"Framed Like A Picture" Flash Fiction

 Every story has a happy ending.

 That's what I'm told, at least. I'm not so sure that's a universal fact so much as a literary tool to make people think they're happy, when the truth is they're miserably incomplete from their first breath to their last. Winners die, losers live. Losers die, winners live. Which of these is the more tragic? The loss of greatness and prevalence of the mourning, or the perishing of those who know no joy? It's a matter of the “decrease [of] the surplus population”, or greatness being torn from someone. We're left with the age-old question, is it better to have loved and lost, or to have never loved at all?

 To have never loved; where's the happy ending in you?

 To have loved and lost, what elation rests in this?

 No, I'm convinced that neither is worthy of jubilation. Only the perfect, idealistic tales of love that end in “happily ever after” are the ones worth having. Yet even these are of mediocrity and generic nothingness. Love is not two who are happy with everything; that's ignorance and bliss. Love is two who fight through torrents and come out exhausted, but also stronger than before.

 Ours should have been lasting. Instead, it led to binding; chafing the wrists with coarse sisal.

 Love is pain. Whether lost, absent, or enduring, it is pain. Why should we strive for such a torment? What's there to gain in love, anyways?

 That may be the wrong question; what's there to maintain in the void of love? What's there to not lose in the perseverance of it?

 The answer is life. The answer is faith. The answer is truth. The answer is hope. The answer is everything.

 Even the most tragic of love, so long as it's true, is more triumphant than the most fulfilling lack of it.

 The voice beyond what I can see informs the gathered of my crimes.

 The rope around my neck tells me I die in vain.

 The heart in my chest says I lived in love.

 And no institution of man can diminish the hope in that.

 Framed like a picture, I'm waiting to fall and shatter.

 They have the wrong man.

 I loved her.

 I lo--

An Open Letter To Fellow Men Guys

It's time to step it up a little.
I'm thankful to be from a state where common courtesy is uncommonly common. Not to say Texas is better than anywhere else (though it sort of is . . .), because i have much disdain for numerous aspects of it.

1 Peter 3:7 "Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered."

Now, this is directed not just at men, but rather married men. Still, parts of this can be applied to unwed men, namely the part where it says "showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel."
Here lies some controversy, as this could be seen as a male supremacist quote. How many male manual/heavy laborers are there for each female one? How many male bodybuilders are there for each female one? There are women stronger than me, and more physically capable than me. But on average, men are stronger than women, and that's fact. Deal with it.

Now on to the point of this post.
Guys, we really need to work on our manhood. In the verses leading up to this one, it speaks of the conduct of wives; how they should act and why. It tells them to be, essentially, not just women but ladies. There is a difference in the two terms; a woman is a person of the female sex. A lady is a woman who is noble and true. She is an upright, moral, intelligent woman. She is not one to fall in with any crowd, to appease for the sake of appeasing but rather for the sake of setting an example, and she is respectable in her respect for others.
And guys, with what is asked of women in this chapter, we are asked merely to show honor to them as the weaker vessel.
Our gender-role is quite simple, really.
Yet we still fail at it.
It's time we fixed that, yeah?

I'm not saying we should all become gentlemen overnight (though we should try). Let's start by becoming men. Let's work on the gentle part after we have mastered the way of being a man.

In this, i'm challenging any man that would accept.
Let's start simple, like opening doors for women, or offering to help load groceries. If we see a woman carrying something heavy or trying to lift something strenuously, it's our duty to show honor to them by offering assistance. Not to flex our muscles, but to use them so that they aren't required to.
We're not flirting, we're not trying to win hearts, we're not trying to impress, we're not even trying to be gentlemen; we're just being men.

And yes, i'm trying to add contrast between the genders with this, to repaint the line between our natures.
Not for the sake of friction or to say one sex is greater than the other. No, neither is greater; we're both required, we're both capable, we're both equal. Our natural tendencies and capabilities are different--not better or worse, just different.
But we need lines. We need contrast. We need character. We need God-given roles in our lives.
A brain and a heart are both required for life, so which is greater? The heart for pumping the blood to the brain so that the brain can tell the heart to pump blood? No, they're different, mandatory, and equal.

Without these gender-roles, society's heart will stop pumping blood to the brain, or else the brain will stop telling it to . . . Society will lose both its heart and its brain if we continue diminishing the contrast between the two.

Red

So, there's this modern hard rock band called Red; one of my favorites. I'm all for in-your-face spirituality in lyrics like Disciple, HB, Theocracy, etc. offer, but Red purposefully teeters between the Christian and secular crowds, offering spiritual encouragement ("Pieces", "Not Alone", "Best Is Yet To Come"), often talking about being at war between our human and spiritual nature ("Fight Inside", "Death of Me"), reciting words of hope for those who feel hopeless ("Gave It All Away"), and anthems for the ones who feel alone ("Who We Are", "Faceless", "Feed The Machine"). Their goal is to encourage those looking for answers, to try and be a light in the darkness, and to attract as many as they can with a message inclusive to everyone, not just believers.

As said, i love when a band just throws it all out there, saying blatantly where they stand, waging war against sinfulness, pointing out the wages of sin; "We are the war against the sick and fatal fall of man, a hollow-tip to the notion of a Godless stand" ("A Thread of Light" by Demon Hunter). But it's nice that there are bands out there, like Red, who are appealing to a secular crowd, yet pray for and with their fans, take time for their fans, they spread the Word of God using the stage as a pulpit, etc. They hand out tracts at their shows, from what i've heard, which is impressive for a band whose latest album reached #1 rock album of the year on iTunes in preorders alone.

But i do have an issue with them; one, and one alone. I noticed it while listening to them in the car earlier.
They mention in some songs the grace and mercy shown to them ("Forever", "Start Again", "Pieces"). It's rather obvious, even to someone who's never opened the Bible, that they're talking about God. However, they don't write about forgiving others . . .

The song "Wasting Time"; "Don't even try, you're wasting time. Come back, i'll beat you down, and turn around--i'm fighting my way through you. Push you away, i'll never break; come back i'll beat you down, it's over now. I'm turning my back on you."
The song "Watch You Crawl" is a little more aggressive, gloating even, stating "I'll let you drown in your despair, now nothing can save you. I will fight until the end (get ready to collide), and i will watch you fall again (i'll bury you alive). You tried to bring me to my knees (you tried to take it all), now i will stand and watch you crawl. I'm still here, i'm still here, i'm still here, now i'm gonna watch you beg, beg, beg."

So yeah . . . That's my issue with Red. "Hymn For The Missing" and "Not Alone", however, are two of the most patient, loving, forgiving and beautifully written songs i know of. In "Hymn...", it's just so passionate; he's essentially saying "I don't care what's happened, I'm still here, still reaching for you, still longing for you to come back to me."
There's my music review for the day. All-in-all, there are a couple songs i skip by Red (though not for indecency or anything), but they are one of my favorite bands.

The Lord's Prayer (pt. 2)

"Give us this day our daily bread."

In another verse, Proverbs 30:8, the author, Agur, pleads for only two things, one of which is to have neither poverty nor riches. For in poverty, we may become thieves and "profane the name of my God," whereas in riches we will forget where our hope rests and where our blessings come from.
Not only this, i find the whole aspect of "daily bread" to be quite interesting. It's long been in my thoughts to always have a need, but not poverty. I want just enough, nothing more. I'd prefer a little less than enough rather than a little more, so i have to strive, i have to better myself, and i have to trust God wholeheartedly to provide.
But daily bread; the literal translation of that is "the bread of my portion" (in Proverbs).
Enough, nothing more and nothing less. Paraphrased, that could imply "give us this day [just enough so that we rely on You always]."
But we're not to live by bread alone, but by every word of God. The basics of this world, and the blessings of the spiritual. Adequacy here, and abundance in our soul . . . And our cup will overflow.
¹² 
"And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors."

I'm analyzing these two as the same line . . .
Forgiveness is something we have to strive for from mankind. We have to earn it. Jesus earned forgiveness of sins for us and gives it freely to us, all we have to do is ask.
But to forgive, that's not just an empty phrase. If we say we forgive someone, we should mean it. We should eliminate that wrong from our memory as best we can and live as though it never happened. In Romans chapter 10, it says "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Forgiveness is much the same way; to forgive, we must believe in the heart that we've forgiven, and by mouth we utter that the wrong has been washed away. It's an oath to not throw a past sin in someone's face after it's been said that you've forgiven. Jesus was God's oath to us that He'd not hold us accountable after we've been forgiven. By Jesus' blood, our 'debts' against God and man have been washed away. His blood is grace, and we're covered in it. It's not that He can't see our sins, it's that He chooses not to.

"And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one."

God does not tempt us to do wrong, so i've caught myself wondering why we'd ask God to not lead us into temptation.
But it's simple, really. In Romans chapter 1 (i'm using other verses to make my point a lot this go-'round), we can see where God doesn't lead people into wickedness, but 'gives them up to uncleanness'. Their hearts were darkened.How do you darken something? You remove the light. God is the light of salvation. He removed Himself from them, and left them to their own hearts' desires. Without a glimmer of God in our hearts, we revert to things that are unnatural, diseasing (not a word, but its intended meaning should be obvious), and crippling. They professed wisdom, all the while becoming fools. Their hearts became void of God's light.
Romans 1:29-32 says: "being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them."See, this shows that it's God alone that keeps us from evil.
To me, "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" is much as a plea to have God continue to shine His light in our hearts, which will keep us from evil.

"For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

By Him, through Him, and to Him are all things; all things were made for His glory, and this is stating that all glory will be properly directed to Him. All power we may gain, whatever strength, ability, respect, honor, or place among men, it is His. He gets our glory, He gets the power appointed us by man, and His is the Kingdom that is established with such power.
The kingdom of God; this universe but a territory. His is the kingdom.
Forever. It's hard to think of something infinite with a mind as finite as ours. Let me put this in a finite manner: The Voyager I Probe was launched in 1977. That's 35 years ago. It's travelling nearing to 50km per second. Each breath you take, it travels the distance it would take you an hour and a half to drive. And it's been going for 35 years. It's 33 hours away at the speed of light. Now picture walking that distance. It would take millennia, and that's 1/265th of one lightyear. Our galaxy is 100,000–120,000 lightyears across. Now imagine walking that. There are galaxies billions of lightyears away . . . Imagine walking back and forth between here and one of them . . . Now picture it a thousand times. And that's a flash in the pan compared to God's eternal glory.
To Him is our glory, and our power (our all), and our kingdoms. Forever.
Amen: to be firm, confirmed, reliable, faithful, have faith, believe, so be it.

Love . . .

Love . . . What is love (I'm not going to follow that up with "Baby, don't hurt me")? Some say a chemical reaction in the brain, others a feeling, etc.
However, I have another opinion. I believe love is everything, but is isn't everything . . . 

So, we know that it is, in fact, a chemical reaction in the brain; when certain synapses and hormones are produced, we feel 'love'.
Also, it is merely a feeling; those synapses and hormones and chemical reactions combine to cause an adrenaline rush upon the sight of the object of our affection. In other words, everything about us is 'heightened'. Our emotions, heart rate, sensitivity (physically and emotionally), mental state, respiration, strength, speed, everything is heightened to its peak because of that adrenaline rush.

Also, 1 Corinthians says it's patient; it waits without tapping fingers, without pacing, without sigh or groaning. It simply waits.
It's kind; it is being nice, generous and encouraging. Graceful. I could go on about grace, but I won't. Not this time. But it is kind in that it doesn't cause any harm, only good.
It does not envy; it doesn't want anything, or wish for wrong upon another. It brings peace and dissuades us from conflict. It doesn't make people think they need something they don't have.
It does not boast; it builds others up, doesn't say "look at me", doesn't step in front of people just to make its presence known. It lets them realize it through other means, such as the way it is kind.
It is not arrogant; it doesn't poke fun at others for not having it, doesn't try to make people envious--no, it encourages them to find love for themselves. It doesn't put others down.
It is not rude; it does not belittle anyone, it does not disinclude (that's a real word starting now) someone. It doesn't try to cause anger, and does not make others feel bad.
It doesn't insist on its own way; it encourages people to bring their own ideas to light, to embrace other ideas, disinclines one from being judgmental. It has open arms and an open mind, always saying "Let me know, let me in. You have a beautiful mind; express it. I want to know your thoughts."
It is not irritable; it doesn't get angry. It is at peace. It hears rude comments and ignores them. It leaves one happy and joyful. It is a sense of calm, always finding the positive things.
It is not resentful; it doesn't hold a grudge. If someone does wrong, it lets it go, forgives and forgets. It will not say "Remember when you did that one thing?" in an argument, but rather says "Remember when I did that one thing?". It embraces the idea of forgiveness. It doesn't demand people get even, but that they forgive. It bears the judgments and wraths of others, but does not retaliate.
It does not rejoice at wrongdoing; it doesn't cheer on those who are bitter or angry. It wards off sin. It doesn't tell someone that wrong is right. It does not contort or twist what is false into a half-truth. It is black-and-white, knows the defining line between wrong and right, and abhors the former.
It rejoices with the truth; it brazenly declares what is true and does not keep secrets. It is always honest, boldly so. It is made stronger with honesty and is fortified with the truth.
It bears all things; it is mocked and laughed at and scorned, yet stands strong. It meets these things head on and repays them with joy and still waits. It strengthens. It emboldens.
It believes all things; it trusts. It trusts because it itself is honest and true. It is a confidant when all others have turned away. It is faithful. It is precious. It is a child-like faith and adoration.
It hopes all things; it is naive. It is wondrously simple in the way it simply 'hopes'. It is positive and optimistic. It disinclines pessimism and a lack of faith. It wants and expects, but does not anger when all its dreams don't come true. It is courageous yet feeble in its hopes.
It endures all things; it sees unfaithfulness, anger, wrath, shame, and bears them. It hopes that things will always be positive in the end, therefore it holds on. It never lets go. Ever. It waits. And keeps waiting. It gets picked on, it gets overlooked, it gets forgotten and abandon, yet it holds fast. It never lets go. It never lets go. It will always be there. It will always persist. Nothing can satisfy it nor extinguish it. It gets strengthened by everything, but is not diminished by anything. It never lets go. Do you understand? It holds on for hours, days, weeks, months, years . . . And it never. Lets. Go. It stands through every storm, every trial, every ache, pain and hurt, and it comes out stronger. It endures. Forever. It waits. It always waits.

And no matter what we do, if we don't have love, it's all for nothing.
Love is everything. Love is life. Love is beauty. Love is strength, honor, hope, faith . . .  If we don't have all those things listed, if we don't refuse to do the things it refuses to do, all our life is forfeit. Nothing becomes of us. We live and we die and that's it. Ashes to ashes.
But if we love, we endure. We make a difference in the world, an anti-cancer. We brighten one person's day, they brighten another's. And through six degrees of separation, we can cure the planet of negativity . . . If we simply love. Like a spreading flame that keeps burning and consuming until every soul has been set ablaze with love.
The absence of everything is nothing. If we have no love, we have nothing--an absence of everything.
Love is everything.
In 1 John chapter 4, we find out something . . .  God is love. God is love, and love is everything. God is everything. Without God, nothing we do means anything at all. Without God, we become absence; we become nothing.

Show your love to the world. Be a disciple of Christ by being a disciple of Love. Let the world know that God is Love.

Bliss: The Straight Jacket

What absolute desperation consists of is the worst of all things. Desperation in its barest, most ugly and hideous form is to exist without hope in any form. Many in society go about day-to-day lives unknowingly filled with desperation. The merciful, perhaps the merciless thing about such desperation, is few realize the hopelessness filling their lives. Endless redundancy truly is the worst of all things, in such that it entails total despair and a void where any trace of hope might exist. The beauty and horror of it, however, is, as the phrase goes, 'out of sight, out of mind'; as long as hopelessness is not the forefront of thoughts, it is not altogether troubling. Ignorance can be bliss, if only momentarily. When realized, sorrow envelops and clouds all aspects of existence, and becomes a monster manifested in the mind, which is an impenetrable stronghold. The only person with unabashed access to one's mind is oneself. The monster of the hopeless sorrow already grows within and cannot escape. Its claws like grapnel hooks, digging in deeper each time one attempts to try and pull them out. The only way to overcome it is to embrace it and let it have its way and hope to come out of it sane. But sanity is not necessarily a release, rather an indulgence or denial. Sanity is to exist in an apathetic way so as to not cause commotion in the outside world; much in the way a person in a padded cell, held tightly by a straight jacket, cannot cause commotion. To exist in observance and without contact, for to make contact, the depths of one's mind may be accessed and deemed insane or unstable in society. Sometimes, the most successful way to break or remain free of despair is to remain in the temporary, blissful ignorance or perhaps to hold to it until one has reached the edge of sanity and let it go free.