A Curve Ball

Recently I had to write a short story for my English class. It was a good chance to write solely for the purpose of being creative. I was not trying to prove an authors thesis, defend the Constitution, or state my opinion on the health care chaos. It was just my mind running free. I decided to post it just the throw a curve ball, I am allowed to do that, here is it.

An Epic not unlike Odysseus

Routine can break a man to pieces, like a rock subjugated to the restless and ceaseless ebb of the sea-
At the same time, the same place, completing the same painstaking task, everyday, you could always find the tireless man grinding away at the earth. He based the schedule of his life not around the hour of the day, the day of the week, the week of the month, the month of the year, or even the season, but rather on the task to be done. His life was a perpetual ‘to-do’, a never ending circuit of routine. He longed for a salvation- to know the time- to be free from the shackles of routine. One day he left the grindstone of the earth that was his life, and ran away with his mistress Lady Night and her partner Sir Day. He wondered far and wide, high and low. He followed the desires of his heart, and lusts of his soul. He followed the curvature of the earth to the black abyss. He walked the boarders of land and sea; he found the place where the heavens gently touch the tallest peaks. He rode waves not yet formed, and roamed with animals not yet named. His carelessness knew no end, yet his freedom knew no beginning. The touch of Lady Night did not feel so warm, and the company of Sir Day was not so exuberating. With the prompting of the late morning breeze, he left on an epic journey great enough to challenge Odysseus himself, a journey to find freedom. He drank from the fountain of youth, and ate from the tree of knowledge. Yet, life still remained shroud a fog of disillusionment. Looking for some answer in the night sky he realized that he could never run away from the one he ran away with. Man finally understood that regardless of how far he ran, he would always be a captive to Lady Night and Sir Day.

On deck, the 2nd Amendment under fire, and the power of being a government teacher.

Hope is not a political talking point.

• 148,000 plus acres burnt


• 50 homes lost


• 13.6 million dollars in damages


• 2 Fire fighters lost forever

Wednesday morning I awoke to the heavy down-fall of ash, like a snow storm, and a thick blanket of smoke that choked out the sun. The Station fire, one of many fires burning in California at the time,was rapidly approaching our valley, and at the same time has rapidly brought the nature of man to the forefront of my mind.

The cause of the Station fire was just recently ruled arson; this destructive fire was started via the hands of man. Fire that has brought about destruction and devastation. Fire that has ripped apart families, and left them broken forever. Fire that brought about the death of two firefighters, two men who will never return home to their families. That absolutely breaks my heart. Fire that has ruined homes, neighborhoods and whole communities. Fire set by a living, breathing human being- something that I can not fully understand, other then that man is a fallen being. Man is sinful, setting fires, sinning, is human nature and that is the bottom line. The same evil streak that is present in the station fire arsonist is also present in our representatives in Sacramento, Washington D.C. and beyond. They both have one thing in common-their sin nature. The quality that drove a man to start the station fire, that has caused untold destruction, is existent in our beloved politicians. Yet we as citizens expect perfection from our demigod like politicians. We expect them to be able to fix all the ills of our fallen society; to end poverty, end war, end hate, create heaven on earth. WHO ARE WE KIDDING?

It seems to me that politician after politician have come along and proclaim that they are the new hope. Hope that is going to re-write the system and make it all right. Time and time again we choose to put our faith in man to fix problems that no man can fix. Poverty is the result of the fall, violence is the result of the fall, death is the result of the fall, and no matter how brilliant the politician they will never be able to fix the problems of sin. I think it is an atrocity when we as people continue time and time again, to put our hope in man to fix the problem of the fall. When instead we should be putting our faith and trust in the one true hope of the world- Jesus Christ.