Blinded

"Look how You shine, so the blind can see."

- David Crowder*Band, “You’re Everything”

What if there was a light invented that whenever it was turned on, anyone who was blind could see everything that it illuminated? I would venture to say that every blind person who could possibly get their hands on one would own it. The feeling of being able to see when you have been blind - maybe even for your whole life - would have to be stunning. I can't even imagine that feeling.

I would bet that for people who are completely blind, even something short of this would be a rush. If a light was invented that simply let these people see light and nothing else, I have to believe that most every blind person would want one. When you have the ability to see nothing at all, light would have to be almost like a drug for you. An overwhelming sensation of something radiating in the middle of nothingness. The feeling of just turning it on and being able to see something.

As far as I know, a light like this is out of human reach at this point in history. That is not to say that technology will never get there, because some of the advances that are being made daily are astounding. But I can't help but think that this is what Jesus was talking about when he asked us to light the world - to be a city on a hilltop. We are that light that allows the blind to see.

I think we often downplay how lost you must feel (and truthfully, are) when your life is void of God. Personally, I like to imagine the people around me as simply dizzy. They just lost their way, and they can't find the right path back. But I don't think this is what God has been trying to portray to us. He wants us to realize that we are dealing with a world full of people with a very interesting sight condition. These are people who are completely blind, and many of them think that they can see perfectly.

Imagine if you had that condition in the physical world. Walking around completely lost, but thinking you knew where you were. How many times would you severely injure yourself? How many times would you fall off a curb, run into a stranger, or get hit by a car? This would be a serious condition! And this is how too many people are living. They are searching around thinking that they will find their way, and they have been injured so many times by the things that life has thrown at them. Things like depression, unfaithful marriages, unbelief, financial debts, abusive spouses, and lack of purpose. The problem is that they don't know why they got hurt, and they can't see well enough to find a hospital.

This is where the church comes in. The church being you and me – God’s literal house. We are to be a hospital for these sick and broken people. Our mission is to help these people heal, and once they are well, to send them back out into the world prepared. We have to illuminate the path for them - to give them vision using our incredible light. And then, we have to teach them to light the way for themselves. To use the light properly that has completely changed their view of life.

Do you want to know the best thing about this whole process to me? The best part is when someone who has been lost starts operating their own light. Not just because someone's life has been changed, but because I know many more lives will be. If I was blind and someone offered me a tool that provided sight, I wouldn't just live the rest of my life being able to see the world. I would find as many people as I could that had the same condition of blindness and explain to them how this light had changed my life.

We often want to know why the church in America isn't "growing" like it should. Here is your solution. Find blind people, offer them sight, and watch them do the same. Look past their confusion, and see someone who is bleeding to death - stumbling around trying to find a hospital where one doesn't exist. Lead them there at all costs.

I can't wait to see the world shine so brightly that our eyes have to adjust to this new abundance of light. Let's make it happen.

- Zane

Defining Moments

Tonight I heard the statement that, “Most days have no impact on the course of a life.” The idea that most seconds of our lives have no substance troubles me. If that is the case, why should I ever even get out of the bed? It is safe and comfortable there.

However, there are days that I am inclined to agree with this thought. Some days are spent completing tasks that have to be done. Some days end with my mind running countless circles around the track of what more I could have accomplished with twenty-four hours. There are nights when I don’t want to go to sleep, so that I can just bask in the perfection of the day, and there are nights when I can’t get to sleep fast enough. Truthfully, there are nights when I have really lost the desire to even care. We all have days that could fit into each of these categories… but I don’t believe that anyone has ever lived a day that had no impact on the course of their life.

The opening quote sent my head spinning – thinking of all of the big moments in my life. You know, the moments that you would point to and say they were moments that shaped you, for the good or the bad. For you, it might have been graduating, landing your dream job, losing your dream job, falling in love, or finding out love wasn’t quite what you hoped it would be. All of these are reality. All of these feel BIG. But all of these moments mean absolutely nothing standing alone.

There are many ideals that I like to think mean something more than just one thought or moment can fully express. Words such as forgiveness, boldness, happiness, love, hope, trust, and redemption. But what do we know about these words without their counterparts? You know – those words that carry a heavier weight than can be described. What do we know about forgiveness without imperfection? What do we know about boldness without fear, hope without despair, or trust without betrayal? Nothing.

We certainly participate in moments that define us, but we often fail to acknowledge why these moments appear. They exist because of the everyday things. The small victories. The mistakes.

I am absolutely in love with my wife – but it isn’t because of the unbelievable chemistry between us that I can never shake loose. It is because we live life together. It is because of the times that I have been a jerk and she has shown her commitment just the same. It is because of the countless hours that we have sat on the couch together discussing that, “There must be a more entertaining way to spend our day in this big city than sitting on this stationary piece of furniture.”

I guess my point is that the small moments, and even the “junk” in life, are what make things so beautiful.

I am going to release a new album of songs in a couple months, and it is going to be an exciting day for me… but the reason it will be exciting is because of everything I have poured into it. The nights where I traded sleep for the frustration of trying to convert emotions to commonly understood words. All of the lyrics that found their way into the garbage can in the corner. All of the time spent writing music with my brother that didn’t quite have the right feel until that moment when it all came together. All of these things come together to make an album successful.

It is the same with relationships – the entire reason we were created. Our feelings of closeness to another person often stem from overcoming some sort of very personal hurt. The feeling of rebuilt trust is so much more overwhelming than the trust you would be holding if you had never been betrayed. The small spark of hope when it is too dark to see your hand in front of your face is more blinding than standing in the brightest sunshine for days on end.

So for today, be encouraged – but more importantly, be overwhelmed. Live for something bigger than yourself. Feel until your chest is about to explode. Be blinded by a spark that you would normally turn quickly away from. Or maybe even learn to sit in complete darkness and be satisfied with the fact that another glimpse of light is coming - one that will take your breath away. Just know that today does, in fact, have meaning.

Your next big moment will be made significant by every word that you speak, every thought that you linger on, every person you come in contact with, and every chance you decide to take today. Your next moment may be majestic. It may be the one that you have waited for your whole life. Your next moment may strip you completely bare and leave you naked - wondering where to turn next. But it will have meant something. It will have been beautiful. It will have found you living out an ideal that you can’t express in words and consumed by a moment that is the only thing you can even think about.

Love people just because you can. Run boldly after the moments that most people are terrified to stumble upon. You may or may not like what you find, but you will have grown – you will have lived. You will have found meaning in every day of your life – something that most people will never accomplish. Eighty-six thousand, four hundred seconds a day of real substance.

That’s a reason to get out of bed tomorrow.

- Zane