The Pit

     Does God ever speak to you in weird or unusual ways? I feel like I often clearly hear His voice in what most people would consider distinctly nonspiritual situations. For example, I was recently watching an old episode of Parks & Recreation and Andy Dwyer, a lovable man-child musician, who had broken his legs when he drunkenly stumbled into a giant pit in the vacant lot next to his house, was singing a song he wrote about the pit incident. Here are the very literal lyrics to the aptly named song, The Pit:

The Pit.

I was in The Pit.

You were in The Pit.

We all were in The Pit.

Oh, The Pit. 

I fell in The Pit.

You fell in The Pit.

We all fell in The Pit.

Sometimes life's gonna get you down,

Hit the ground running, take a look around,

You think you found love, but you're standing in The Pit.

      Anyway, as I was watching, and cracking up about Andy's incredibly intense performance of the song, I felt God say to me, "You know, that song's about you" WHAT? "You were stumbling around, drunk on the things of this world, searching for love and fulfillment in all the wrong place, never realizing you were standing in a giant pit." WOAH. Andy Dwyer has some serious theological chops. We all WERE in the Pit. 

     And you know what's crazy, at least when Andy fell in, he knew it, but most of us are standing in it with no knowledge that we are in trouble. And even if we do realize it, we are in absolutely no position to do anything about it. Lucky for us, there's a God who's able and willing to reach down and pull us out!

     How amazing is it that God, the creator of the universe, loved us enough to send his son to save us from that pit. How incredible is that when we, in our stupidity, walked away from Him and directly into a chasm of sin, He felt compelled to outstretch his arm, grab us, and set us on solid ground. In the words of the psalmist "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." (Ps. 40:2). He didn't have to, he could've left us there, justified, since it was our own fault for falling in. But he didn't. He had mercy on us, and set us free. In the words of Paul, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom 5:8) How awesome is that?! 

     I hope you hear God speak to you in weird ways too. I think He's always trying to reveal himself to us in all sorts of ways. Maybe we just need to be more open to hearing his voice?

     As a parting gift, enjoy Mouse Rat (Andy's band) singing The Pit:

the Pit

Welcome...

Hello World! To be honest I never pictured myself as the kind of person who blogs. To me, it’s a little self-indulgent to think other people actually want to hear what you (I) have to say. But, at the same time, I’m really opinionated, and have a lot to say on a variety of topics, and apparently just saying them out loud to an empty room is a sign of psychosis. Before you ask, yes I have considered forcing my friends to sit in a room and listen to me, whilst I block all the exists, but I’m pretty sure that’s kidnapping, and as an attorney I don’t think it’s worth losing my law license. So instead, I will blog. That way the victims of my mini-rants will be self-selected!

I’ll write about things that interest me, like politics, law, history, television (I’m a bit of a vidiot), books, food (oh how I love food, not just eating it, which let’s be honest I more than enjoy, but also cooking and baking!), and music (singing and writing music are some of my favorite pastimes, not sure I’m any good at either one, but they make me happy); and things I love, like my family and friends, and Jesus. I LOVE Jesus. Him and his word are the rose-colored glasses through which I see the world. So often, when I watch TV, or read a book or even a case, I feel like God is teaching me something about himself and his world. He seems to do it in a way that’s specifically designed for the way my mind works. Once in a while I hope to share those little revelations with all of you (or none of you, depending on if anyone is reading this or not).

Final note: As those of you who actually know me can attest, my parents did not give me as unfortunate of a name as “Arrogant.” I knew I didn’t want to use my actual name for the blog (because that would be totally boring), so I came up with the name the same way "Childish Gambino" came up with his, by using an awesome Wu Tang Clan name generator! But, while initially I was playing around, the truth is, Arrogant Pupil is a surprisingly apt name for me. The “Pupil” part I’m quite proud of. I LOVE to learn. I love information! I actually enjoyed being in school and taking tests to show (my teacher) and realize (for myself) how much I had learned. As one friend put it, I’m like the Superman villain Brainiac, except that I don’t feel the need to destroy things after I have learned all about them. Sadly though, I am also embarrassingly arrogant. I’m the kind of person who is smart, knows it, and is regularly being reinforced in that belief by others. I am used to considering myself one of the smartest people in a room. But, thankfully, the more I learn, the more time I spend with my Savior, the more I have come to realize how little I know, how deeply I want to learn more, and how awesome it would be to share whatever I learn with someone else. So hopefully, through this blog, and my ever-growing relationship with God, I can be transformed from an Arrogant Pupil into a Humble Teacher.