The Beers and the Bees

Watching Glee last night and I realized that I am going to blink and my nephew is going to be a teenager. Now I have to admit I was a super nerd growing up and I didn’t drink in high school. I was way too busy playing multiple sports, working on school stuff, and goofy on in speech team.( SHOUT OUT TO THE WVHS TALKERS 04!) Also I was never in the crowd that would break into their parent’s liquor cabinet and get drunk on Friday night. To be completely honest in my 4 Years of high school I was only invited to one party in which people were drinking and I was looked at like a moron when I used the phrase, “wet my whistle.” Apparently Casablanca references were over the heads of the mental midgets I had the company of.  I didn’t drink that night mainly because the only reason I was there, A GIRL, was in the room with the beer and when I went to get one she was making out with some college freshman from the local JuCo. (Shout Out University Closest to Lombard Avenue!)

So while watching glee and seeing a bunch of supposed “geeks” get trashed at a party while part the host’s two dads are away on a cruise, I couldn’t help but wonder where was I when all this debauchery was going on? I would totally chill in a wheelchair if I could make out with the dumbest and funniest cheerleader turned into a stripper right before my eyes.  Was this kind of party hearty attitude even around when I was in high school? Is this attitude really how kids act today? To be honest if I ever heard that my nephew/son/daughter was at a party like this I think I would have more mixed emotions more than anything. First I would be super pissed because they broke my trust and got drunk, underage, and were completely irresponsible. Yet at the same time would I think to myself, HELL YA, My kid is mixing it up with the most popular and powerful kids in her school! They called me for a ride, they didn’t break anything, they didn’t make themselves sick, really the only thing I have to hold against them is the raging headache they will have the next day.  Really, that headache is just an opportunity for me to mess with them so really it is more of a bonus for me than a punishment.

Then there is the blatant sexuality these teenagers. Now once again I must show my own personal colors and remind those reading that I, in fact, was a super nerd; a nerd of epic proportions, a geek of high pitch laughdom, a member of LAMBDA LAMBDA LAMBDA! (and if you get that joke then you might be in the same boat). Yet I never knew the sexual landscape in high school. I knew there were kids having sex but I am pretty sure I was on the shortlist of kids who weren’t in that landscape. So my question for Glee is did they do the two biggest high school dangers any justice?

Well when it comes to drinking I think they took the right path. Know that kids are going to find a way to drink because it is a lot of fun, but to put the emphasis on safety. Not driving home drunk or doing needlessly reckless stuff when drunk. Make sure that you do it in a group setting and not make drinking a person addition but a social occasion that should be few and far between.  When it comes to the sexuality in the show, let’s face it people who have more hormones than IQ points are going to explore and expand their sexual playground. Once again it comes down to responsibility. Not using sex as a tool to get what you want, or a weapon to use against another person, but for what sex is supposed to be for, the connection between two people who are invested in one another. 

So here I stand, on the wrong side of the cross saying to teenagers don't even think about it! If you  feel you are responsible enough to drink, you are responsible enough to understand that education is more important than a good time.  If you feel you are ready to focus your energies on another person than you should be ready to focus your energies on yourself. Who are you becoming and who are you trying to be? Sex is a blessing that we should'nt sqwander. So i leave you with this thought, and it is kind of a dousey. What is more important than drinking, feels better than sex, and is more rewarding than being popular? The true joy you feel when you understand that the love given to you by your creator is unequaled by any drink, kiss, or championship.

Wrong Side of the Cross

So i have been out of the writing scene for a really long time. I think i stopped in college when i forgot what Email and Password i used to get into my old blog. Well with the well written words of a good friend at http://crazycatlady89.blogspot.com/2011/02/giving-to-those-in-need.html i have decided i need to get back at it. So here it is!!!

This is an attempt for me to combine my to most important aspects of my life; the fact i am now the Director of Youth and Family Ministries at an amazing little church in Colorado and need to be a respected and admirable leader for the youth of my church, and  the fact i am a very over the top individual who has a somewhat twisted world view from time to time. It was these two aspects that bring me to the namesake of this new blog. The Wrong Side of the Cross. When i think of the average christian and what the main stream cast as an average christian it draws a picture that looks foreign and indistinguishable to me. A person that holds neither the values Christ would hold us to, nore the humility that God demands of us as his children. Instead it is a picture of a person who believes they understand what humility is and a person who understand what values are, but by holding the light to others values and asking why aren't others more humble like those who hold the light.

Those people are the kind of Christians who stand in front of the cross and try to use it as a pedestal or a weapon. That is why i must be on the wrong side of the cross. I can't use the cross as a pedestal because it isn't there to hold me up. The cross isn't a weapon to use against others accept my own greed, need, and desires. Now i do find the bit of hypocrisy in my writing, "well Erik by saying what you are saying now you are shinning the light of judgment on others!" I disagree, i am simply trying to understand my placement at the foot of the cross. Everyone knows someone who is the cornerstone of the "christian right". I am attempting to help the understanding of what Wrong side of the Cross means with out it being misinterpreted.

So here i sit on the wrong side of the cross thinking getting mugged is a time for ministry, taxes are the least important thing on my plate, and that two people in love should do what they want without me pushing my nose into it. But it feels good to know i now have a place to throw my remaining brain splatter.

God is bigger than you and your ideas,
Erik W.