Men On Mission

I prepared long, hard, and thoroughly for this trip. The only glitch was that my shoes has gone somewhat closer to death unexpectedly. But it's patched, and I expect them to survive another 48 hours at least. And that's all I need from them. At the end of today, Andrew was pretty much knocked out cold. I've been going out and about more and longer than he had, and ate less and more erratically. My only advantage over him was that I had longer and better preparation. But apart from that, any other day it could've been me. As my shoes creep closer to their demise, I understand full well that I was not very far from going down the drain myself and killing this trip I have so looked forward to.

I can easily put myself down as a man on a mission. I came to grab as much as I can throughout the week. So much that it surprised me how stiff I've become when some random people said hy to me today. I was easier to talk to when I was in the office compared to today. As the day descended, so was people down to the arena. The group got scattered all over the place. I was on my own, and I ended up sitting along with a bunch of kids from Planetshakers. Well, they're not really kids, but anybody who's still surprised to find out I'm 26 these days is still a kid in my book. First, a girl talked to me. Asked her where she's from, then she asked me who I came with. I said there were eight of us but we got separated, thus explaining my repeated scanning of the seats and rows around me. Why didn't I call them? I was running out of credit. Upon this answer, she produced her cellphone and proceeded to offer it to me. I said no thanks, I'll just see them in the hotel, I got keys anyway. About ten minutes later, another one from their group came around, sat beside me, and started talking to me. Asked her same question, she asked me same question, answered her the same answer, and she proceeded to do the same as her compatriot from before. I'll not let it pass unnoticed that I was utterly and completely defeated. I thought I was a kind enough sort of guy all these years, but in the face of these strangers I was a complete fool of a cold evil man. The man on the mission has been defeated by some girls just having fun.

I wondered for a while what's so great about Joel Osteen. For all I knew, he was the guy with the kindest smile in all those Christian books, so much was the nice guy image that I wasn't particularly interested. My dad said something about him some time ago, I don't quite remember. Truthfully, tonight he didn't say anything most people don't already know. But his stories and his take on these things, and personally to me, the simplicity of these stories, they hit me hard. So now I know what's so special about Joel Osteen, and that is how simple this guy and his message is, and yet how powerful simple things are in the hands of the right people.

Speaking of stories, a huge part of what I get out of this week is how the stories have impacted me. They're just stories. But great storytellers telling great stories, they hit me hard. Everybody got stories. Not everybody can tell them, but that doesn't change the fact that that means everybody got something in them that can make impact on other people. It's just about telling them. I used to be a good storyteller, not so much anymore now. I stopped telling stories when I got no more stories to tell. But maybe, just maybe, maybe it's not all that hard to make a difference in people's lives, if you only have enough patience to listen to their stories. That heart and that patience are some things I've lost. Thus, my original point when I met those Planetshakers kid. I had become somewhat closed and self-preserving, to the point of untrusting.

So I guess it's high time I turn that around little by little, and start listening to stories again.