED from the other drugs you’re doing to mask the fact that JESUS IS UN- SMOKABLE that you simply CANNOT HANDLE REALITY. Some would argue that, because I haven’t tried to smoke Jesus, I can’t make the call that it’s impossible. As full of scientific reasoning and logic as that may be, (Great job on remembering the fundamentals of 6th grade science by the way. I’M SO FREAKING PROUD OF YOU) a purely scientific mindset can depreciate one’s view of the world. In order to FULLY and ACCURATELY assess something, one must remember common sense, which is something you people who believe in spirit inebriation evidently DO NOT POSSESS. I would also like to add that even if you COULD smoke Jesus, would you REALLY rather do that then have a relationship with Him? If your answer is yes, then CONGRATULATIONS. That takes the CAKE for the most THOUGHTLESS ANSWER IN THE UNIVERSE.

I wish you all TERRIFYING TRIPS as you continue with your “spirit abuse” and a HEAVY dose of reality along with them. May your showers forever be that annoying temperature between hot and cold that EVERYBODY HATES, and may that spot in the middle of your backs that no one can reach be FOREVER ITCHY.

-Alyssa

In the Event of A Zombie Apocalypse

callhomeoften — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:29:22 +0000

Lately my mind has been wandering through possible battle tactics for effective zombie extermination. This is probably because I’ve been watching the AMC show, The Walking Dead. The show is just so INTENSE that you can’t help but wonder how exactly everything would go down if there ever was some kind of outbreak like that for real. These wanderings led me to the internet in search of ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE SURVIVAL TIPS. Because I now have a decently severe case of ZOMBIE PARANOIA, I though I would share with you what I feel are the most important points about how to survive a pandemic of this nature.

1. Stay in Shape.

There are FAST ZOMBIES and SLOW ZOMBIES, but you won’t know what the apocalypse holds until it happens. This being the case, you should prepare for the worst (fast zombies) and be able to sprint at least until you can find a safe place. Even if you’re only dealing with slow zombies, it’s still good to be fit. You never know when you might need to run for it.

2. Safe-house.

Find a place that’s in an OPEN AREA, preferably not in any kind of sub-urban setting and DEFINITELY NOT IN AN URBAN SETTING. Big cities have tall buildings and you won’t be able to see your full surroundings. Cities also have much larger populations which means there will be a larger population of zombies. The ideal safe-house would be an IRON FORTRESS ON A MOUNTAIN, so keep that in mind when choosing your location. You want it to be hard to get to and hard to find, but easy enough for you to get to in a hurry. Cover ANY and ALL windows with towels or fabric to make sure that light won’t escape at night. Designate a single door as the entrance/exit to your base and lock/board up all other doors.

3. Buddy System.

Find a few smart people you can trust and stick with them. It always helps to have back-up when fighting off hordes of BRAIN-HUNGRY MONSTERS, and waiting out an apocalypse can be pretty much like solitary confinement if you don’t have anyone to talk to.

4. Stay alert.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. Without sleep, protecting yourself will become more and more DIFFICULT. It will probably be harder to get your minimum 7 hours of sleep with zombies creeping around outside, but you need to try. A benefit of having the buddy system is that you can have watch shifts so that everyone can sleep a little more peacefully.

5. Arm Yourself.

Even if you are holed up in a really safe and well stocked place, you still need to keep a weapon with you at ALL TIMES. You never know when something will go wrong. I recommend SILENT WEAPONS e.g. baseball bats, crowbars, shovels, etc. Weapons like guns, although they can be massively effective, are loud and will draw EVERY ZOMBIE IN THE GENERAL AREA to your location. Guns need ammo. If you run out you’re basically screwed, and anyway, bats and shovels offer much more satisfaction when killing a zombie. In fact, beating a zombie to a pulp with a bat would be a GREAT way to deal with the heightened stress levels you will inevitably experience.

6. Transportation.

Your legs are probably the best way to go. Although all terrain vehicles are faster than zombies and can be effective shields and even weapons against them, THEY NEED GAS. Bikes are faster than running, but if you are being pursued, you need to put AS MANY OBSTACLES AS YOU CAN between you and the zombie(s). This is not such an easy feat on a bike, as bikes are less maneuverable and can’t jump over walls.

7. Hydrate or Die.

If you can, you should CARRY WATER WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES. It is the most important thing to your survival because about three days without it will KILL YOU. Find a water bottle or SOMETHING that you can refill. When you’re in for the long haul, you’ll be glad you have it.

8. Nourishment.

It’s NEVER a good idea to carry opened food with you. If zombies can smell humans, then they can DEFINITELY smell your food. Canned food may not have a smell when it’s unopened, but it’s heavy and noisy and will only slow you down. Keep your base well stocked, because it’s really going to SUCK if you run out and have to go find food every time you get hungry. IDEALLY, you would have seen this coming and already have a large stash of food started, but let’s face it, that’s not realistic. The best way to get food is either to go hunting, which is going to be relatively more dangerous than normal, or to RANSACK GAS STATIONS AND GROCERY STORES. The grocery store option is the better one. It’s still going to be dangerous, considering there might be a zombie cashier or two, or ten roaming around. My advice? Take a weapon and LOTS OF COURAGE with you.

God Bless, and may you all survive the zombie pandemic that will, according to the laws of science, be highly unlikely to occur!

-Alyssa