I write letters in a notebook every day. I have since the beginning of 2010. These letters were originally addressed to the young woman I believed I was meant to marry, but recently they have changed from letters to my unknown future wife to letters to God.
As in the rest of life, I find it hard sometimes to express my thoughts when I’m praying verbally, and the opportunity to write my daily life out as a prayer has come more naturally to me than I expected. I call them my “daily letters”.
This is an excerpt from those “daily letters” written on August 31, on the bus ride to Journey to the Heart.
_______________________
On the way there we are supposed to think of ten things we are each thankful for. I don’t think this should be too hard for me.
One. I am thankful for forgiveness and healing. Both forgiveness I’ve been given by my parents, and by you, as well as the releasing healing of forgiving others. I know I still struggle with resentment and grudges, but with you I press on, because you have forgiven me.
Two. I am thankful for heritage. This involves many facets. Primarily among them is my family, namely my parents. The family I was created to be a part of is not perfect, far from it, but my parents have been long suffering, taking your path with faith and grace. I am proud of the parents I’ve been given, as well as the family line they pass to me. From physical traits inherited, to personality traits taught, I love who I am in my family.
Three. I am thankful for nationality. Like with my family it is not a choice of mine where and when I was born. I am and American. My love for this aspect of my heritage is tied to my desire to draw close to you. If I desire to see my nation be great, then I must desire to draw closer to you myself. There is no greater service I can do for my country.
Four. I am thankful for destiny. You, father, have a plan or me than is unique. I have been created by you to fulfill your purpose in a way no one else can. This destiny is all encompassing. It involves my past: who I have been, how I have grown to be what I am not, and what things have happened to make me who I am. I did not make myself. It involves my future; what I'll become. I have faith that you will shape me. You are in control
Five. I am thankful for Verity. Part of becoming who I am supposed to be is here. Though I may disagree with the theology of some of the leadership, I know this is where I am meant to be. You are growing me like a vine. This is your vineyard for me.
Six. I am thankful for SSI. The organization, leadership, and teaching I received over those weeks are a large part of who I am and who I have become. Attending that camp, and working for Mr. Muffett and Mr. Visscher shaped my worldview. Though things have changed for them in some of our eyes, the program is blessed of you. May it continue to be a blessing to other young people.
Seven. I am thankful for my wife. Though I don’t know her face yet, I love her as Christ loves the church. I want to lift her up to you always. I am thankful for her grace and love for me. For her heard and mind. I am especially thankful doe her because, more than any other person in my life, she will have shown me greatest forgiveness by accepting me in spite of the many times and ways I have already been unfaithful to her. She is your give to me, and I praise you for the beauty that she is.
Eight. I am thankful for fellowship. The people you have brought into my live and taken away. They have all impacted me, in ways both known and unknown. I am thankful for David Auge, my roommate, who I appreciate and care for. He challenges me and helps me through those challenges. I could not ask for someone better as a roommate. Peter Rupp, Tyler, Josh Austhof, Jordan, Josh Ingersol; Cameron, Alex, Elisa, Kayla, Sarah and Gem. Brent back home who has been stead and faithful, holding me accountable and always being reliable. So many more friends I could name. Bless them all in your care.
Nine. I am thankful for the physical gifts I’ve been given. Nothing I own is from my own hands. From my computer, to my car. My camera, swords, I-Pods, pocket watch, knives, fountain pen, and notebook… the list goes on. These gifts I hold dear; you have blessed them. Many times they should have failed , broken, died, or been lost, yet you sustained them to me. You have been faithful to me thru them beyond what I deserve.
Ten. I am thankful for my life. All these things I have listed are not of my doing. They are memories and blessings. Gifts of favor from you, Almighty father.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
I praise God because i drove a Saturn
I'll be the first to admit that I have a lot of growing to do. There are a lot of flaws in my character that I just cannot accept, but change comes slowly to me. My memory is poor, I never explain something the same way twice, and I speak from my emotions. These three flaws all factor together, and have led people to think that I am two sided, or that I lie. Perhaps in effect I do lie, but that is never my intent, nor do I even realize I do it. I forget details that others find important, and when I do remember them, I wont remember them necessarily in context or in a consistent manner. I can say one thing to one person in a good mood, and the same thing to another person in a bad mood, and because I speak from my emotions, the two people can see a very different result of what is, to me, a consistent concept. If that makes me untrustworthy, then I will admit to it. These factors are the character flaws that, when combined with selfish fear of losing people and a kind of masochistic self preservation, are the cause of failed friendships.
In spite of these immaturities, I have felt ready to move on with my life for more than four years now. Whether I truly was ready to take the next step in my life or not is questionable, but the point remains, I have wanted to be in college, and even more so out of college since before the time I turned sixteen. My high school years were spent reaching out for higher education opportunities. College is what I wanted and what I sought after. But more than that I wanted to get beyond college. The end goal was to begin my “adult life” with careers, family, house, etc. College was, and still is, merely a step towards what I really feel drawn to.
I started looking at small colleges, like Bryan, Huntington, And GLCC, until at a Home school Conference, Patrick Henry Came across my view. In my mind PHC was not a “small college” but rather a college for people who shared my specific dreams in a very real way. I applied when I was seventeen, was accepted, and began distance classes in January of 2008.
Patrick Henry appeared perfect for me: an intense academic program for the civic-minded Judeo-Christian young person. The professors were experts in fields I still love; and students are often placed into jobs and internships while in school that are specifically oriented to jumpstart the sort of career I feel called into. It fit so well.
I was almost sure that PHC was where God wanted me. I became attached to the idea of being there. When God closed that door, it hurt. It had felt so right for me to be there, and suddenly the dream I had formed and become attached to was torn away. Less than a year later, after forming a similar, stronger attachment to Hillsdale college, which suited my desires even better than PHC, a door was again closed in my face, and what I had grow to believe were Gods plans for me stung.
While both Hillsdale and PHC had suited certain desires and needs, neither was perfect for me. I had been willing to accept that. Alas, in my vision, because those paths had seemed so right at the time, I had forgotten what parts of my heart they wouldn’t have fulfilled. I had accepted that College would take a long time while dragging my in dept in the process.
With a broken spirit, shortly after turning nineteen and with the feeling of hopelessness after wasting two years on dead ends, my mother mentioned Verity in passing in the beginning of December 2009. Literally overnight, all the necessary plans fell into place, and by January 4, 2010.
While PHC and Hillsdale had provided opportunities and seemed right, they were not going to fulfill the true desires I had for college, ones that I had not taken seriously. From the pain of having two good looking doors closed in my face, God brought me to a place that fulfilled not only the need for college, but the desire to move forward faster towards my adult life; towards the next step.
My parents bought me a car to go down to Verity. A Saturn L300. It would be my first car. I had driven another car regularly, but the Buick was a hand me down from other people we knew. It had been my car, but it wasn’t brought into our family for me. There was something about the nature of the Saturn, the reason it had been purchased, that made it feel personal. I fell in love with that car very quickly. It was mine. It suited me, it drove the way I liked to drive, and it looked wonderful.
There as been a small dream in me since I was old enough to understand what cars were what. I think most guys have a dream like this. I never wanted a Ferrari or a Mercedes, or even a Mustang. Those seemed too much car for me. I wanted something that was moderately powerful, looked good, but was simpler than other sports cars, and something I could put a little work into over time. A Camero was often the image I carried in my mind.
Understand, I am not a car person. I was happy with an old Buick. I don’t really care in the end what I drive, as long as it is reliable. When I say I wanted a car, it was never something I really took seriously. It was a passing fancy and a desire I could have lived my life without.
I really loved my Saturn, for whatever reason. When it died, probably because of my own poor automotive conduct, I was really upset. Admittedly a lot had been going wrong that week, and the death of something I had become attached to hit me harder than I was ready for. Something God had given, and I had been so grateful for was removed forcibly from my life and I couldn’t do anything about it.
But God was good. I had needed something; a new vehicle. Not only did God provide me with what I needed, but He also remembered that little, insignificant, meaningless desire that I had had somewhere in the back of my heart. My Firebird is not new, but the engine inside of it is. It needs work in small areas that can be done over time. It runs beautifully, but has the power to be imposing on the road. It isn’t only what I needed, but its what I wanted.
From the ashes of pain God has brought me more than I had needed. God is my protector; why should I be afraid of pain when I know that he has something better on the other side. God is my provider; He satisfies my needs and wants in the best possible way. God is my father; He indulges my pointless wishes in ways I can’t imagine.
I am not afraid of whatever hardships come to me in the future. Every struggle in my life so far has brought me more joy on the other side, both in small ways and in big ways.
When something I love is taken away from me, it still hurts, but God is on the other side waiting with something better. The exiting part is seeing how He will bring about his blessings. Without the pain of loss, the joy of blessings cannot come. No matter what I lose, He will grant more. If more hardships and losses are to come for me, then I will accept them and grow; for my god is greater.
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart; I have overcome the world!” –Jesus, John 16:33
In spite of these immaturities, I have felt ready to move on with my life for more than four years now. Whether I truly was ready to take the next step in my life or not is questionable, but the point remains, I have wanted to be in college, and even more so out of college since before the time I turned sixteen. My high school years were spent reaching out for higher education opportunities. College is what I wanted and what I sought after. But more than that I wanted to get beyond college. The end goal was to begin my “adult life” with careers, family, house, etc. College was, and still is, merely a step towards what I really feel drawn to.
I started looking at small colleges, like Bryan, Huntington, And GLCC, until at a Home school Conference, Patrick Henry Came across my view. In my mind PHC was not a “small college” but rather a college for people who shared my specific dreams in a very real way. I applied when I was seventeen, was accepted, and began distance classes in January of 2008.
Patrick Henry appeared perfect for me: an intense academic program for the civic-minded Judeo-Christian young person. The professors were experts in fields I still love; and students are often placed into jobs and internships while in school that are specifically oriented to jumpstart the sort of career I feel called into. It fit so well.
I was almost sure that PHC was where God wanted me. I became attached to the idea of being there. When God closed that door, it hurt. It had felt so right for me to be there, and suddenly the dream I had formed and become attached to was torn away. Less than a year later, after forming a similar, stronger attachment to Hillsdale college, which suited my desires even better than PHC, a door was again closed in my face, and what I had grow to believe were Gods plans for me stung.
While both Hillsdale and PHC had suited certain desires and needs, neither was perfect for me. I had been willing to accept that. Alas, in my vision, because those paths had seemed so right at the time, I had forgotten what parts of my heart they wouldn’t have fulfilled. I had accepted that College would take a long time while dragging my in dept in the process.
With a broken spirit, shortly after turning nineteen and with the feeling of hopelessness after wasting two years on dead ends, my mother mentioned Verity in passing in the beginning of December 2009. Literally overnight, all the necessary plans fell into place, and by January 4, 2010.
While PHC and Hillsdale had provided opportunities and seemed right, they were not going to fulfill the true desires I had for college, ones that I had not taken seriously. From the pain of having two good looking doors closed in my face, God brought me to a place that fulfilled not only the need for college, but the desire to move forward faster towards my adult life; towards the next step.
My parents bought me a car to go down to Verity. A Saturn L300. It would be my first car. I had driven another car regularly, but the Buick was a hand me down from other people we knew. It had been my car, but it wasn’t brought into our family for me. There was something about the nature of the Saturn, the reason it had been purchased, that made it feel personal. I fell in love with that car very quickly. It was mine. It suited me, it drove the way I liked to drive, and it looked wonderful.
There as been a small dream in me since I was old enough to understand what cars were what. I think most guys have a dream like this. I never wanted a Ferrari or a Mercedes, or even a Mustang. Those seemed too much car for me. I wanted something that was moderately powerful, looked good, but was simpler than other sports cars, and something I could put a little work into over time. A Camero was often the image I carried in my mind.
Understand, I am not a car person. I was happy with an old Buick. I don’t really care in the end what I drive, as long as it is reliable. When I say I wanted a car, it was never something I really took seriously. It was a passing fancy and a desire I could have lived my life without.
I really loved my Saturn, for whatever reason. When it died, probably because of my own poor automotive conduct, I was really upset. Admittedly a lot had been going wrong that week, and the death of something I had become attached to hit me harder than I was ready for. Something God had given, and I had been so grateful for was removed forcibly from my life and I couldn’t do anything about it.
But God was good. I had needed something; a new vehicle. Not only did God provide me with what I needed, but He also remembered that little, insignificant, meaningless desire that I had had somewhere in the back of my heart. My Firebird is not new, but the engine inside of it is. It needs work in small areas that can be done over time. It runs beautifully, but has the power to be imposing on the road. It isn’t only what I needed, but its what I wanted.
From the ashes of pain God has brought me more than I had needed. God is my protector; why should I be afraid of pain when I know that he has something better on the other side. God is my provider; He satisfies my needs and wants in the best possible way. God is my father; He indulges my pointless wishes in ways I can’t imagine.
I am not afraid of whatever hardships come to me in the future. Every struggle in my life so far has brought me more joy on the other side, both in small ways and in big ways.
When something I love is taken away from me, it still hurts, but God is on the other side waiting with something better. The exiting part is seeing how He will bring about his blessings. Without the pain of loss, the joy of blessings cannot come. No matter what I lose, He will grant more. If more hardships and losses are to come for me, then I will accept them and grow; for my god is greater.
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart; I have overcome the world!” –Jesus, John 16:33
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Table (re)Classified
Rosee: Merilwen Skye
Animal: Bunny
Color: Brown
:
Superpower: Zero Point Energy
Josh: Tarburz - Edraith
Animal: Golden Retriever
Color: Blue
Super Power: Ability Empath
Amanda: Melda
Animal: Kitten
Color: Purple
Superpower: Force Fields/ Invisibility
Donny: Donathon
Animal: Hamster
Color: Green
Super Power: Perfect Memory
Zeke: Xenath
Animal: Wallaby
Color: Grey
Super Power: Emotion Channeling
Nathan: EruAntien
Animal: Wild Horse
Color: Red
Super Power: Total Body Mastery
Animal: Bunny
Color: Brown
:
Superpower: Zero Point Energy
Josh: Tarburz - Edraith
Animal: Golden Retriever
Color: Blue
Super Power: Ability Empath
Amanda: Melda
Animal: Kitten
Color: Purple
Superpower: Force Fields/ Invisibility
Donny: Donathon
Animal: Hamster
Color: Green
Super Power: Perfect Memory
Zeke: Xenath
Animal: Wallaby
Color: Grey
Super Power: Emotion Channeling
Nathan: EruAntien
Animal: Wild Horse
Color: Red
Super Power: Total Body Mastery
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Crisis
In times of crisis, people want somewhere to turn. It’s proven that more people come to Christ in after a disaster, or when things are hard, than when life is simple and easy. During a crisis, people want to turn to an authority to save them, to give one person the power to end the distress. Healthcare crisis, housing crisis, unemployment crisis, swine-flu crisis, economic crisis, national debt crisis. What answer has been given for these crises? Give the government more money.
There was a nation, a world power, rich in culture and society. They had accumulated a large national debt from a retaliatory war, which they had started. Their once impressive currency was dwindling fast, and an economic crisis was in full swing. Then a new leader came on the scene. He was a young leader, new to the political realm, for which he was proud; he, as many, blamed the entrenched government officials who were to set in their ways for their situations. He was a charismatic young man, and a strong, passionate speaker. He spoke of Change and Hope. He promised to provide social security to the poor. He promised to provide health care for the weak. He promised to recover the falling nation. He took over the dying car companies of his nation. He bought and bailed out banks and businesses. His name was Hitler. His nation was Germany.
When the money ran out, he started cutting government programs. He let the poor, insane sickly with no families in institutions die, so the government wouldn’t have to support them. Then he killed the lonely elderly, so he wouldn’t have to support them. Then he used prisoners and convicts as medical experiments, so he wouldn’t have to support them. Then he decided that his was the greatest evolvement of man, and began a holocaust.
There was a nation, a world power, rich in culture and society. They had accumulated a large national debt from a retaliatory war, which they had started. Their once impressive currency was dwindling fast, and an economic crisis was in full swing. Then a new leader came on the scene. He was a young leader, new to the political realm, for which he was proud; he, as many, blamed the entrenched government officials who were to set in their ways for their situations. He was a charismatic young man, and a strong, passionate speaker. He spoke of Change and Hope. He promised to provide social security to the poor. He promised to provide health care for the weak. He promised to recover the falling nation. He took over the dying car companies of his nation. He bought and bailed out banks and businesses. His name is Obama. His nation is our nation.
. . .
Some day you are going to die. Don’t be sad about that, or afraid of it, you are a Christian, and you know where you are going.
Your are in heaven, in the presence of God. When you’ve been there ten thousand years, “bright shining as the sun”, You get invited to Moses’ mansion, “for in my house there are many…” There are a bunch of other champions of scripture there. You all get to talking to Moses and ask him about what he was feeling when he and his people were trapped between the red sea and Pharaoh, and what he did in that crisis.
Moses tells the story up to that point, and he says, “In that crisis, the people wanted to turn back to Egypt. I stretched out my hand, my staff in it, and trusted God, and He provided me a way. I could have done nothing, so I sold out to Him, and he solved the crisis.”
Then you turn to David and ask him what it was like to face Goliath. He tells the story and says, “The people wanted to give up, but I took courage and took my sling. I could have done nothing, so I sold out to Him. I took my sling, hit him in the head, and took his sword, and decapitated him. He solved the crisis.”
Joshua steps forward and tells his story, how he shouted and sold out to God, and God solved the crisis. Paul comes forward, as does Deborah, and Jonah, and Job, and Daniel. They sold out to God, and He solved their crisis. Then they all turn to you.
Christ comes up, sets up a screen and plays a movie, depicting a great revival, and the turning of a nation to Him, and the crisis being solved. He says, “This is what you could have done. The people wanted to give up and turn to a government to save them. This is what you could have done if you were a little more sold out to me. I'd solve the crisis.”
But we aren't dead, you have life and breath. This is our crisis. Who are we sold out to? God? The government? China?
There was a nation, a world power, rich in culture and society. They had accumulated a large national debt from a retaliatory war, which they had started. Their once impressive currency was dwindling fast, and an economic crisis was in full swing. Then a new leader came on the scene. He was a young leader, new to the political realm, for which he was proud; he, as many, blamed the entrenched government officials who were to set in their ways for their situations. He was a charismatic young man, and a strong, passionate speaker. He spoke of Change and Hope. He promised to provide social security to the poor. He promised to provide health care for the weak. He promised to recover the falling nation. He took over the dying car companies of his nation. He bought and bailed out banks and businesses. His name was Hitler. His nation was Germany.
When the money ran out, he started cutting government programs. He let the poor, insane sickly with no families in institutions die, so the government wouldn’t have to support them. Then he killed the lonely elderly, so he wouldn’t have to support them. Then he used prisoners and convicts as medical experiments, so he wouldn’t have to support them. Then he decided that his was the greatest evolvement of man, and began a holocaust.
There was a nation, a world power, rich in culture and society. They had accumulated a large national debt from a retaliatory war, which they had started. Their once impressive currency was dwindling fast, and an economic crisis was in full swing. Then a new leader came on the scene. He was a young leader, new to the political realm, for which he was proud; he, as many, blamed the entrenched government officials who were to set in their ways for their situations. He was a charismatic young man, and a strong, passionate speaker. He spoke of Change and Hope. He promised to provide social security to the poor. He promised to provide health care for the weak. He promised to recover the falling nation. He took over the dying car companies of his nation. He bought and bailed out banks and businesses. His name is Obama. His nation is our nation.
. . .
Some day you are going to die. Don’t be sad about that, or afraid of it, you are a Christian, and you know where you are going.
Your are in heaven, in the presence of God. When you’ve been there ten thousand years, “bright shining as the sun”, You get invited to Moses’ mansion, “for in my house there are many…” There are a bunch of other champions of scripture there. You all get to talking to Moses and ask him about what he was feeling when he and his people were trapped between the red sea and Pharaoh, and what he did in that crisis.
Moses tells the story up to that point, and he says, “In that crisis, the people wanted to turn back to Egypt. I stretched out my hand, my staff in it, and trusted God, and He provided me a way. I could have done nothing, so I sold out to Him, and he solved the crisis.”
Then you turn to David and ask him what it was like to face Goliath. He tells the story and says, “The people wanted to give up, but I took courage and took my sling. I could have done nothing, so I sold out to Him. I took my sling, hit him in the head, and took his sword, and decapitated him. He solved the crisis.”
Joshua steps forward and tells his story, how he shouted and sold out to God, and God solved the crisis. Paul comes forward, as does Deborah, and Jonah, and Job, and Daniel. They sold out to God, and He solved their crisis. Then they all turn to you.
Christ comes up, sets up a screen and plays a movie, depicting a great revival, and the turning of a nation to Him, and the crisis being solved. He says, “This is what you could have done. The people wanted to give up and turn to a government to save them. This is what you could have done if you were a little more sold out to me. I'd solve the crisis.”
But we aren't dead, you have life and breath. This is our crisis. Who are we sold out to? God? The government? China?
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
A Nineteen Year Olds Understanding
God is truly in control. When I start letting my heart and mind out of place, He sends me something to remind me of why I’m here and what I am called to be. I know that He is going to work in me, Since arriving here at Verity, every chapel and scripture reading has show me something more about my what God wants me to be. He will use me and work within me while I am here. I know He is talking to me, I just hope I have the heart to truly listen. I pray that I will come home as the person prepared for His path. I’m not complete yet.
There are things in this life that I want. I want to be successful and secure. I want Gordo to be pleased with me and to feel his fulfillment within me. I want a family. I want specific people in my life.
But I know that in order to follow Him, I have to give up what I think will make me happy, or at least be willing to.
I realize now that I have no right to know truth. I desire to, and I will strive to, but Gods truth does not need me, it is strong enough without my understanding or support. The truth does not need me, I need it. It is my nature to want to understand and plan and know the future for myself. But like Paul said, “Can the pot say to the potter, ‘Why did you make me this way?’” I don’t think that has to be an antagonistic question necessarily, or even a challenge to God’s design; rather for me it is a simple desire to understand why I am made this way and what I am to do.
But as I said before it is not my place to know sometimes. God doesn’t ask me to understand only to obey. “This is how things are, because it is how I say they are; so just do as I've asked of you.”
When I really stop and let go of my need to understand, I see that it is a matter of pride. When face with situations I don’t understand, I have no way of knowing what to do in my power, or how to control the situation. But if I have really let Him rule in my life, why should I need to control?
That’s why it is necessary to let go of what I want on some levels. My desires are based on my own understanding of who I am and what I want with my life, and they drive me to manipulate my life to seek after them. This being said, it makes even some of the smallest desires into an idol; something that distracts from is understanding of me, and relying instead on my own.
“Lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him and he will keep your path.”
There are things in this life that I want. I want to be successful and secure. I want Gordo to be pleased with me and to feel his fulfillment within me. I want a family. I want specific people in my life.
But I know that in order to follow Him, I have to give up what I think will make me happy, or at least be willing to.
I realize now that I have no right to know truth. I desire to, and I will strive to, but Gods truth does not need me, it is strong enough without my understanding or support. The truth does not need me, I need it. It is my nature to want to understand and plan and know the future for myself. But like Paul said, “Can the pot say to the potter, ‘Why did you make me this way?’” I don’t think that has to be an antagonistic question necessarily, or even a challenge to God’s design; rather for me it is a simple desire to understand why I am made this way and what I am to do.
But as I said before it is not my place to know sometimes. God doesn’t ask me to understand only to obey. “This is how things are, because it is how I say they are; so just do as I've asked of you.”
When I really stop and let go of my need to understand, I see that it is a matter of pride. When face with situations I don’t understand, I have no way of knowing what to do in my power, or how to control the situation. But if I have really let Him rule in my life, why should I need to control?
That’s why it is necessary to let go of what I want on some levels. My desires are based on my own understanding of who I am and what I want with my life, and they drive me to manipulate my life to seek after them. This being said, it makes even some of the smallest desires into an idol; something that distracts from is understanding of me, and relying instead on my own.
“Lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him and he will keep your path.”
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Exempt
Segment I: Marry
The story of St Valentine is an ancient but to oft untold tale of the nature of marriage. Valentine was an early catholic priest, one who was an active advocate for marriage. The Roman Empire was at war with barbarians from the north, and after so long besieged, the formerly invincible roman army was IN shambles. The emperor, in an attempt to revive his army issued a draft. Part of the declaration stated that men of age were not to marry for a certain time; hoping to remove ties of men to life and home. St valentine, in defiance of the letter of this order still continued to perform marriage ceremonies. Understanding that marriage is not a state establishment. Thus he, under penalty of death, began a trend which isn't unheard of in modern, secularized ideas of marriage.
Valentine created moral , illegal marriages. Is there such a thing heard of in this time? Think of it for a moment. American divorce rates prove that few if any are denied right to marry. This being the case, how can any marriage be illegal? Could the government , as it did in valentine’s time.
As said before valentine understood that the government has no jurisdiction over marriage whatsoever. With a 50% divorce rate, clearly something is not working in the current method of marriage. If marriage is not a state institution, then where does it gain its sanctity? As a primary source of family, the connection and involvement marriage and family have one with another cannot be ignored. Traditionally, whether Christian, religious, or ignorant, even in an overwhelmingly secular culture, the idea of a family with single parents, divorce, and cohabiting are still generally considered taboo. The idea of marriage before and with family is irrevocably engrained into the minds of culture. By that token, the idea of marriage as an instituting of family, more than government is not an unreasonable idea. Indeed, because of the powerful relationship between marriage and family....
The commonly accepted terms of marriage include a government issued marriage license, filed with the state, usually accompanied with a blood test. The understood idea behind licensing marriage is to add some measure of legitimacy or officially to the union. Logically it is not foolish to believe that giving a marriage officially will reinforce the vows made in forming that union. If legitimacy through licensing is designed to strengthen a bond, then again the issue of high divorce rates must be addressed.
Though perhaps not necessarily the sole reason of modern divorce, the problem is the preventative measure. If state granted marriage, or "legal marriage" is to keep the vows strong, then those vows are given to the state. If the government writes the contract, then the government defines the terms. If vows are made under the authority of the government, then, legally those vows can be revoked by the govt. And because anyone cam obtain government approved marriage, anyone can petition the government for severance.
St. Valentine did not marry his parishioners under any government authority, but under the authority of family and the church, in defiance of the govt. However, without the state protected vows, what makes the marriage substantial? under what authority is the union made? It cannot be so free of a union that any two ( or potentially more) can say " we are married" with no oversight at all. That issue speaks to a much deeper issue of modern society. So many citizens of the world are falling into a common and dangerous delusion, that the government CAN provide legal legitimacy for all matters. When it is said that marriage, being a. Institution of family and church, cannot be justified by any other authority than those two, it must be understood that the misery institution of family, so weakens by generations of government usurping it's power, is a far greater and stronger authority than it is given right to.
Government must sustain government, family must sustain family. If the government is given right to grant marriage, it is good for government to maintain that power. Family, when granted it's proper right to create and sustain marriages , in order to maintain itself, must hold marriages to a higher standard, and so will not grant divorces as easily or swiftly as government does. Family has to strengthen its institution, by creating true, stronger marriages , rather than the flippant abuses of love that government allows. Under that authority and necessity, family should and will give the legitimacy and strength to prevent simply granted divorce.
It being understood that it is not the place of government to legitimize marriage, then understand what I mean when I say that I do not support any legislation or amendment banning gay marriage. If government is given right to ban one form of marriage , it can unleash a Pandora’s box of usurpations. Again, in a measure of self-preservation, under family authority would actively avoid and even oppose such kind of destructive, unproductive marriage.
Marriage is not an institute established by state, but treated as such becomes a force whose power is being misdirected and depleted. What wonder is it that family is losing all structural integrity
Segment II: Reclamation
"You'll be on your way up!, you'll be seeing great sights!, you'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights."
“everybody does annoying things....but you tell yourself to suck it up, because you do annoying things too, and plus, it's usually you that's the problem”
I urge you to please notice when you are happy,
and exclaim or murmur or think at some point,
"If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."
You're one of the many things that make me face the day, I'm so glad you're here with me. It's not your fault that you're in pain, I just can't explain what you mean to me. Meant what I said, meant what I did, it's all for you.
How could you know just what you did? So full of faith yet so full of doubt. Time and time again you said don't be afraid. "If you believe you can do it." The only voice I want to hear is yours.
I had to keep reminding myself that I’d made my choice, and I wasn’t going back on it. I would just hold on to the faith that, in the end, the desire would win out over the others. And what was my other choice---to cut him out of my life? Intolerable.
More than anything, I'm scared of letting down this front I have and laying my soul bare to the world. But when I think about you standing by my side, I wonder if it won't be so hard after all, and I know it would be worth it.
I hope that someday, somebody wants to hold you for twenty minutes straight,
and that's all they do. They don't pull away. They don't look at your face.
They don't try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms,
without an ounce of selfishness in it.
Segment III: Seconds
http://12seconds.tv/channel/Lifesquestion
Segment IV: Backstory
My life has not really been in my control for years. I was fourteen when my mom bought a business and schooling, though not planned on my own, was no lover overseen by my parents, and I became a self educated young man. I Learned very quickly, as both of my siblings left home, that I could run the house. Granted not monetarily nor with the same understanding as an adult, but I quickly learned to cook and clean and maintain the household and for my part, enjoyed doing it. It is odd that I enjoy it so, most young men don’t enjoy cleaning and food preparation the way I have learned too.
By the time I became used to this structure, however, in the same torrent in which I had been abandoned for household solitude, my siblings returned. With hem, any peace and security, or moreover control that I had over my own world was removed from me. The situations for the rebounding older siblings were stressful enough as it is, the situations that followed their return literally made my hair start falling out.
I got my second paying job in March of 2007, and it was quickly followed up b another, reverberative job from my internship with SSI. By the following year I was taking my first round of simplistic college courses, and still dealing with the fallout of the stress filled home that I went to. I began dreaming nightly in metaphoric images reflecting how truly angry, sad, and unhappy I was. I had already began to make deeper mistakes that would in the end tear my young heart apart.
In an incomplete, emotional, and empty place I entered summer 2008. My family had reached a certain level of plateau with their internal anger, and strife caused by the mistakes of one of my siblings. Pain that could not be expressed any other way was dealt to me to handle, and try as I might, I was unable to keep from letting it get to me. It was at that point that I began to see a deeper structure to the things going on inside me; that is the hate I had for myself. I didn’t like anything I was, which was understandable.
The enjoyment I found in cleaning, and the pains I took to keep my family’s house stopped being enough. My parents are very adept at finding something you do wrong. Every week I had a new problem that I had to overcome, though in the minds of my parents they were always the same problem, even though the application of that problem was not often replicated.
I was average or below average in nearly every way, and that just wasn’t enough, not after having such a clear vision of the future as I had been given at SSI my first year. I needed more and wanted more. I could have had more, but now was so stick in a broke place that getting out of it was not something I alone was capable of. I understand that I was supposed to go to God, most people don’t think that I did, but that part of the nightly prayers that preluded my dreams was a cry for the help of God to lift me out of a hole I was not strong enough to survive. But alas I was still there.
With such a heart, I found something that healed me. It filled me with hope and joy that I had not ever felt before. It gave me strength, and made me more again. But what I thought was healing me completely was only a drug. I quickly became addicted to the love that I felt and overdosed on something that I never should have touched. All at once I was forced to face the aftermath of the overdose, as well as the withdrawal from having my drug forcibly removed from my life.
The depression that set in was only partially driven by the loss of my drug, which burned and tore at me so, but more so it was because, whatever the means, I had felt partially whole again. Whole in a way I had not felt in three years. And I had failed, and now I was lower than ever. It took the work of an amazing family to even maintain my low existence.
A year later, people tell me frequently that I have changed. That I am better in some way or another. Some do anyways. I still fail my parents, both legitimately and because they seek for a “pattern of irresponsibility”. I still am a second class student, and have been passed over for the only colleges I desire to go to. I think what everyone else sees as change, I see as my experience, teaching me to shift the weight of a burden I cant get rid of, only to bear it more easily. All the fear, anger, pain, and sadness I have had for years still hovers about me, like an old scent.
I am frantically searching for a job, while watching three years worth of savings disappear from my bank account. Even as I spend out of necessity and love, I have greater plan for the funds I no longer an able to earn. Two internships, one nearing its end, with work piling up that has become impossible to complete; the other starting with no clear guidelines as to what is needed of me, and both weighting heavily on my mind and schedule. The classes I take in “college” if you can call what I am in that, are simple enough, but with low funding, gas and parking fees, as well as a system of parking payment that I am unable to use to its fullest extent, I find every trip to campus a pain, and unwanted challenge.
A group of friends who have sustained me well over the past month, waver with internal issues, that I am unable o fix, no matter how responsible I feel for the health of our group. I am struggling to finish a second year of Spanish before the week is out so as to apply it to a high school transcripts for a second shot at the school I desire admission to. Each weekend is quickly filling up for the next month or more, and I feel that my time is being depleted.
My Life has not been in my control for many years. I don’t want true control over it because I know I would fail if I ran my own life completely. But after four years for restless sleeping and living without calm for more than a week, I want peace. So badly I want one are of my life to run smoothly without question or confusion, drama or annoyance.
Its just a temporary want. Who knows where I will be in a month
Segment V: Script
CHARACTERS:
Jacob Maxwell: Josh
Caitlyn Cale: Caedy
Crystol Carter: Chelsea
Warm Blood (codename): Zeke
Nicholas Pride: Nathan
Skyla Rothman: Rosie
Dr. Daniel Nathan Henry: Donny
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
INT. LIBRARY - DAY
PAN ACROSS A DESK.
TEXT: SEATTLE JUNE 9 3:55 PM ZULU
A library table, piled high with books, a person reading one is otherwise unseen amid the mess.
SFX: Phone ringing.
DANIEL * Frustrated sigh*
Phone keeps ringing, still being ignored by the still obscured Daniel. Phone rings a few more times before a shuffle is heard and he answers.
DANIEL (CONT'D) What? *Exasperated.
OFFICAL *Voice over the phone sounds official and important* Dr. Henry?
DANIEL *Sounding Distracted* Yes?
OFFICAL I’m calling on be half of a private organization of individuals working together for a sole purpose. We need your help, Sir, its of global importance and urgency.
CLOSE UP ON A BOOK AS DANIEL’S HAND TURNS A PAGE.
DANIEL *Still disaffected* Why me?
OFFICAL We require your... unique abilities for reasons we would prefer not be stated on an unsecured line.... Doctor... The world is in peril. It needs you.
LONG PAUSE
DANIEL But I’m reading a book right now....
FADE OUT.
FADE IN:
HEADQUARTERS - DAY
JACOB approaches headquarters, other vehicles (possibly a motorcycle) parked around. Approaches door, NICHOLAS opens before he knocks
NICHOLAS Welcome, Jacob. *turns to lead into the house* you are nearly our last guest
JACOB looks around the sitting area. BLOOD sits in front of a table, which is layered with knives and disassembled firearms. CRYSTOL and CAITLYN sit near each other on a couch. Karen looks at Jacob, somewhat curious. SKYLA, standing near the door, moves to Nicholas’s side.
NICHOLAS (CONT'D) Friends, allow me to introduce Jacob Maxwell, College Student from Chicago. He will be serving as a backup for any of our roles, should any of us become incapable.
JACOB *cutting Nicholas off* Um, Excuse me.
EVERYONE looks at Jacob, silently
JACOB (CONT’D) I wasn’t told much about... anything. *more to Nicolas* Who are you? How do you know who I am.
NICHOLAS *sigh* given a moment I would have explained myself. My Name is Nicholas Pride. As far as how I know you, As I was the first to arrive, I tool the liberty of familiarizing myself with these, *Hands Jacob a folder, similar to ones each of the others have near their person* There is a detailed profile on each of us in there.
JACOB What is this?
CAITLYN Our Mission Dossier.
JACOB *pause* Our what? *Caitlyn sighs* I’m really sorry. I really have no idea what’s going on here.
BLOOD What do you know? How did you get here?
JACOB I Got a call a few weeks ago. The man told me about a group of people working on a project of some kind, sounded important. The told me how to get here and asked me to volunteer, stressing the urgency of my involvement.
BLOOD Volunteer!? I was promised Half a mill for this job.
CRYSTOL We are all here by different means for different reasons, Blood. If yours is money, I’m sure you’ll get it.
NICHOLAS The Group your informant told you about is called the Secret Superhuman Initiative. All of us, save you, have been a part of SSI before, for one mission or another. I have been a part of every gathering for several years. I’ve been here longer than the Furniture. As the name might suggest, every SSI alumni retains some sort of superhuman gift.
JACOB Then why am I here? I don’t have any superpower.
NICHOLAS Well the very fact that you are here means that you do. Though according to your dossier you have a similar acquaintance with a few active members. A Mr.Sadasivan?
KAREN, CRYSTOL, and SKYLA, nod.
JACOB SADASIVAN Was an upperclassman at School. Several of you know him? * Caitlyn Crystol and Skyla nod* What is the project I was told about?
SKYLA We were just starting to over that. The files we have been given have instructions to build some sort of device. *looks through the papers in the file* I have no idea what these blueprint-things are supposed to be of, but then again I am not the initiative's tech specialist.
NICHOLAS Dr. Henry has yet to arrive.
BLOOD He isn’t coming.
CRYSTOL Why not?
BLOOD I called him a few days ago, he said he doesn't really care what we're doing, just that he wants to finish baking his pie.
JACOB Pie?
KAREN *Ignoring Jacobs question* So can anyone tell us what we are supposed to be building? I’m not going to waste my time building some contraption without knowing what it’s supposed to do.
BLOOD *looking through the papers intently* I’ve seen similar designs for timer-set bombs, only it isn’t asking for a explosive system, more of a dispersal system, to spread some sore or chemical across a rather wide area, rather than explosion or shockwave. I can build that base of the system, with some help, its simple enough, but the actual delivery system isn't going to be so easy.
SKYLA According to the dossier, the dispersal unit and the chemical intended for “delivery” is already assembled under guard at Velmuth Air Force base
LEAVING SCENE TO BE WRITTEN-TRANSITION INTO A JOVIAL DINNER AT “THE TABLE”. PERHAPS JUST FILS A WHILE OF US ACUTALLY EATING AND TALKING THE WAY WE DO.
Segment VI: Bow
Fall!
Now The dark begins to rise, save your breath it's far from over
Leave the lost and dead behind, nows your chance to run for cover
I don't want to change the world, I just want to leave it colder
Light the fuse and burn it up, take the path that leads to nowhere
All is lost again, but I'm not giving in
I Will Not Bow, I Will Not Break
I Will shut the world away
I will not fall, I will not fade
I will take your breath away
Watch the end from dying eyes, now the dark is taking over
Show me where forever dies
Take the fall and run to heaven
All is lost again but I'm not giving in
I will not bow, I will not break
I will shut the world away
I will not fall, I will not fade
I will take your breath away
And I'll survive, paranoid I have lost the will to change
And I am not proud, cold blooded, fake
I will shut the world away
I will not bow, I will not break
I will shut the world away
I will not fall, I will not fade
I will take your breath away
And I'll survive, paranoid
I have lost the will to change and I am not proud, cold blooded, fake
I will shut the world away
Fall!
Segment VII: Farewell
The story of St Valentine is an ancient but to oft untold tale of the nature of marriage. Valentine was an early catholic priest, one who was an active advocate for marriage. The Roman Empire was at war with barbarians from the north, and after so long besieged, the formerly invincible roman army was IN shambles. The emperor, in an attempt to revive his army issued a draft. Part of the declaration stated that men of age were not to marry for a certain time; hoping to remove ties of men to life and home. St valentine, in defiance of the letter of this order still continued to perform marriage ceremonies. Understanding that marriage is not a state establishment. Thus he, under penalty of death, began a trend which isn't unheard of in modern, secularized ideas of marriage.
Valentine created moral , illegal marriages. Is there such a thing heard of in this time? Think of it for a moment. American divorce rates prove that few if any are denied right to marry. This being the case, how can any marriage be illegal? Could the government , as it did in valentine’s time.
As said before valentine understood that the government has no jurisdiction over marriage whatsoever. With a 50% divorce rate, clearly something is not working in the current method of marriage. If marriage is not a state institution, then where does it gain its sanctity? As a primary source of family, the connection and involvement marriage and family have one with another cannot be ignored. Traditionally, whether Christian, religious, or ignorant, even in an overwhelmingly secular culture, the idea of a family with single parents, divorce, and cohabiting are still generally considered taboo. The idea of marriage before and with family is irrevocably engrained into the minds of culture. By that token, the idea of marriage as an instituting of family, more than government is not an unreasonable idea. Indeed, because of the powerful relationship between marriage and family....
The commonly accepted terms of marriage include a government issued marriage license, filed with the state, usually accompanied with a blood test. The understood idea behind licensing marriage is to add some measure of legitimacy or officially to the union. Logically it is not foolish to believe that giving a marriage officially will reinforce the vows made in forming that union. If legitimacy through licensing is designed to strengthen a bond, then again the issue of high divorce rates must be addressed.
Though perhaps not necessarily the sole reason of modern divorce, the problem is the preventative measure. If state granted marriage, or "legal marriage" is to keep the vows strong, then those vows are given to the state. If the government writes the contract, then the government defines the terms. If vows are made under the authority of the government, then, legally those vows can be revoked by the govt. And because anyone cam obtain government approved marriage, anyone can petition the government for severance.
St. Valentine did not marry his parishioners under any government authority, but under the authority of family and the church, in defiance of the govt. However, without the state protected vows, what makes the marriage substantial? under what authority is the union made? It cannot be so free of a union that any two ( or potentially more) can say " we are married" with no oversight at all. That issue speaks to a much deeper issue of modern society. So many citizens of the world are falling into a common and dangerous delusion, that the government CAN provide legal legitimacy for all matters. When it is said that marriage, being a. Institution of family and church, cannot be justified by any other authority than those two, it must be understood that the misery institution of family, so weakens by generations of government usurping it's power, is a far greater and stronger authority than it is given right to.
Government must sustain government, family must sustain family. If the government is given right to grant marriage, it is good for government to maintain that power. Family, when granted it's proper right to create and sustain marriages , in order to maintain itself, must hold marriages to a higher standard, and so will not grant divorces as easily or swiftly as government does. Family has to strengthen its institution, by creating true, stronger marriages , rather than the flippant abuses of love that government allows. Under that authority and necessity, family should and will give the legitimacy and strength to prevent simply granted divorce.
It being understood that it is not the place of government to legitimize marriage, then understand what I mean when I say that I do not support any legislation or amendment banning gay marriage. If government is given right to ban one form of marriage , it can unleash a Pandora’s box of usurpations. Again, in a measure of self-preservation, under family authority would actively avoid and even oppose such kind of destructive, unproductive marriage.
Marriage is not an institute established by state, but treated as such becomes a force whose power is being misdirected and depleted. What wonder is it that family is losing all structural integrity
Segment II: Reclamation
"You'll be on your way up!, you'll be seeing great sights!, you'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights."
“everybody does annoying things....but you tell yourself to suck it up, because you do annoying things too, and plus, it's usually you that's the problem”
I urge you to please notice when you are happy,
and exclaim or murmur or think at some point,
"If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."
You're one of the many things that make me face the day, I'm so glad you're here with me. It's not your fault that you're in pain, I just can't explain what you mean to me. Meant what I said, meant what I did, it's all for you.
How could you know just what you did? So full of faith yet so full of doubt. Time and time again you said don't be afraid. "If you believe you can do it." The only voice I want to hear is yours.
I had to keep reminding myself that I’d made my choice, and I wasn’t going back on it. I would just hold on to the faith that, in the end, the desire would win out over the others. And what was my other choice---to cut him out of my life? Intolerable.
More than anything, I'm scared of letting down this front I have and laying my soul bare to the world. But when I think about you standing by my side, I wonder if it won't be so hard after all, and I know it would be worth it.
I hope that someday, somebody wants to hold you for twenty minutes straight,
and that's all they do. They don't pull away. They don't look at your face.
They don't try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms,
without an ounce of selfishness in it.
Segment III: Seconds
http://12seconds.tv/channel/Lifesquestion
Segment IV: Backstory
My life has not really been in my control for years. I was fourteen when my mom bought a business and schooling, though not planned on my own, was no lover overseen by my parents, and I became a self educated young man. I Learned very quickly, as both of my siblings left home, that I could run the house. Granted not monetarily nor with the same understanding as an adult, but I quickly learned to cook and clean and maintain the household and for my part, enjoyed doing it. It is odd that I enjoy it so, most young men don’t enjoy cleaning and food preparation the way I have learned too.
By the time I became used to this structure, however, in the same torrent in which I had been abandoned for household solitude, my siblings returned. With hem, any peace and security, or moreover control that I had over my own world was removed from me. The situations for the rebounding older siblings were stressful enough as it is, the situations that followed their return literally made my hair start falling out.
I got my second paying job in March of 2007, and it was quickly followed up b another, reverberative job from my internship with SSI. By the following year I was taking my first round of simplistic college courses, and still dealing with the fallout of the stress filled home that I went to. I began dreaming nightly in metaphoric images reflecting how truly angry, sad, and unhappy I was. I had already began to make deeper mistakes that would in the end tear my young heart apart.
In an incomplete, emotional, and empty place I entered summer 2008. My family had reached a certain level of plateau with their internal anger, and strife caused by the mistakes of one of my siblings. Pain that could not be expressed any other way was dealt to me to handle, and try as I might, I was unable to keep from letting it get to me. It was at that point that I began to see a deeper structure to the things going on inside me; that is the hate I had for myself. I didn’t like anything I was, which was understandable.
The enjoyment I found in cleaning, and the pains I took to keep my family’s house stopped being enough. My parents are very adept at finding something you do wrong. Every week I had a new problem that I had to overcome, though in the minds of my parents they were always the same problem, even though the application of that problem was not often replicated.
I was average or below average in nearly every way, and that just wasn’t enough, not after having such a clear vision of the future as I had been given at SSI my first year. I needed more and wanted more. I could have had more, but now was so stick in a broke place that getting out of it was not something I alone was capable of. I understand that I was supposed to go to God, most people don’t think that I did, but that part of the nightly prayers that preluded my dreams was a cry for the help of God to lift me out of a hole I was not strong enough to survive. But alas I was still there.
With such a heart, I found something that healed me. It filled me with hope and joy that I had not ever felt before. It gave me strength, and made me more again. But what I thought was healing me completely was only a drug. I quickly became addicted to the love that I felt and overdosed on something that I never should have touched. All at once I was forced to face the aftermath of the overdose, as well as the withdrawal from having my drug forcibly removed from my life.
The depression that set in was only partially driven by the loss of my drug, which burned and tore at me so, but more so it was because, whatever the means, I had felt partially whole again. Whole in a way I had not felt in three years. And I had failed, and now I was lower than ever. It took the work of an amazing family to even maintain my low existence.
A year later, people tell me frequently that I have changed. That I am better in some way or another. Some do anyways. I still fail my parents, both legitimately and because they seek for a “pattern of irresponsibility”. I still am a second class student, and have been passed over for the only colleges I desire to go to. I think what everyone else sees as change, I see as my experience, teaching me to shift the weight of a burden I cant get rid of, only to bear it more easily. All the fear, anger, pain, and sadness I have had for years still hovers about me, like an old scent.
I am frantically searching for a job, while watching three years worth of savings disappear from my bank account. Even as I spend out of necessity and love, I have greater plan for the funds I no longer an able to earn. Two internships, one nearing its end, with work piling up that has become impossible to complete; the other starting with no clear guidelines as to what is needed of me, and both weighting heavily on my mind and schedule. The classes I take in “college” if you can call what I am in that, are simple enough, but with low funding, gas and parking fees, as well as a system of parking payment that I am unable to use to its fullest extent, I find every trip to campus a pain, and unwanted challenge.
A group of friends who have sustained me well over the past month, waver with internal issues, that I am unable o fix, no matter how responsible I feel for the health of our group. I am struggling to finish a second year of Spanish before the week is out so as to apply it to a high school transcripts for a second shot at the school I desire admission to. Each weekend is quickly filling up for the next month or more, and I feel that my time is being depleted.
My Life has not been in my control for many years. I don’t want true control over it because I know I would fail if I ran my own life completely. But after four years for restless sleeping and living without calm for more than a week, I want peace. So badly I want one are of my life to run smoothly without question or confusion, drama or annoyance.
Its just a temporary want. Who knows where I will be in a month
Segment V: Script
CHARACTERS:
Jacob Maxwell: Josh
Caitlyn Cale: Caedy
Crystol Carter: Chelsea
Warm Blood (codename): Zeke
Nicholas Pride: Nathan
Skyla Rothman: Rosie
Dr. Daniel Nathan Henry: Donny
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
INT. LIBRARY - DAY
PAN ACROSS A DESK.
TEXT: SEATTLE JUNE 9 3:55 PM ZULU
A library table, piled high with books, a person reading one is otherwise unseen amid the mess.
SFX: Phone ringing.
DANIEL * Frustrated sigh*
Phone keeps ringing, still being ignored by the still obscured Daniel. Phone rings a few more times before a shuffle is heard and he answers.
DANIEL (CONT'D) What? *Exasperated.
OFFICAL *Voice over the phone sounds official and important* Dr. Henry?
DANIEL *Sounding Distracted* Yes?
OFFICAL I’m calling on be half of a private organization of individuals working together for a sole purpose. We need your help, Sir, its of global importance and urgency.
CLOSE UP ON A BOOK AS DANIEL’S HAND TURNS A PAGE.
DANIEL *Still disaffected* Why me?
OFFICAL We require your... unique abilities for reasons we would prefer not be stated on an unsecured line.... Doctor... The world is in peril. It needs you.
LONG PAUSE
DANIEL But I’m reading a book right now....
FADE OUT.
FADE IN:
HEADQUARTERS - DAY
JACOB approaches headquarters, other vehicles (possibly a motorcycle) parked around. Approaches door, NICHOLAS opens before he knocks
NICHOLAS Welcome, Jacob. *turns to lead into the house* you are nearly our last guest
JACOB looks around the sitting area. BLOOD sits in front of a table, which is layered with knives and disassembled firearms. CRYSTOL and CAITLYN sit near each other on a couch. Karen looks at Jacob, somewhat curious. SKYLA, standing near the door, moves to Nicholas’s side.
NICHOLAS (CONT'D) Friends, allow me to introduce Jacob Maxwell, College Student from Chicago. He will be serving as a backup for any of our roles, should any of us become incapable.
JACOB *cutting Nicholas off* Um, Excuse me.
EVERYONE looks at Jacob, silently
JACOB (CONT’D) I wasn’t told much about... anything. *more to Nicolas* Who are you? How do you know who I am.
NICHOLAS *sigh* given a moment I would have explained myself. My Name is Nicholas Pride. As far as how I know you, As I was the first to arrive, I tool the liberty of familiarizing myself with these, *Hands Jacob a folder, similar to ones each of the others have near their person* There is a detailed profile on each of us in there.
JACOB What is this?
CAITLYN Our Mission Dossier.
JACOB *pause* Our what? *Caitlyn sighs* I’m really sorry. I really have no idea what’s going on here.
BLOOD What do you know? How did you get here?
JACOB I Got a call a few weeks ago. The man told me about a group of people working on a project of some kind, sounded important. The told me how to get here and asked me to volunteer, stressing the urgency of my involvement.
BLOOD Volunteer!? I was promised Half a mill for this job.
CRYSTOL We are all here by different means for different reasons, Blood. If yours is money, I’m sure you’ll get it.
NICHOLAS The Group your informant told you about is called the Secret Superhuman Initiative. All of us, save you, have been a part of SSI before, for one mission or another. I have been a part of every gathering for several years. I’ve been here longer than the Furniture. As the name might suggest, every SSI alumni retains some sort of superhuman gift.
JACOB Then why am I here? I don’t have any superpower.
NICHOLAS Well the very fact that you are here means that you do. Though according to your dossier you have a similar acquaintance with a few active members. A Mr.Sadasivan?
KAREN, CRYSTOL, and SKYLA, nod.
JACOB SADASIVAN Was an upperclassman at School. Several of you know him? * Caitlyn Crystol and Skyla nod* What is the project I was told about?
SKYLA We were just starting to over that. The files we have been given have instructions to build some sort of device. *looks through the papers in the file* I have no idea what these blueprint-things are supposed to be of, but then again I am not the initiative's tech specialist.
NICHOLAS Dr. Henry has yet to arrive.
BLOOD He isn’t coming.
CRYSTOL Why not?
BLOOD I called him a few days ago, he said he doesn't really care what we're doing, just that he wants to finish baking his pie.
JACOB Pie?
KAREN *Ignoring Jacobs question* So can anyone tell us what we are supposed to be building? I’m not going to waste my time building some contraption without knowing what it’s supposed to do.
BLOOD *looking through the papers intently* I’ve seen similar designs for timer-set bombs, only it isn’t asking for a explosive system, more of a dispersal system, to spread some sore or chemical across a rather wide area, rather than explosion or shockwave. I can build that base of the system, with some help, its simple enough, but the actual delivery system isn't going to be so easy.
SKYLA According to the dossier, the dispersal unit and the chemical intended for “delivery” is already assembled under guard at Velmuth Air Force base
LEAVING SCENE TO BE WRITTEN-TRANSITION INTO A JOVIAL DINNER AT “THE TABLE”. PERHAPS JUST FILS A WHILE OF US ACUTALLY EATING AND TALKING THE WAY WE DO.
Segment VI: Bow
Fall!
Now The dark begins to rise, save your breath it's far from over
Leave the lost and dead behind, nows your chance to run for cover
I don't want to change the world, I just want to leave it colder
Light the fuse and burn it up, take the path that leads to nowhere
All is lost again, but I'm not giving in
I Will Not Bow, I Will Not Break
I Will shut the world away
I will not fall, I will not fade
I will take your breath away
Watch the end from dying eyes, now the dark is taking over
Show me where forever dies
Take the fall and run to heaven
All is lost again but I'm not giving in
I will not bow, I will not break
I will shut the world away
I will not fall, I will not fade
I will take your breath away
And I'll survive, paranoid I have lost the will to change
And I am not proud, cold blooded, fake
I will shut the world away
I will not bow, I will not break
I will shut the world away
I will not fall, I will not fade
I will take your breath away
And I'll survive, paranoid
I have lost the will to change and I am not proud, cold blooded, fake
I will shut the world away
Fall!
Segment VII: Farewell
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