Characters

“O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.”

Psalm 139:1-4

I have probably lost all readers on here due to the fact that I haven’t written anything in months. The truth is, however, that I’ve still been writing, just not for this. I’ve been writing, or maybe a better term would be “thinking about writing” other things. Stories and stuff. I don’t know, I took a fiction writing class.

I have found, while writing or thinking about writing, that I’m not very good at making up characters. It’s just hard to do. Thankfully though, I go to a very large university that is very diverse, and I have no problem finding characters walking around me everyday. All sorts of odd things stick out to me about certain people, and I like to make a note of these people so I can write a story about what I think their lives might be like.
And this makes since to me. So maybe I’m not the best at coming up with characters. Lucky for me an Author much wiser than I came up with millions of characters, hundreds of which I see everyday. By this I mean, not only did God create people, but he also wrote their character development. It’s easy for me to admit that I could never create characters as his, so I just piggy back off of him and steal the ones he thought up. They’re genius.

Anyway, this main story I’ve been working on lately is based loosely on the life of a person I see very often, but don’t really know that well. I haven’t really talked to him in years in fact. But I see him everywhere.
The one place I’m guaranteed to see him is the library late at night, working on one thing or another. I added this to the top of a list of strange “quirks” that made this character stand out to me. In the library every night.
I pointed this out to my friend Thom, and we talked about how strange of a habit it was and how we saw him there every night and how he was a great character to write about, thank God for writing him in.

Then I thought about this more. Yeah, I saw this kid in the library. Every night. I passed him sitting at the same computer at the same table in the same room as I walked through to the Quiet Wood room on the far end of the library. Every night.
And it hit me, eventually, that as I was writing about a character with this strange habit of hanging out in the library every night, I too was hanging out in the library every night. I had my own table in my own room and my own custom of getting a Bookstack Mocha and a Blueberry Muffin.

So I guess the point I’m trying to make is that, yes, God has written the character development of every person he’s created, and it’s easy to forget that I too am one of them. Just as much a character as the next guy.
This is actually a relief, because I’m a character written by the the most incredible Author ever.

I must be one heck of a character. Who knows, maybe you’ll see me write a story about me sometime.

Coming Around Again

This is coming in from when I moved my blog elsewhere. I actually wrote this over the summer, 2008.

The sun sets in the west.

We flew east, running away from the Sun. We shot through time into the late hours of the evening, running away from the light. Somewhere over the Atlantic the Sun got the best of us, and without turning around we started flying toward it again. By the the time the plane reached Dublin it was full daylight, and we had only seen an hour of night, at the most. At worst, an hour of dark. . . or at best?

“Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,’
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day
for darkness is as light with you.”

– Psalm 139:7-12

Need I say more, really? It seems as though this epitomizes the broken relationship between man and God. We constantly run from Him, but still we cannot hide.I find what happened on the plane to be an extremely significant metaphor. We could only fly so far from the light before we started flying toward it again. I love this imagery.

As followers of Christ, it is as though we can never be too far from God, for he knows us and sees us, and no matter where or how we try to run from Him, He will actually use this to bring us closer to Him. Our efforts to escape his light will only bring us to a new dawn, where we can once more see Him clearly and in brand new ways. Whether we are running from Him, His word, or His goodness, His mercy will still reign over us and take us by storm. The darkness can only last so long in a life that is governed by the light of Christ. Because of Christ Crucified, the Spirit of God covers all. A world of sin and hate is cloaked in goodness and grace. This must give us hope. The new dawn brings new light! This is overly apparent as I revel in the beauty of an unfamiliar yet wonderful country. Not only did the plane ride bring me to a new dawn, but it also brought me to a new land. God has plans for us on the other side. Let me clarify, though, that I do not condone running. I believe it is far better, as followers of Christ, to remain in communion with him. My aim is to encourage, however, that the darkness will not last long if it arrives. The Glory of God will overcome it. It is through Christ, the Word that has become flesh, that we see in the darkness, and His grace abounds.

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:4,5

The Comfort.

The apostle Paul says multiple times throughout his epistles that he is “the worst of sinners.” Thanks for the humility Paul, but I think I have you beat.
I lie. I cheat. I’m full of doubt, anger, and faithlessness. I am a hypocrite and the worst of sinners.

I was busy being frustrated with God yesterday, and he and I had some pretty heated discussions (these were mostly just me complaining). But I was frustrated. Things weren’t exactly going my way. Maybe you can relate.

I continued these discussions on my way home from seeing Mike Meyers’ The Love Guru with some friends. I was probably saying something along the lines of “God, what the heck? Why is like this? What do you think you’re doing?”
It was at this exact moment that I rounded a curve and saw the waning moon. . . a day or two past full. It was as big as I’ve ever seen it. And it was a bright orange. Incredible majestic. God slapped me in the face. “Do you see how great I am? Do you not believe that I have this under control? Trust me,” he said, “It’s alright.”

 

“For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also though Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” 2 Corinthians 1:5-7

 

I think this is one of my favorite things about being a Christian. I think it’s honest and worthy. It is very easy for us to say that Jesus’ crucifixion was simple and easy, Praise God, we’re saved. But no, Christ really suffered for our salvation. It wasn’t an easy thing. He was beaten and ridiculed. After everything he went through that day, it’s amazing that he even stayed alive long enough to be crucified. He was tortured physically and emotionally.
And we can really relate to that, don’t you think? Day in and day out our fallen condition gives way to suffering. But we are one in everything with Christ. Paul tells us here that our sufferings are his, and his are ours. In Christ, we go through nothing alone. All of our burdens are shared with the King of the Earth.
And then, the icing on the cake, Christ overcame suffering. Christ, dead from the cross, lives again. He rises from the grave and overcomes the death and pain and sin that was put on him in the final moments of his life. And similarly, we are one this feat with him. In Christ, as we suffered with him, we are comforted by his resurrection,  and saved by his Grace.

Again however, I am an even worse sinner than Paul is. Part of that is my selfishness. And it is in this selfishness that I try to claim even my suffering as my own. So often I choose to not even share that with Christ. I search and beg for the comfort, but I leave the suffering to myself.
It has to be important to remember that the suffering and the comfort go together, and are both shared with Christ crucified. God is greater than our suffering and his Grace is our comfort. By remembering that we share suffering with Christ, we can allow his mercy to come in and be our comfort.

I praise God that I no longer have to deal with the sufferings and death of a sinful man by myself, but can share in the sufferings and death of Christ, and be given hope and life through his resurrection. “Our God is in heaven and does what he pleases.” He loves us, and our joy and communion with him is what pleases him the most. Have faith and hope, and he will keep us, guide us, and bless us. He will bring us to the things we love, and will bring the things we love home to us.

Hope

” But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, 
       on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death 
       and keep them alive in famine.”
-Psalm 33:18-19
 

“O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, 
       for with the LORD is unfailing love 
       and with him is full redemption.”
– Psalm 130:7
 

“but those who hope in the LORD 
       will renew their strength. 
       They will soar on wings like eagles; 
       they will run and not grow weary, 
       they will walk and not be faint.”
– Isaiah 40:31

“… Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”
– Isaiah 49:23

 

So I was reading through some of the Psalms, and this “Hope in the Lord” started to stick out to me. It’s in their more times than I have listed. This intrigued me, so I looked it up and found it all over the place.

When I first read this I kind of glossed over it. I think I was just reading it as “Put your faith in the Lord.” I got that, most of the time. But then I realized. . . there is a very significant distinction between hope and just having faith. I can have faith in the Lord all day. I believe that God exists, that he loves me, and that he sent his son Jesus to die and save me from my brokenness. 
But when it comes to hardships, burdens, and struggles, faith needs more. I’ll say “God, I need this; Bless me indeed,” and I will have faith that God is there and can hear me. All too often, however, I subconsciously doubt. I have faith that God hears my prayer, but I am very pessimistic about the outcomes and what God will actually do. 

“Hope in the Lord” means something a little different, I think. It encompasses faith, but asks for more. It asks for trust, and for optimism. It says “God, I have faith that you hear my prayer, and can do whatever you want, and I believe that you can do this for me.” I mean. . . hope is something we do anyway. We all know what it is to hope. But I feel like I tend to separate my hope from my prayers most of the time.
It’ not that I don’t have the faith. I do. It’s just that I don’t have the hope.

Basically I’m just here to encourage hope in the Lord today. The two Psalms above also mention God’s “Unfailing Love.” Unfailing. Never ending. That’s bold. He loves us. He wants the best for us. Psalm 115:3 says “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases him.” If he loves us so much, and can do whatever he wants, why should we doubt?
My favorite line, I believe, is from Isaiah 49:23. “… those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” How comforting is that? 

Let us hope in the Lord. Not be faithful skeptics of His great works.
You won’t be disappointed.

 

 

On another note, I stumbled upon a blog from a church in Los Angeles. The link is over to the right. You may enjoy it.

Audacity

We found cats. A lot of them. Stray kittens. Yes, incredibly cute.

Mollie calls me. She loves cats. In her lifetime she’s had about twenty of them… give or take a couple. Of her last two cats, one was given away and the other, a 14/15 year old cat, just passed. So no more cats. So her dad promised her new kittens. Mollie saw these stray kittens as her opportunity.
So she calls me. “WIN! I found stray kittens. You have to come help me get them!” I was on my way to sell text books back. I tell her this, and that I have a duffel bag full of books. I tell her that after I sell my books I’ll come see what I can do.
“HURRY!” she pleads. I tell her I will.
Three minutes later she calls me again. “Win where are you!?”
“I’m still walking to sell my books back, it’s only been three minutes.”

Five minutes later she calls again. She calls me every five minutes for the next half hour, until I finally get there, empty duffel in hand.
The kittens are in the middle of a garden, hiding under a storm drain. They are scared to death, and mother is no where to be seen. We talk about it for a while. Is this okay? What about the mom? Are we bad people? Eventually we decide to just go for it. It took a while. We had encouragement from older, wiser men and women. 
We eventually caught one. She’s a black tabby with a white face and white paws. Probably four or five weeks old. Yes, incredibly cute. We named her Sylvia. . . I think after Sylvia Plath.
We found the assistance of some Air Force ROTC staff and they helped us get a couple more. A yellow tabby, Simon, and a black and yellow calico, Snickers. Both were also about four or five weeks.
So we took them to our friends’ apartment. They were real cool about it. Mollie was going back to Richmond the next day, and just needed a place to keep the kittens for the night. So Kyle, Nick, and Will took them. Thanks guys. You’re brave souls.

Now I know I’ve talked some about God’s patience in his pursuit of of us in a previous post. But that’s not the only important aspect of his pursuit. Let’s talk about his audacity. 

I feel that sometimes I don’t quite have the “drive” to finish things. What you are reading right now, for instance, I began writing about two weeks ago. I just picked it back up at the words “I feel.”
It’s amazing, to me, to think that God does not stop pursuing and caring for us. Not just me. Not just you. But each and every one of us. All six billion plus people on Earth. I’m certain that if Mollie had been able to she would have taken every kitten, and their mother home with her to Richmond.
I think that God’s pursuit of us has this same audacity, on an even greater scale. Mollie was ready and willing to climb down into a storm drain to rescue these kittens. God sent his only son to become human and die a torturous death on a cross in order to rescue the world from its brokenness. 
This love is incredible to me, and so much bigger than I am.

I just finished reading Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz, and started reading his Through Painted Deserts. A common theme I’ve noticed so far is the idea that there is definitely something greater than he – or I, or you, or anybody else – is. This is comforting thought to me because if there is nothing bigger or greater than I am, then there is absolutely no hope for me. 
But there is hope for me, because God is bigger and greater than I am. And he’s pursuing the heck out me. And out of you. And out of everyone else on the planet, whether they know it or not. He’s been pursuing us since we walked away from him at the fall of man. 
And he’s audacious about it. He’s extreme. The pastor at my church in Raleigh says frequently that we, as humans, cannot put God in a box. Some Christians say “God works like this.” Others say “God doesn’t work like this.” But the book of Psalms says that God does whatever he wants to. Because of this, my church in Raleigh believes that God can work in anyway he wants to. And I think that he does, which is why I say that he is extreme in his audacity. 
I see this frequently in my own life, where God uses the things I surround myself with to teach and guide me. Sometimes he makes it hard, to get my attention. Then, once he has my attention, he teaches me out of hardship and introduces me to great blessings. He answers prayers and brings things home. And brings me home.
In these situations, I really get to see God. He pursues me and catches me, and it’s beautiful.

It’s a goal of mine to able to pursue people as well as God does. That’s a big goal, I know. But it would be great, wouldn’t it. It’s definitely something I long to strive for. Even to be able to pursue people as well as Mollie pursued those cats. She pursues people that well, too. It’s encouraging.

Mollie kept two of the cats. Sylvia and Simon. She gave Snickers to this lady who helped us when we found them. Kyle thinks the lady ate Snickers, but I won’t tell you why.

 

With Arms Wide Open

For those of you who do not know, Windy Gap is a Young Life camp in Weaverville, North Carolina… right outside Asheville.

Windy Gap is my home away from home. I’ve been coming here since I was about five months old. Chris Cockerham said that he thinks God probably spent more time creating Windy Gap. I completely agree.

Windy Gap weekends always seem to come at the perfect time. Whether it’s a hard day, a hard week, or a hard month, Windy Gap seems to know in advance, and invites me to come and take a load off.

This weekend I’m up here with the freshman Young Life leaders from the Greater Raleigh Area. It’s family camp weekend, and we’re all babysitting. This means we spend about half an hour with kids twice a day, and use the rest of our time relaxing, getting to know each other, and, for some of us, studying.

It’s been a long past few weeks for me. I’ve known this weekend was coming, but waited until the last minute to actually commit to coming. There were other possible options for this weekend, but seeing as none of them worked out, I’m here.
And that may sound like I put Windy Gap on the bottom of my list. . . a sort of “Weelllll, if nothing else works out, I guess I’ll go,” kind of thing. And I guess it was. But the great thing about Windy Gap is that it doesn’t demand your presence. It waits for you with open arms. Windy Gap doesn’t say “you have to come here, or your weekend will be terrible.” Windy Gap says “Come here when your weekend will be terrible otherwise.”

I think that God is like this. He doesn’t demand our relationship, but he’s there for it. He knows that our lives are terrible without him. Through his son Jesus he has opened his arms wide and says “Come here so your life won’t be terrible otherwise.” God cares for us in a Windy Gap way. . . times a thousand. 

Just as Windy Gap sits here waiting for to come, God waits for us. I think it must be a painful thing for him watch: his sons and daughters separated from him by their Sin, running around without a thought of him. But the Father is eternal, and eternally patient.
I once heard Chris separate the Bible into three parts. The first consisted of about two pages. God created the heavens and the earth, plants, animals, light, dark, and finally, humans. When he created humans he created us to be in everlasting communion with him.
The second part is only about a page long. The Fall of Man. Adam and Eve eat from a tree, and the human race is separated from God.
The third part is my favorite part. It’s the rest of the Bible: God’s pursuit of us. Page after page speaks of God’s work in the world, through his spirit, through prophets, and through his words and creation. Reading through the Old Testament humbles me.

Why, after turning our backs on him, would he pursue us in this way? If He were human, he should hold us contempt. After all, we betrayed him. But he never does. He constantly loves. He makes attempt after attempt to bring us, his Bride, home. Then, after years of pursuit, God makes the big move. He sends his son, God in flesh, to die on a tree for the sin of the world. 

I wish I could pursue everyone this passionately. I love relationships. They’re my favorite things in the world. But I say this as I type alone on my laptop, completely unsocial.

I want to pursue people with arms wide open. Who knows how long it might take them to come, or me to get there, but it’s sure worth the journey.

 

Over Coffee

Coffee shop people are all the same. They dress the same. They talk about the same things. Ninety percent use MacBook laptops. They all drink coffee.

There is one guy, though, who does not quite fit the mold. And by “does not quite fit the mold” I really mean “does not fit the mold at all.” I believe his name is Carlyle. That may not be how you spell it, but it’s how I will spell it for the sake of consistency.
Carlyle drives four cars. I can’t name all of them, but they all cost more than my four years of college tuition will. The most flashy is his Lamborghini. He drives his Cadillac when it rains. I think it’s the only one he ever drives more than one day consecutively.

Carlyle wears amazing suits. Yesterday it was a black and white checkered double breasted suit. The checker part was awesome. The double breasted part not so much. He has a whole wardrobe of great suits, complete with infinite amounts of shirts and ties that match perfectly.
Carlyle gels his hair. I’d put money on it that he uses the most expensive, best quality, and best smelling hair gel he can find. He probably uses half a bottle a day.
Carlyle arrives at the same coffee shop on Hillsborough street every day at 2:00 in the afternoon. He orders a shot of espresso. It might even be a double shot. I wouldn’t be surprised. He sits down, usually at one of three small tables along the wall. He either reads fancy magazines about hand guns, airplanes, or other classy subjects. Sometimes he does a crossword puzzle from the news paper. Sometimes he does both. After a few minutes one of the baristas will bring him a small cup of gelato. At 2:45, he leaves.
Carlyle has a tab at the coffee shop.

So, now that you know Carlyle better than his own mother, I will tell you why I think he is so fascinating. I think Carlyle is fascinating because he is incredibly unapproachable. He is so very different from the stereotypical “college-student-coffee-getter.” He has money, he has fancy possessions, he has nice hair. We, as poor, caffeine addicted college students can only wonder at the nature of Carlyle.

It is not as if we have not tried to relate ourselves to him. Just the other day I was sitting at a table beside his. As I began to pull out my own crossword puzzle, he began to put his up. 
“Did you finish it?” I asked.
“I’m leaving soon, you can have my table,” was his only reply.

I cowered back and hovered over my own crossword, while my friend across the table laughed at me. I would not give conversation with Carlyle a second attempt. Carlyle was too outside my comfort zone. I sipped my coffee.

How often does this happen? How often do we turn to our crossword puzzles and coffee instead of pursuing that which interests us, that which could influence us, or that which we could influence?

I was drinking coffee with a new friend last week. He’s a couple years older, and applying for jobs. He had just dropped off an application at a firm earlier that morning.
“If I get this job,” he said to me, “I will be working in a cubicle from eight to five. I don’t want to work in a cubicle from eight to five.” We then went on to talk about other career related things. Eventually it circled back around to the “want” issue.

My friend has another friend who is an English major. When asked why he was an English major, he simply replied, “because I want to write.” My friend told me he really admired that. I think that I admire it, too.

I’m sitting across the table right now from my good friend Everett. Everett is what I would call fluent in Spanish. He’s learned it well. He’s been carrying on a conversation with a guy a couple tables away (I think in class they call him “Miguel”), completely in Spanish. Neither of them speak Spanish as a first language. I am intrigued by this, because it would be much simpler for them to talk to each other in English.

I feel like a lot of time I learn something, and toss it aside. Whether the subject is math, communication, or spirituality, I seem to have a hard time applying what I learn. I think this is also a comfort zone issue. I’m so content using what I already know, and what I am good at, that I’m not interested in applying new things. I learn them, sure, but it’s much more comfortable not to use them. 

I don’t necessarily want to settle for what’s comfortable. I think that sometimes being comfortable is alright. Sometimes God puts us right where we need to be. But other times, we ignore challenges to stay where we are.

I think we should pursue Carlyle. We should get to know him for who he is, and not for how we see him.
We should study things we’re interested in, not something that will put us in a cubicle from eight to five.

We should speak spanish fluently, because it’s new and exciting. Not settle for english simply because it is easier.

I want to apply myself to what is great and awesome. I want to be encouraged by growth and learning. I want to live to the full, making use of the blessings and gifts doted on me by the Creator of the universe.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” – James 1:22

 

Ready for the Storm

I walked in. It wasn’t exactly what I would call “a dark and stormy night,” in fact, it was an early spring evening, the sun relatively high in the sky. It was, however, mostly hidden by dark thunderheads that were heaving a heavy drizzle of rain into the city.

Therefore walking in was nice. There wasn’t much of a temperature change inside the building, but it was significantly more comfortable. The storm was coming, but we were safe inside, for now.

This is significant because the storm of that Sunday was so symbolic of the current events in my personal life. It was stormy, with a heavy drizzle of rain that followed me around.  At the time I had no idea that walking through the door of this building would shelter me not only from the physical storm outside, but also from the proverbial rain inside my heart.

I would love to tell you that the things causing turmoil in my life were intense spiritual and societal problems. Unfortunately, they were a bit more cliche than that. Some might call even call it shallow, but I believe that if it were shallow it would not be causing the ruckus that it was. 

The parallel between the storms of that day (the physical and the emotional) was not something I immediately realized. In fact, it wasn’t until about twenty minutes later that I heard my pastor pray “Thank you for bringing us in out of the storm,” or something along those lines. At this point I realized how significant the storm was outside. It would be something that God would do. He loves symbolism, I believe.

This church service was not just a church service. It was a shelter. 

 

The storm obviously ended. The one outside I mean. The weather, however, is still not perfect. It’s been a couple days, and it’s still raining off and on. The sun comes in and out, too. 

Similarly, I’m still dealing with the same internal issues. I have fears about them, and they keep me up at night. But I feel protected and encouraged. I’m given hope and faith daily that the storm will indeed pass. As the sun reminds us that the rain is not eternal, the Word so reminds us that our fears are also not eternal. In the same way that the Lord will roll away the clouds, he will also roll away that which causes pain in our life.

 

I think it is also worth noting that this physical rain is relieving the city of the drought we have been experiencing these last few months. Although it can be miserable, it is fixing a problem. Once this problem has been satisfied, the rain will leave.

 

Lastly, I believe that the most beautiful part of this this analogy is that the Lord in Heaven creates and controls both present storms. The creator of the weather, of the North and the South, of the warmth and cold, is the same creator of Joy.

Remember My Chains

Hey guys. Welcome to “Remember My Chains.” My name is Win Pratt, and this is just my little blog. Since I’m sure you all know what that is, I won’t waste your time bothering to explain it.

As for the title, “Remember My Chains,” it comes from the last verse in the book of Collosians – Collosians 4:18, to be exact. It reads “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you” (ESV). Some versions say “Remember my imprisonment” (NAS), and “Remember my bonds” (KJV).

I find this significant for two reasons. Paul is prison, writing to the church at Colosse. The majority of this letter is encouragement, teaching, and guiding. But Paul humbles himself at the end. He says “As you go about growing in Christ, remember that I am still in prison. Don’t forget my condition. Pray for me.” He does not put himself above the people he writes to. He knows he needs them just as much, if not more, than they need him.

Also, I believe Paul may be using this statement to encourage the people of Colosse. He says “I’m writing this myself, and I’m in prison, remember? Think about how much more you can do being free to walk and speak. Your ministry has so much potential, and is worth sacrifices.” It’s easy for me, as an American, to take for granted my freedom. Paul encourages me to remember his chains and put to use the gift of freedom given to me by the Lord.

Now, I’m horrible with conclusions, so I’ll just say thank you for stopping by, and that I appreciate your time. If I don’t know you, Email me and introduce yourself. I’d love to meet you. Stay safe.