Run, Katie, Run!

I was recently involved in an epic game of chess. I really like chess and it was a lot of fun. Especially since I was playing with someone who didn’t know any more about chess than I did.

Chess is a game about strategy. My problem with it is that I can’t think ahead. I can’t visualize all the possible moves that my opponent or I could make in the turns ahead. I see the small picture. It’s hard to form a strategy when you’re focused on moving one piece at a time.

In this particular game that I was playing, there were several people watching. Several people that are much better at chess than I am. They CAN see the big picture. They CAN see the best moves to make. The big thing is that these chess-savvy people can think just a few turns ahead, so they can see what the best moves will be in the future. This is why they are good at chess and I am not.

These chess-savvies ended up giving a lot of advice throughout the game. Unfortunately, most of it was directed at my opponent, but every once in a while someone would tell me what to do.

Throughout the game I was exercising free will. There were people telling me what to do, but I had the choice to listen to them or not. Of course the smart thing to do is to listen to them. Why? Why not make my own choices? Because THEY are the ones that can think ahead. They can see what will be good for me in the long run. It’s my choice to trust the experts.

It’s kind of like God (parrick, isn’t that your line?). We, as people on earth, are like me in the chess game. We usually can’t see very much outside of ourselves. And we definitely don’t know what will happen in the future, so we really are clueless as to what choices to make. God is like the chess-expert. He invented the game and he knows it so well that he knows every move that could or ever will be played.

So, when God tells us to do something, it’s probably a really good idea to go ahead and do it, even if it doesn’t make sense to us. He can see the big picture and we can’t, and you know that he only wants what is best for us. However, sometimes we ignore what God tells us to do, or we’re simply not listening for it. Maybe it’s because we think we know what’s best for us, or maybe it’s just because we like to make our own choices. Sometimes we make the WRONG choice, and it turns out really bad for us.

So, wait a minute. If God loves us so much, then why does he let us make those wrong choices? Why doesn’t he just MAKE us do what’s best for us? Because then we wouldn’t have free will, would we? I think it’s cool that he allows us the option of choosing whether or not to listen to him. I’m sure that it hurts him to see the people he loves hurting because of the bad decisions they make, but it’s better than a bunch of robots just doing whatever he says without thinking about it.

We have free will.

Near the very end of the chess game, it was as if I wasn’t even playing anymore. In fact, I just let one of those Chess-savvies take over for me. I wasn’t even paying attention to the game anymore.

So this is my question:

Since that person made all my moves for the rest of the game without me even looking on, did I still have my chess free will? After all, it was MY CHOICE to let him play for me.

At what point does free will crumble?

I know you've all been on the edge of your seats since my post this morning...*cough, no one's read it yet, cough*...

I thought I'd let you know that I've given it a lot of thought and I've decided not to give up on music. One friend of mine tried to convince me that playing in tune isn't really that important after all...I could start a new kind of musical movement! Another friend told me that I have too much potential to give up now.

Than I remembered something that the former mock trial captain told me in my time of distress:

"When you care enough about something you work hard and find a way."

This quote isn't the wittiest, most inspirational out there, but it's simple, straightforward, and so true.

It may seem like it'll never work out.
But I care about music so much.
I guess I can keep trying.
At least for a while...

I'll find a way.

It is 8:36 am, April 22, 2008. It's a Tuesday morning at Hoover High School, and today I decided to give up.
On Music.
It's ridiculous.
Seriously.
There's nothing making me stay anymore.
I was sitting in band this morning and I realized how impossible it is to play in tune.
That's all it took.
I'm done with this.

It's kind of immature, I suppose, to quit something that I've invested so much time in for something as trivial as that. But it's not trivial! It's the most important, most fundamental thing! And I've gotten this far without being able to do it.
Playing in tune.

I'm sick of dealing with my limited range and poor tone quality. I'm sick of the valves that stick and don't go down all the way. I'm sick of third valve slides.

I'm just done with this.

Whatever.

The gospel.
Let's say that everyone has a destiny. Here's the catch: You can choose whether or not to accept it; to live it out.If you don't choose to accept your destiny, than your life will be monotonous. It won't be amazing or thrilling.

But it won't be bad.


Once you accept your destiny your life will be both good and bad. Probably mostly bad, but you don't know.

This life is boring.
And nothing will happen to us once we die.

So in order to experience climax we must make a choice.
Some people make it early on.
Some wait until the very end.
Some don't make it at all.

It'll change your life. Forever.

There's B.C.
And there's A.D.
Soon there'll be A.S.C.

Heaven: A.S.C...infinity.
I'll be there.
Will you?

But it's not about going to Heaven or Hell.

It's about moving up to that next level of being.
Experience that which everything has led up to.

It's the one climax your life can ever have.
Your one opportunity for change.

You don't want to miss this.

But it