Wonka Was Right

Remember how in the original Willy Wonka movie he kept saying, "So much time so little to do!  Strike that.  Reverse it?" 
Well if not...he totally did. 
People (and preachers) usually like to say that, "We have so little time on this earth, so we should make every moment count!"  I gotta be honest with y'all.  When we really think about it, this is kinda wrong.  Sure, we have a ridiculously small time on earth...when you compare it to eternity!  But when we consider just plain averages, we see that we're doing pretty good.  The life expectancy for people in America is something like 150 years [citation needed].  We have quite a bit of time to do whatever we want with it.  If that weren't true, then why do you think we have 300 tv channels with 24 hours of crap programming just to fill our boring lives, especially when you consider that half of these shows are made up of watching other people's boring lives? 
We have an insane amount of time.  Not that we're promised all of it, mind you, but if all of us just live to the average life expectancy, we can expect to lead long and (questionably) fulfilling lives.  The problem seems to be, however, that we have so much time and little to do!  (See, told you he was right)  So some people go to work.  I guess they've gotten used to eating.  And so have their kids.  Some people go to school so they can learn and then one day go to work.  At this point, most of them aren't all that used to eating quite yet.  Some people meditate.  Others just watch wrestling and women's football (yes, it's a thing).  So many options! 
Now let me ask you a question.  When you were a kid and you wanted to go stay over at your friend's house for the night, how did you ask your parents?  Let me take a guess, here.  I'll bet 9/10 (conservative estimate) of you would have said, "Mom?  Dad?  Can I go spend the night at Jenny's?"  If you were a little boy, this question probably got a no.  If you were 15, it probably got you grounded.  And what did you do this weekend?  "I spent this weekend watching football?"  If you had one day left to live, what would you do?  "I'd spend time with the people I love...and write an angry letter to CBS for cancelling 'The Unit' in the fourth season." 
We have this concept that "spending time" is how we're supposed to look at our lives.  I had a Sunday School teacher once ask us how we would spend $86,400 in a single day if we had to, and there was no saving allowed.  The general conceit of the question was that there are 86,400 seconds in a day and that we should plan to spend them all wisely.  It was a great question and provided some real thought, but there's that nagging concept again.  That we should spend our time like a thing we're given and just have to throw away on junk food and bad movies (which is exactly how I like to spend my Saturday nights, oddly enough). 
In Ephesians 5, the same chapter responsible for bringing us the question, "What's the wise thing to do?" we see someone offer a slightly different concept of time.  Of our time.

Ephesians 5:15-16 (NKJV)

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, for the days are evil.

What's this?  We have to...redeem...the time?  We can't just spend it?  There's this natural conflict at work between redeeming and spending.  If I give you $500, you can just go off and do whatever you want with it.  Sounds nice, right?  But what if I give you a ticket good for $500 no questions asked?  You could just walk up to any bank and hand it to them.  What's the difference here?  Is the end result any different?  Just what's the big idea? 
If I give you $500 (and don't hold your breath), you've got all this money right there in your hand.  Piece of cake.  Just run off and spend it however you wish because it's good for anything.  But if I give you a ticket worth $500 at a cash register, how much good does that do you?  Can you give that ticket to your grocer and ask for change?  No.  You've gotta go and redeem that ticket first.  What you've been given is inherently worthless.  It means absolutely nothing until you get it redeemed.  Until you take that meaningless paper and turn it into something of value. 
That is the difference between how we view time and how scripture viewed time.  How God views time.  Some translations, the NLT for instance, translate this particular phrase "redeem the time" as "Make the most of every opportunity.." because that is what it truly means to redeem the time.  It's like we've been given something that is inherently of no good to anyone.  However, with that gift of time, we have the immense opportunity to make something beautiful.  Something valuable.  We can take what is given us and give it back to God, or the people around us, and even ourselves, as something that will actually be worthwhile.  If you really want to know what a man is all about, give him 24 hours.  Give him a day off to use however he sees fit.  What he does with that time is perhaps the most telling indicator of what kind of man he is.  You can tell what kinds of things are important to him and what people he sees worth being around.  You can tell what kind of civic or social responsibility he feels.  Does this man understand the value of time? 
We have been given the chance to use our vast allotment of time in whatever manner we choose.  Shall we spend it?  Or shall we redeem it?  We must take control of the hours and redeem them for noble and worthy purposes.  We cannot squander the time we are given when there is still so much to be done and so many ways we can redeem our time that will improve this world and will glorify the Kingdom of God. 
Now today is Labor Day, so feel free to spend it relaxing and preparing for a week of hard work.  Watch some movies on TBS/Peachtree TV, they put good stuff on today.  Grill out and eat some burgers.  But as you rest up for the days to come, don't forget to redeem the time with family and loved ones around you.  Consider how you might redeem the week ahead.  Think of ways to redeem your time otherwise spent wasting away in languid boredom. 
There is not a single day that comes with the promise of being worthwhile.  We are given so much time on this Earth that every second we spend wondering what to do or not caring about what we do is another minute we could have redeemed making this world a better place, help the people around us, or just help ourselves to live better, more meaningful and useful lives.  And when we really think about it, we're kind of fools to spend our time wasting such a magnificent gift that we've been blessed with. 
And with every hour we've already spent on this earth, maybe it's time to redeem some.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Adam Wynn likes to spend his time making people think about words they probably don't fully comprehend, like "redeem."  When he's not doing this, he works as an intern at the Baptist Collegiate Ministries at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.  And other times he spends less time by typing abbreviations.  He is the author of the wildly popular, as of yet unpublished novel, Will Baker is Dead.  In case you weren't sure, it's about someone dying.  He also has to keep his emotional complexes in check by reading nice comments from the blogosphere and shunning individuals who deign to question his literary and meta-literary (?) genius.  You can follow him on Twitter (but not in real life) at @42Cobras or find him on Facebook (but not at work/home) as Adam Wynn, in case you happened to miss the obvious conclusion of such circumstances.  His Alma Mater is the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs) in Athens, he is from Dacula, Georgia, and currently lives in Atlanta.  He's also grown rather fond of Rome, GA and a lovely young lady who lives there (Ivey shout-out).  If you want to buy his book, write your congressman and tell them to write their lawyers to write their literary agent friends they made fun of in law school and get them to represent it. 

A Dream Worth Failing At

"What would you strive to do if you knew you could not fail?"

That's easy.  World domination.
I mean seriously.  Why not?  If you can't fail, go for it!  After all, isn't that the dream at the heart of all man's accomplishments?  To truly own the world?  I think so.  So yeah.  If I couldn't fail, I would achieve world domination.  Why?  Because I can.  What more do you need?  Logic?
But here's the question.  Why don't more people actually try this?  It's been a while since anyone really put any effort into world domination, and I'm pretty sure they were a dirty, dirty communist (Gorbachev was a sneak).  We used to see it all the time.  From the Khans of Mongol fame to the Romans and Alexander the Great.  Then in the modern era you saw men like Napoleon and Hitler and Stalin.  We often consider these men horrible for what they did (and rightfully so), but you can't say they didn't go for it (or at least Napoleon, because I really don't want to heap any praise on Hitler or Stalin).  So if the answer to this question is so obvious, why is it then that nobody really ever tries anymore?
The answer is quite simple, really, and we've already proven it above.  What do we think of those three men who tried to dominate the world?  We think of them as tyrants.  As evil men.  And for the most part, we only remember them for their drastic failure.  Because when it comes to great feats such as world domination, failure is not just an option, but it is an option with near eternal consequences.  If you fail at it, you tank.  Napoleon is mostly remembered for "Waterloo."  Hitler is remembered as the man who killed six million Jews and killed himself in a bunker to escape justice.  Stalin...well, he tends to get off easy in history, but we'll just assume people mock him for dying of natural causes while only being the dictator of the largest country in the world (by area) and not the rest of it as a whole.  They failed, and they are mocked for it.

But if they had succeeded!  Imagine how these conversations would go these days.  We could all be speaking French and enjoying great coffee or the world's finest pastries.  Or we could all be speaking German and enjoying leiderhosen.  Or...people would just say, "то был такой позор, что Сталин умер вскоре после завоевания мира, а невосходящие к бессмертию, как мы ожидали."  (Just like that)  

My point, you may ask?  Here it is.  That question that people like to tout as so inspirational?  It's crap.  It means nothing.  Obviously, if you could not fail at whatever task you took to, you would take to the greatest undertaking possible.  Obviously.  The real question, I tell you, is what will you do knowing that failure is always looming?  (And you can read it in English)  Sure.  World domination could be fun.  However, I'm not gonna try it simply because I do not want to be hanged for treason.  That thought does not appeal to me very much.  It's not worth it.  I will, however, keep trying other things.  I am all about writing me some books.  I am all about that.  I know I may never reach my goal of being a published author (this doesn't count), but I am still going to try because even at the risk of utter failure, I could not tolerate myself knowing I did not try.  This task, to me, is worth failing.  It is worth taking a big fat "swing and a miss" if that is what is to become of me.  And who knows?  I might just succeed.  

What do you find worth failing at?  That is what I want you to ask yourself right now.  What would you do anyway knowing that failure is the only possible outcome?  What calling, or what cause, is noble enough that it would merit your life's sacrifice knowing that you would never fully succeed?  Because this is what charities are.  The world will always have its poor and its hungry.  We will not end these things.  As long as this world turns, there will always be death.  And sickness.  We cannot win that fight.  Still, are these not great battles worth undertaking?  Worth trying to fight?  I think so.  

It is easy for us to say that we would cure cancer or end child prostitution if we knew success was inevitable. Yet the real way to measure the mettle of a man or woman is to see if they are willing and able to fight this fight even though it will never end.  Even if failure is the only way it will end, ultimately, they will take that mantle upon their own shoulders.  

As Christians, we are tasked with delivering the Gospel to all corners of the world to all people.  It is our calling to bring the people of this world to Christ.  The problem is that we will fail.  There are going to be people in this world who do not hear the call on their life.  Scripture tells us this.  It is a perpetually losing battle.  There is no way that all people will come to a relationship in Christ.  It doesn't mean that the ones who do are not worth it, however, that is not what I am saying.  Any man or woman who comes to salvation through Jesus Christ is a cherished soul.  But so to are the ones who never will, and that is what makes it tragic.  

Now I don't want to completely take focus away from the personal aspect of all this with the global and the grand, but they are not so greatly separated.  We all have personal goals that are likely to yield nothing but failure.  Okay.  Let's try to make it work.  As citizens of this world, we have a responsibility to care for the impoverished and the hurting.  Although we can never end their suffering on the whole, we must try to do what we can.  As members of the body of Christ, we have our own impossible mission that is well worth the task.  Accepting a challenge is easy when the outcome is certain success.  It is by definition no longer a challenge.  The hardest mantle to take on is the one we will never complete, but there is honor in the fight.  There is pride in knowing that we have accepted the fight against failure, and we have deemed failure worth our efforts.  I encourage you today to take on something that you may very well fail, but do so knowing that your trial is not wasted.  The only failure which is unacceptable is the one we do not strive against.  

Et si vos es curiosus, si sum vincere mundum, vos omnes latine loqui. Donecsollicitudin nunc.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Adam Wynn is the author of 42Cobras Publishing (what you just read) and the still sorta-kinda not finished internet novel Will Baker is Dead, originally published by 42Cobras Publishing (what you just read).  When he is not out tackling the world's failures, Adam works as the intern at Georgia State University's very own Baptist Collegiate Ministries and he lives in a National Park.  In case you were curious, this does not make him a Park Ranger, although he is still fighting the Park Services ruling on that matter.  He is a two-time graduate of the University of Georgia with degrees in English and English Education, meaning you have no right to question his grammar or spelling or lifestyle.  He speaks English gooder'n you and has the paper to prove it.  Twice.  He enjoys Braves Baseball, Georgia Football, and The Eton Wall Game, all while speaking in third person.  You enjoy second person.  

Lawn Maintenance vs. Life Maintenance (or "Why Moses Was Kind of an Idiot")

Ah.  The birds are chirping.  The trees are blooming.  The squirrels have resumed running out into the road.

And the grass is growing.

That's right, what many of you have feared seeing, the grass is growing once more.  Our perennial friend, the green green grass of home, has again started poking it's little verdigris head out of the ground, and it is our job to once a week decapitate the little punks.  And we do it with gusto.  Because we can.  I choose to do it with a John Deere 720 Z Zero-Turn hunk of a lawn tractor (or as I call, "The Pod Racer" as to how similar it is in design to the pod racers of "Phantom Menace" fame/infamy).

Well last week I was out on the Pod Racer cutting the grass when this idea occurred to me.  It went something like this: "You know, I used to hate cutting the grass.  Now, I kinda look forward to getting out here on the Pod Racer.  And I take pride in cutting this grass.  That seems really grown up of me."  It was something like that, except probably less formal and more blurb-esque.

But its true!  I used to absolutely despise cutting the grass.  I would take Dylan Thomas' sagacious advice and rage, rage against the machine (haha) that was the lawnmower.  But I would do it.  Now, ever since I've graduated to the big-boy toy and get to use the riding mower, I've calmed down a bit.  And, as I said earlier, I have even learned to take pride in cutting the grass.  When I finish the job, I look out on it and say, "My, that looks good.  I should do this professionally," and then I kick myself for ever thinking such a fool-hardy thought.

But right now, if you're a regular reader here (in which case I should say hi, two of you), you're asking yourself and me the obvious question.  "Where's the metaphor, Adam?  Where's the brilliant insight you gained from having this mystical thought whilst killing grass?"  And, if you're at least half astute, you'll have noticed what I said in the title.  But if not, here it goes.

When I thought about this transition in my life, this change from the immense hatred I felt for cutting the grass to the newfound joy I have in seeing a lawn well mowed, it occurred to me.  We do that with our lives.  A lot.  When we're kids, we have these grand dreams of what we will accomplish one day and what we can be.  We dream of being astronauts and we dream of being Presidents.  Or someone truly great, like a writer.  We dream of the grand things we will achieve in this world, and we envision the day that this world shivers when it sees us coming, because it knows that something powerful is about to happen.

Then, time goes by, and life falls a little short of our expectations, so we bide our time doing something else.  We bide our time as accountants or lay-people.  Or we take jobs that are not exactly what we envisioned ourselves doing.  We say it will just be a temporary thing until we get our life on the road, or until our ship comes in, which is odd because those are two completely different forms of transportation employed in that there metaphor.

And do we ever break free from the temporary confines of average citizenry?  No.  We find comfort there, and we learn to take pride in our work done.  We start performing life maintenance.  Now I get it, people grow, their dreams change, and they gain responsibilities.  They have to do certain things.  But I have to wonder.  In what order does that happen?  Do our dreams change, leading us to step down out of the batter's box and into the score keeper's booth, or do we accept our place and try to fit our goals to match it?

Now speaking of the title, let me bring up a little fellow named Moses.  Some of you, especially those of you who may have been in my Bible Study groups in the past, are probably familiar with my love for Exodus Ch. 3 and the story of the Burning Bush and God speaking to Moses through it.  Here, we move one chapter to the right and look at Exodus Ch. 4.  This past Wednesday night at "The Loft," Hebron's College and Twenty-Somethings ministry, our college pastor (there's that shout-out you wanted, Rando!) talked a little about this chapter and the lunacy of Moses' response to God.  Let's take a look.

Here is Moses talking to God I AM through flaming shrubbery.  If that alone wasn't awesome enough, God had already told Moses that he was standing on Holy Ground, turned the staff in his hand into a snake, then almost simultaneously struck Moses with leprosy and instantly cured it.  So Moses had seen the Power of God at work before his eyes, as potent and obvious as I'm sure the putrid presence of sheep smell was on Moses' cloak.  Yet look at what he says:

Exodus 4:10-13

But Moses pleaded with the Lord, "O Lord, I'm not very good with words.  I never have been, and I'm not now, even though you have spoken to me.  I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled."  

11 Then the Lord asked moses, "Who makes a person's mouth?  Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see?  Is it not I, the Lord?   12 Now go!  I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say."  

13 But Moses again pleaded, "Lord, please!  Send anyone else."

So let me get this straight.  The Voice of God had just literally and audibly (and I guess pyroverbally?) spoken to Moses and told him of the great thing he would do.  There was no question.  God had told Moses exactly what He was going to do through him and how, even going so far as to provide him with miraculous signs to show the people.  And what does Moses do?  He asks God to "Send anyone else."  Moses has spent the last four decades herding sheep up in the mountainous deserts, and he is not interested in taking on this great and wonderful task that God has asked him to do.  He has gotten so comfortable in just maintaining this life that he is not willing to step out and follow the call that God has placed on his life.

And I think we do that all the time.  As Rando said, God has called all of us to do great things.  Have you ever heard the saying, "What would you strive to do if you knew you could not fail?"  When we are acting in accordance with the will of God, moving as He has called us to do, we cannot fail.  And we will not fail.  We will not fail because the God of the universe has willed our actions to success.  God will not call us to do something that we will fail at, because He is calling us to succeed.  He is calling us to fulfill his plans, so why would He want us to fail?  If you still need convincing, look what happened when Moses stepped out and followed God's call.  He lead the people of Israel out of bondage, slavery that they had been kept in for over four-hundred years.  He was the toast of the town (until they got stuck at the river banks and the people doubted him and God again, but that's another story) and he was the heralded man of God.  Heck, we're still talking about him today.  All because he eventually was willing to follow the call that God had placed on him.

So what does this look like for us?  We're not all bound to be famous.  Surely not.  We are not all bound to be great statesmen or voices of healing to the masses.  Some of us will be, yes, and if that is your dream, and if that is the dream to which God is leading you, then my stars, go out and do it.  But if not, what should you do?

The simple answer is that you should seek God's call, and you should seek your heart out for it.  But the more complex answer looks something like this.  I graduated from the University of Georgia with two degrees, one of them in English Education.  For a full academic year, I spent day in and day out with people who dreamed of being HS English teachers.  They knew that they had been called to teach, and they were going to work their tails off to do it.  And they were going to be the best English teachers they could be.  It was their dream. For me, however, it was not.  I won't lie, I eventually came to the point of understanding that I was in that program where I should be, but it was not God's call that I spend my life as an English teacher.  I fully believe that my calling is to write and to let my words reach people and hopefully help them.  Does that mean that my calling is better than theirs?  Or that I am more important than them because I don't plan on teaching?  No.  Those people have dreamed of this day, when they would be called teachers, and they are going to be great.  It is on them to be the best teachers they can be, and they will change lives if they do it.  I did the math, even as an English teacher.  With an average classroom size of 30 students, spending a full 30 year career teaching, you will directly reach over 10,000 students (assuming you're working in a school where you teach five periods a day, as I was at the time).  That doesn't even take into account the other random students you will see on a daily basis but never teach.  With that alone, you have already been in contact for a serious amount of time with as many people as experts say most of us will have as acquaintances in an average lifetime.

But we don't want an average lifetime.  We want a great one.  We want a life where we are reaching people and changing their lives.  We want a lifetime where we are seeing things happen that defy human experience and expectation.  That is what we are to be striving for.  Moses grew up in the seat of royalty, expecting to have influence over countless numbers of people.  In time, however, he gave that dream up for the hills of the desert where he was walking around with sheep all day.  Now I'll admit that God had brought him to this place for a reason, and that Moses was even doing his best with the task God had given him, but it was not where he was supposed to stay.  And when God called him away, Moses was about to give up his true calling to be just another sheep herder.  Do you ever wonder how many chapters of the Bible could have been written about the people God wanted to do things who flaked out on them?  Do you want to other side of Moses' coin, when you have been asked to lead the people out of Egypt?  I sure as heck don't.  I don't want to spend my life knowing that God asked me to do a great work and I instead chose to do an average one.  I am not content with just maintaining, with cutting the grass.  To borrow a quote, I want to live deeply and suck out the marrow of life, if that is what God calls me to do.  I want to soar over the rooftops of the world and sound my barbaric yawp, and do it to the best of my ability as God calls.  I ask you to join me in doing whatever it is God has called you to, and doing it the way that only you can.  With gusto, and with greatness, engage the life God has for you.  Move beyond maintenance and into majesty.

Author's Note: Adam Wynn enjoys staring out into the fog of a mountain morning and sipping warm glasses of sweet tea over hot scrambled eggs breakfast.  He also spends time writing, blogging, and cutting the grass in his Dacula, GA home.  Except for that last one, which he actually does outside of his Dacula, GA home.  He is currently unemployed and spends his time editing the Southern style mystery thriller, Will Baker is Dead, which is available in part on this website.  He also spends the time working on other short stories and looking for work as a writer, a newspaper page designer, coffee barista, or whatever someone feels like paying him to do within reason.  He also tweets and would encourage you to follow him on Twitter at @42Cobras, or you can just connect with him on Facebook  at Adam Wynn (his name, shouldn't be hard to find).  He is a huge Georgia Bulldogs fan, along with most Georgia sports teams including the Braves, Falcons, Thrashers, Gwinnett Gladiators, and the like.  Adam also enjoys answering fan mail, so please feel free to leave messages on the blog saying what you think about it.  Also, please forgive him for typing this note in third person, as it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.  

Assassins and Such

Hello, faithful readers (if any exist yet). It's me again. I've been involved in a stressful/tense game of Assassins lately. I was considering letting myself get out of it, but then I was nearly taken out on Monday, and the adrenaline rush of escaping the (not so really) fatal Nerf dart of fate made me change my mind.
Georgia Football is getting to the difficult part of the schedule. I think we'll take LSU, but it's gonna be tough...and close! I'm thinking late game heroics by a matured Stafford will save the game. Also, I think it'll give us the confidence we need to go in and defeat Florida for the second year in a row, for the first time since like 1989 or so. We'll see! Our overarching goal of a Nat'l Championship isn't over yet. The BCS likes us well enough right now, putting us at No. 7, ahead of Florida! I'm glad that system is a little smarter than the voters that have fallen in love with that ugly orange and blue. But that's just me.
Okay, that's enough about me. This first story I'm gonna share with y'all is one of my earliest shorts. I really like it. Yes, it is vaguely inspired by true events, but keep in mind I do mean VAGUELY! Just read it, tell me what you think, and enjoy it. I hope you're a little richer for the experience. If you're actually reading this, feel free to comment on it. Also, don't forget the Hindi Word of the Week! Since no one guessed (or even read) last week's it's gonna be open until I get a guess, but preferably a correct one. Here goes!

The Bus Ride

John sat on the bench awaiting his turn to get on the bus. The waning moon slowly faded behind the clouds and the streetlights cast a bland orange along the ground. As the bus pulled up, John made his way to the door and sat down methodically two seats down and to the left on the driver’s side. The driver played a track from an old Dave Mathews CD as the passenger sat on quietly waiting to get home.
Across from him tonight, however, he saw a new thing. He saw a woman sitting there whom he had never before noticed on his route home. John never was one for conversing with females. He had a habit of freezing up and becoming even more introverted when he tried. O, but she’s so beautiful, he thought to himself. If perhaps he could only say hello, perhaps they could become friends. John had few friends, and virtually knew not a single woman.
He thought to himself how nice it might be to have someone he could talk to on this lonely road home. He thought how much he would enjoy not having to sit alone so quiet as the rest of the passengers just accepting the dark night ahead of them. He thought to himself how much kinder the road would be were there someone sharing it with him. O, he thought to himself.
O, he thought to himself.
John stood up, and moved across the row. He saw himself sitting down next to the lady and even then prepared to speak! “Hello, m’am. I’m John. I don’t believe I have ever seen you on this route before. Are you visiting?”
It turns out, she had lived in the area for a few months, but always managed to catch an earlier bus. It just so happened however, that she had to work late this particular evening and thus was there for John to talk to. Her name was Beatrice.
The two sat and talked until it was time for John to get off at his apartment. When he stood to leave, he feigned forgetfulness, saying he was getting off far too soon. So, he and Beatrice had more time to talk. Eventually, her stop came too. Apparently, they both were rather forgetful people, because they stayed on the bus for a few stops more talking together about all sorts of things from lakehouses to European vacations. O, the dreams those two conjured while sitting on that bus.
Unfortunately, the bus routes are shorter than their ability to talk. The driver made his last stop and forced the two off the bus. Now, being devoid of a bus and a long way from home, the two suffered through walking each other home. And a more pleasurable sojourn has never before been known. This whimsical pair conspired up fantasies of winter snows and summer nights and secretly planned to join the other on each of them.
Yet still, the night was too short, for they could only stand outside each other’s doors, which they walked to and from at least seven times by daybreak, at which point they finally made it up to sleep. After about an hour of sleep, however, both John and Beatrice walked to the bus stop together, and rode in to work just as refreshed as if they’d been dreaming all night. Though she was exhausted by lunch, Beatrice decided to work late again. So, she and John met up on the bus.
This routine continued for many weeks, until John finally asked her to go out one night on the weekend. Thrilled to the soul, Beatrice dressed up in her finest clothes and jewels, an astounding array of beauty and form, to meet John for dinner. This became the routine as well, although the locale changed. Occasionally they’d meet each other for dinner at the other’s apartment and have a simple evening with some salad, a nice roasted chicken, and a little white wine before an old, cheesy chick-flick from the couch. Beatrice and John fell so deep in love over this time, and John was tired of having to say goodnight each time the movie ended. So, he did what any intelligent man would do, and bought a ring.
It wasn’t long before he and Beatrice met up one night at the same restaurant they had first ventured together. Afterwards, John led her on an unknown walk to a ratty little bus shelter on the corner of Love and Idleness. It was at this spot he bowed on bended knee and poured such beautiful verse from his mouth as he gave her the ring. With his enchanting woo, she had no choice but to say yes! O, these two were in love in such a way as few had been before. John knew that his life was for the first time where he wanted it to be. True happiness was in his view, and better so, in his grasp.
The wedding was held on an idyllic, quiet day in June with friends and family adorned in summer dress, with the bride still outshining them all in the most gorgeous, purest white. John watched her walk down the aisle toward him. His heart could barely believe he had arrived at this moment. Their new lives together were going to be wonderful. He knew that they would do all of those things they promised back on those nights with the bus.
And sure enough, they did. John and Beatrice took a few years before having children to do all of those things they had dreamed of, from spending a week at the lakehouse, to traveling Europe, winters in Montana, and summers at the beach. Those years with just the two of them were as a dream that prolonged itself every morning they woke up together. Every moment made John more happy than the one before. Finally, when the time came to have children, they had two lovely little girls and beautiful boy. All three of them grew up to be smart, caring, and wonderful children that blessed their parents endlessly, despite the occasional speeding ticket or bad boyfriend. Life was beautiful.
One day, they wondered where the time had gone. Their children were grown, with the youngest just finishing college. John looked back on each day gone by with a glow in his eye and a joy that he never expected to be. Life was a perfect road for him ever since that night on the bus.
Even the most perfect dream, however, is not without flaw. There came a time when Beatrice found something that scared John and her both to a realization that life could not go on like this. She was to spend the next months in a hospital trying to defeat this cancer in her chest that he prayed would disappear. Sure enough, John spent every waking moment by her bed. He would not tolerate to have her left alone even for the blink of an eye. It came a day when they knew the dream was over.
“I love you, John. I am sorry that I had to put you through all of this. If only we could have avoided it,” he heard her scrape out with a few meager breaths left.
“No. I love you so much, Beatrice. I would rather have spent this time with you in tears for all the joy we had, than to think of my life without you. And to think of you with no one here during all of this! Do not regret it for an instant, love.” John held her hand so tight that his own knuckles were turning white. He refused to let her go. He sat in the night with a broken spirit, but a calm in knowing that all was for the better. And in an instant, a sound came that turned the course of his entire life askew.
The brakes squealed aloud in a manner that would jostle a deaf man. John sat straight up and looked around. There was the thing sitting across from him, just as she had been all along. The man was at his stop, which John would recognize even in a warped daze. So, he got off the bus, still his ears writhing of that old Dave Mathews chorus, truly mis-given advice to heed he was sure: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow…we die.

Adam W.

So, that's that. I hope y'all enjoyed it. Time for me to head on outta here. Have a good one, and I look forward to updating next time with something else.

Hindi Word of the Week: अस्सस्सिं

Hint: Do they speak Hindi in Bangkok, because I hear it's dangerous there.

Welcome! What Do You Think?

Hey, y'all. So...this is a new blog. Obviously. Don't really have time to post anything long or substantial right now, I just wanted to announce my presence to the world and hope that y'all come visit me often. Also, I hope y'all will take time to explore the blog. There isn't much in the way of excitement...yet! But, I will try to have a "Hindi Word of the Week (or however often I post)" just because I like reader involvement.
To add a little substance before you get involved, this is a little bit about me. I'm a third-year student at the University of Georgia. I love Bulldog Football and Athens, GA. I'm from a small town in rural GA called Dacula. If you're not familiar, that's okay. But I promise you, it's a great place to be. I love it! I love to write, which is why I decided to actually put this up in the first place. I also love McDonald's and Campton's fried chicken. If you've never been there, I must insist that you look it up online (I'm sure you can find Campton's somewhere) and make the trip immediately. It's a small restaurant between Winder, GA and Monroe, GA, but much closer to Monroe. I don't care how far the trip is for you, do it. Even my international readers (ha...ha)!
I love Movies. My current collection of DVDs, mostly $5 DVDs at Wal-Mart or previously viewed from Blockbuster, is about 75 or so. It doesn't grow much while I'm home for the summer, because I don't make many trips to Wal-Mart, but now that I'm back in Athens, I've picked up a couple. I especially enjoy MAKING movies, though. Some friends of mine and I have incorporated a little "production company." We're not constantly working, but when we do, it's a thing of beauty. I've also been privileged to work with GTV, or Housing 12. This is the resident housing television station at the University of Georgia. So, I spend alot of time around cameras/people with cameras. It's fun for me.
I especially enjoy Country Music, which might or might not make me sound like a redneck. Don't really care. It's good stuff.
Lastly, I am a Christian. I mention this because it is a huge part of my life. My God has defined my life more than anything else. Jesus Christ saved my life (read: physical/spiritual) about five and a half years ago (May 2003) and has since been doing an amazing work in me, especially lately.
I work with the Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) at UGA trying to help Freshmen grow in their faith, as well as the general goal of reaching this campus for Christ. At the same time, though I know what I believe and I will not be shaken on that, I try to listen to people and not ignore or demean their beliefs. It's a tough balance, or so people think at least, but it is very much possible. Treat people like people, and you'll get a long way.
So, now that you know a little more about me, I hope you'll enjoy checking back frequently and seeing what's going on over here. I'm not really sure how frequently I'll update (if ever, knowing me), but I hope you enjoy what you get. Even if this is all it is. Good luck on today's Hindi word, and GO DAWGS! SINK THE 'DORES!
Hindi Word of the Week: बुल्ल्डोग
Hint for HWotW: I promise you, this word isn't orange.

PS! Let me add that this blog is named "42Cobras" for a very specific reason. About a month ago, one of my old professors was giving a reading in Athens. I went to hear it, and afterwards, some folks (including a fellow blogger who is much more advanced and familiar with this process, go read him, link at the bottom) were asking him if he had any published work. Well, he said that a website had published some of his poems, and we should go read it at 42opus.com. I don't hear well, and could've sworn he said "42cobras." So, I decided that I would get a website called 42cobras.com. Although I'm still only at blogspot, I've made a huge step in getting this process completed. We'll see what happens!