Anyway, as I was cleaning, I noticed something about the items I was throwing away, as most of the things scattered about the room were things I no longer needed. Only 16% of all the stuff I was getting rid of was regular trash. A massive 84% was recyclable material. I know… I did the math. (I guess those two semesters of stats in college paid off).

Sure it took a lot longer to separate everything into different containers for trash and paper and cans/bottles, but when I realized how much of the material was actually recyclable, it made me think about how much of an difference would be made on the Earth if everybody really took the time to do something as simple as recycling what they could instead of just lumping everything into one single garbage bag. Now, I realize that my ratio of trash to recyclables might be slightly wider than that of most others since I am quite the connoisseur of Diet Snapple Peach Tea, but nevertheless, I would (fairly confidentially) assume that most of what people throw out really isn’t non-renewable trash and could be remade into something new and wonderful.

I mean, I am not an ecologist, but I do think that little things like this make a difference.

>Trethewey Life Story. from David Tate on Vimeo.

There’s a girl in our youth program who, last week, told us about her friend who had leukemia. During the night, one of our leaders prayed for the girl and her family… for courage, strength, healing, etc.

Well, we found out a day or so ago that the girl with leukemia died on Monday. Sad. And this is when the questions began to come out. Some of the kids who knew the girl were wondering why their friend still died even though we prayed for them and their healing. They could not comprehend why someone close to them would go through something like that nor why “God would let them die.”

Tonight is the first night that we are meeting as a group since it happened, and we know that this something we are going to have to address with everyone. While it’s hard to deal with death under any circumstance, the hastened death of a teenager to such a terrible disease, topped with these deep, theological questions is particularly difficult. At the same time, it provides the opportunity to really show the kids the realities of life and the God who doesn’t promise to take you out of every hard time but who says that he will be with you as you go through them.

I am both looking and not looking forward to the conversation at the same time.

And coincidentally, I found that my friend David, at the same time, has posted the above video on Vimeo, dealing with very similar circumstances.

These are questions we all have to deal with at some point or another in life. They are not easy questions, but they can help build us up and process the grief and confusion, ultimately helping to bring healing and understanding.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Psalm 34:18 (NLT)

This is a great slap in the face for proper perspective and seeing how our generation today has really become spoiled. The sense of entitlement present in people today, myself included, is sickening. If we were to just step back and look at the bigger picture of our world and what is truly possible now, I think we’d really be amazed and thankful for the world we live in and the things that are possible that didn’t even exist 10 years ago.

Here’s a higher quality, but unembedable clip.

So today I pose a question. I have asked it before in certain small circles, but we never fully let the conversation breathe to it’s fullest. And here it is:

I believe that God always leans in the direction of love and forgiveness for those who are seeking after him. Always. So, if Satan (and I realize the “far-outness” of this scenario) truly repented and sought forgiveness for, well… everything, would God forgive him? And what would that mean? Is the fact that he is made of angelic material and we of earthly change the nature of that forgiveness? And if God would not forgive him, what would that make of his “unending love?”

Also, please don’t just say “yes” or “no.” For me, the “why” is almost more important that the concrete definitives.

Leave a comment!

Photo, “Repent Pray Forgive” by Cornelius Zane-Grey

Yesterday during a break, Alex, my brother, and I decided to go out and get some lunch. We drove down Elizabeth Ave with the intention of visiting Elizabeth Pizza (and let me tell you, that little restaurant has some quality pizza). Parking is sparse many times on the Ave, and so we hunted, albeit not for too long, for a space. We settled in front of the El Fogon restaurant. It’s a Colombian place, and it looked pretty good so we decided to go there instead.

We entered and approached the counter to order some chicken and rice. Apparently, according to the lady, they were completely out. That’s kind of odd being that this is one of their main dishes. So we ordered some sandwiches. Shocking…. they were completely out of sandwiches too. We kind of just stood there, staring at her… finally picking up on her hints. She was out of food for us. So we left. Alex said that he knew something was up as soon as we arrived because he noticed them whispering about us the second we walked through the door (perhaps they were jealous of the flannel).

So, we were discriminated against and refused service. I think this was the first time something like this happened to me. I can’t say that I care all too much. We just went somewhere else… to our original destination in fact, Elizabeth Pizza. And their chicken was just as good.

It’s alright. [sarcasm]I hear El Fogon serves poop mixed into their rice.[/sarcasm] I would say to boycott them, but I’m more interested in seeing if this is a common practice with them. So go check them out and see if you can get some chicken. [moresarcasm]And then poop in their rice.[/moresarcasm]

Also, happy Martin Luther King day!

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In this place I make my stand. Joy holds my hand. She places herself behind me as the winds of change sway my decisions in this emotional wave of uncertainty. I’m scared as the wind suddenly halts and again I’m reminded of my faults. But your voice and joy doesn’t stall in encouraging me about this safe call. Looking over this valley of emotional death I see my wings of hope open to glide even though I have an extremely heavy breath. And even though I’m so scared and stumped I’ll taste air, close my eyes, and jump.

- Michael Regalado, “The Room vol 4″

So here’s the backstory. I’ve worked for Elizabethtown Gas for the past 9.5 years. Has it really been that long? Wow. I started with a summer internship throughout college and eventually came on full time. It was a decent job that paid well and allowed me to really knock down my student loans and live quite comfortably.

Anyway, as of late I have become restless. I have discovered, in recent years, more of myself and my dreams and passions and just what it is that I was put on this earth to do. Sadly, checking gas mains doesn’t quite fit in with the plans for what I need to do with my life. Furthermore, the job I currently am doing is pretty repetitious and monotonous work. I connect a voltmeter to a terminal and write down the reading it says.

You see, most people think of me as a “tech guy,” but that’s not how I think of myself. I’m an artist who uses computers and technology as the medium to make my art. As such, I need to make. I need to create. And there is no creation in what I’m doing now. There is machine-like drudgery. And it’s driving my insane. Literally. Some days I feel in such a cloud that it’s hard to concentrate, and a few month ago it sent me into a depression.

But it was still a well-paying job, and comfort and security began to set it. This scared me. I don’t want to find myself 50 years old and still working at a job that I know I wasn’t created for. I can’t let that happen. And I knew I had to get out soon. One thing: I have no concrete plans for what will come if I cut the chord and jump.

So I sought some wise counsel from people I trust asking if I was really insane to think that I could leave without any real idea of what comes next. Am I really crazy to throw caution into the wind and run towards the person God has been calling me to be even though I don’t know exactly where that will lead? The consensus: Yeah, that’s insane, but it’s exactly what I should do. Take the risk and become the person that has been in conversation between me and God for the past few months. What will he look like? I’m not sure, but he will be involved with social justices, speaking out for the oppressed and downtrodden, and bringing healing to the broken pieces of society – and it will revolve somehow around art.

And so today, November 24, 2008, I told my boss that December 31 is my last day. I knew the conversation would happen when I got back to the office in the afternoon, and so I was nervous the whole day. Excessive amounts of butterflies were fluttering about my innards. But I asked him if he had a minute, closed the door, and just said it. And after a few minutes conversation he said that he was proud of me and I was doing the right thing. That kind of shocked me, yet it was an incredible reassurance.

Officially, the resigning won’t be put in until mid-December as they only require 2-weeks notice. He wants me to take the 3 weeks until then to really make sure this is what I really want. I already know this is what must happen, however, and so the decision will stand. I’m supposed to keep this quiet amongst the company until it’s “official.” I don’t think anyone from there really reads this blog, except maybe the guy who just found it via the searchbot the company uses to find news stories online. (Hi, AGL Webcawler.)

Anyway, that’s the deal. As of January 01, 2009, I’ll be unemployed unless I can make something happen in the 5 weeks leading up to it. This reality both scares me and excites me at the same time. Pray for me.

PS: Anyone out there looking for a photographer? I work cheap.

Jump image by l@mie

And so, as there is much to say (if I can remember it all) I will break it up into multiple different entries. I think it might be better than having one massive post to sift through.

So, for the month of July and August we have been doing a huge series on Justice at The Sanctuary. The first part of the series was a look at justice itself. I taught twice in that part. Right after we finished the justice part we had our annual week-long service project in Elizabeth, which we call The E-town Mission. Now we are wrapping up the series with a month-long look at Micah 6:8. Exciting.

Anyway, the E-town Mission was July 14 – 18 and it was pretty cool. I took off of work so I could participate in the full trip. Unlike past years, though, I was not a crew leader, and I totally didn’t mind. This year Cathy and Armando led our group and I was just there to look pretty help out. It was cool because Cathy was in my group, I believe two years ago, when I was leading it. I also had the responsibility of taking pictures and video throughout the trip. We managed to capture over 1000 photos and about 3 hours of video. I haven’t gone through the video yet, but the pictures are on Flickr. I tried to diversity the pictures as much as possible, meaning I had multiple cameras there and gave out the extras to other groups to try to capture all the different crew’s work instead of just mine. Still, there was an overabundance of pictures of my crew by default since I take more pictures than anyone. I still have one more set of images to go through that I just got from someone a day or two ago, and so those will be posted in a day or so. You can see the full and expanding gallery at http://www.flickr.com/photos/whartz/sets/72157606390538838/

We did a lot of work around the city in the week of the trip. Our (when I refer to “our” or “we” I am most likely, unless otherwise specified, referring to my crew. Other crews were sent to other jobs in different parts of the city at different times) first stop was the Salvation Army for a VBS kids club thing. We hung out with the kids all morning, doing crafts, singing songs, dancing, telling stories, hanging out, and playing games. Most of the kids were really good. There was one the first day who seemed quite a jilted and disenfranchised little girl. She was downright mean to us and everyone in the room. As the week progressed she got nicer and I think she really liked us in the end (my crew went back the the Salvation Army once more that week). Also, this is where Little Billy was born.

We visited 2nd Home, a day center for the elderly to come and hang out with other people. We were there for a few hours on Monday. Other crews were there throughout the week as well. There was music and singing and dancing and pool playing as well as a riveting game of ring toss that the people there seemed to quite enjoy. 2nd Home is not a place for the sick and dying. It’s not a nursing home. Rather it’s a vibrant community of the elderly who come there on a daily basis for friendship and fun. There was a lady there who was quite adamant about me and Maria dancing and she made it known that this is what she wanted done. There was also an acoustic rendition of La Bamba, or at least that is what we tried to perform, with Manny on the guitar and Armando trying to lead. We’re all in agreement that it was the most un-La Bamba version of La Bamba every attempted by human hands.

Of course there was the “manual labor” aspect of the trip as well. One day we we were sent to the North Elizabeth train station. There is an area of land in dispute there. It’s a path and stairway leading from the train tracks to the street. NJ Transit claims that it is property of the City of Elizabeth. The city claims that it is property of NJ Transit. As a result, neither party takes care of it. And so it has become overgrown with 6′ tall weeds and vegetation. The people who come from the train late at night fear that they may be jumped or assaulted because there is significant area for a would-be-assailant to hide in the overgrowth and surprise them. And since neither of these parties will do anything about it, we did. We went and cut down all the weeds and tried to open the area up as much as possible. There was much machete use. Oh, and I wrestled a tree. You see, in the middle of cleaning out an area I found a branch… or what I thought was a branch. I traced it to its source, yet the branch kept on going further and further and further. Eventually I realized I was dealing with a 30+ foot tall tree. I thought I could leverage it and push it to the back, out of the way. Instead I moved it and it fell over the train tracks (!). And so I called Armando and Clarence over and we muscled it off the tracks and into a small ravine. It was a feat of great manliness and strength.

The next day we went to the Liberty Center to work in the building, cleaning, working in the construction of the main theater, etc. Still sore from the weeding of the train station, Pastor Gary told me to get my machete again cause I was going to the back of the building to make friends with more 6′ tall weeds. And so me, Sarah, Jenn, Jose, JonStevens, and others headed into the forest that was the Liberty’s backyard. And the hacking commenced yet again. We got most of it done in the morning shift. My crew left to head back to the Salvation Army for shift 2 that day, and the remaining crews completed the deforestation so that it was all complete and clean. Other crews at the Liberty cleaned windows and bathrooms. Some went upstairs and worked in the 2nd floor theater. Some worked in the main theater, moving construction material, screwing down and painting the main stage, and moving things into storage.

We finished the work week by running a car wash for a local church. They needed to raise money for an event for their youth program. And so we put together a free car wash and had a place for donations. All donations went to this church, and I believe they were able to raise a few hundred dollars. The car wash was fun. As the day progressed the crews got more efficient with their time and cleaning. As we were closing down for the day there was a line out of the driveway with cars waiting for their bath. As the people had their cars washed they had the opportunity to get out of the car and we had a little chat with them about what we were doing. It was a really beautiful day also, which made it really enjoyable.

There was much more we did that week. We (the group collective) took some kids to the park, went to a nursing home to hang out with the sick elderly, cleaned up different streets and areas in the city, planted flowers and did basic landscaping in public areas, repaired damaged structures in the city, etc.

And then there was the activities. We went to the park, went swimming, went bowling, barbecues, etc. And at the end of the trip we all went to Dorney Park for the day to ride roller coasters and other recreational things. While there we also took one of those old timey cowboy photos.

Overall it was a great trip. It really tied into the discussions we’ve been having on service and justice the past months. People are excited to go out and make a change in their city and world. Some are beginning to make plans on how to make the E-town Mission a year-long project instead of just one week throughout the summer. The happenings of this week and the discussion of The Sanctuary had really influenced me personally and made me rethink a great many things in my own personal life, some of which came to heads in my trip to San Francisco, which I will blog about a bit later on. In addition I was able to make new friends and get closer to pre-existing ones. I’m really glad I was able to be a part of the experience.

To see all the pictures of the things we did, visit our gallery on Flickr. Videos (hopefully) to come soon.

I was working in Raritan, NJ today. I pulled over to the side of the road in order to inspect the gas meter on a house. When done I noticed this deer standing on someone’s front lawn across the street. She was just staring into the window in the front of the house. And she remained there for a good 10 – 15 minutes. And so did I. She sometimes moved away, messed around with a bush, walked in a circle, but always returned to the window. At one point her nose was practically touching the glass. I know not what so fascinated her inside the house. And I know not what so fascinated me to watch this deer do it’s deer-thing for so long. Maybe it was the quietness of the area – only the wind and the birds adding soundtrack to the otherwise silence of nature – and the deer, thinking it was alone, doing what naturally came to it, unhindered by outside influence. And so I stood there taking pictures of my new deer friend until she turned and saw me. She did not run or even seem to care, but it was at that point that I returned to my truck to get back to work.

And it was a good day.

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