Girl in the Bat cave

Valentine’s day is in two days. This is the time of the year when there is the biggest push to be in a relationship. If you are in a relationship there is a huge push to do something “special”, and if you aren’t in one there is a huge push to be in one by Valentine’s  day or else you are a loser.

The crazy thing about this whole thing is that Valentine’s day is just a day. Yes if you are in a relationship it is nice to do something special for your significant other,  but who says it has to be on February 14th? Why can’t every day be spent appreciating your significant other?

And if your single, why is it that without a significant other on Valentine’s day we are automatically depressed and considered losers? In the United States we have such an emphasis on who you are dating that our entire worth gets wrapped up in your relationship status. 

We should not be so concerned with our relationship status as we should be concerned with serving God.  So often people, girls especially, are totally consumed with God and are following in his path for their lives then a guy comes along who is going a different direction in life and the girl gives up everything or him. It is so easy for us to stop following down God’s path because its hard and we get lonely, but God has a plan for our lives, and that includes our love life. 

His ways are perfect but we mess it up by deciding that God’s plan makes us wait too long, and there is a person right now who is available. We don’t even think about the fact that we are giving up the path God has for our lives and stop following him. 

I’m not saying that relationships are bad, God designed them after all. But be careful that you do not get so caught up in looking for “the one” that you miss out on all God has planned for you. And don’t be so hasty to not be single on Valentine’s day, its far better to wait and have a relationship with the person that God has planned for you than trying to make one stick anyway.

Thus said have a wonderful Valentine’s day regardless of if you are in a relationship or not.

So I am working my way through the four Tim Burton Batman films that I got for my birthday this year. I am not even going to compare them to Christopher Nolan’s because they are in two totally separate categories. My favorites remain Christopher Nolan’s films but I enjoy Tim Burton’s also.

As I was watching them though I realized that every single one of Batman’s foes has issues. And these issues are not just a result of the terrible accident that made them the way they are now. In every case their accidents just happen to bring out the characteristics that they had before they became a “bad guy”.

This really got me thinking about real life and how we are very similar. We get into situations that change us, but really we aren’t so much completely changed as a set of characteristics that is not a main characteristic in our lives gets brought forward. When these situations change us that make us begin to change from who we are we need to look to God to remind us of our true identity because it is only in him that we can have peace no matter the situation.

We can also all be like Batman often hiding behind a mask. One of my favorite lines from Batman Begins is when Rachel talks to Bruce at the end of the movie and she tells him that Batman is not his mask but Bruce is. We often live hiding behind the mask that is our life. We go around pretending like everything is fine when in reality we are falling apart inside.

This happens in church too. The one place where we are supposed to be real and accountable to each other has become the place where our masks get put on the most. We are so concerned that people think we are perfect that we can never get help with our problems because we don’t think anyone will understand. In reality though we are sitting next to someone who has dealt with the same problem and can help us move on but we refuse to take off our mask and be real. As a church we will continue to have issues and feel alone until we are real and genuine with each other.

I challenge you to strip off your mask layer by layer, because we all know that our masks are like paper mache  and are added in layers with every I’m fine that we say. Be real with people and start a trend of no longer having masks in church. Strip off that Bruce Wayne mask and unleash your inner Batman with all of your problems and dreams and life. People will notice and we can start a revolution in our church.

Currently I am loving school. I even love the homework I have today. I am reading a book about Christianity in America, I really enjoy being able to learn where our roots are. Then I get to read some Shakespeare for my English class. I like the feeling of being taken back in time by the language of the Bard. I’m really  glad I took this class this year.