Aaron Welty You’ve been called to a life of Holy Recklessness… – Andy Pisciotti
Almost five months ago I lost the job that I had on Capitol Hill for almost seven years, tomorrow I start a new job and with it a new chapter. So you’d think that the night before I’d be thinking about the job that’s coming, right? Nope, there are some pretty big unanswered questions with that anyway. Instead, I’m trying to work through the implications of what my friend Andy Pisciotti said to me this afternoon.
News has recently reverberated though the corridors of Hollywood that long-time director Ridley Scott (of Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator fame) wants to bring a biblical epic on Moses to the big screen. What’s more, it’s been noted that he would like Christian Bale (Christopher Nolan’s Bruce Wayne) to play the title character. Interestingly enough, there are similarities between the character Bale played – that made him a star – and the one that Ridley Scott wants him to play…
In my favorite novel – This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti – Bernice Kruger and Marshall Hogan, the reporter and editor of the local paper, find themselves victims of mysterious engine trouble in the small town of Baker. While stranded in Baker, Bernice walks over to the Evergreen Tavern and chances to meet Kevin Weed: a frequently drunk and semi-employed logger, who is the former classmate and boyfriend of Bernice’s sister’s roommate, Susan Jacobson a character who later holds the answers to an unresolved murder case in which Bernice’s sister was the victim). Long story short, Weed becomes a critical character as the plot unfolds from that point. After that meeting, Marshall’s station wagon starts right up, the previous engine trouble having mysteriously vanished.
“Look, your books are safe; while reading you get to become Tarzan or Robinson Crusoe…but afterwards you get to be a little boy again. The ones you read are safe.” – Mr. Koreander
Above is what I consider to be one of the most though provoking lines from one of my favorite childhood movies, The Neverending Story. A story within a story, it’s the tale of a young boy and what happens to him when he begins to read a new book, one that is unlike anything he’s ever read, an adventure that he cannot tear himself away from; the story of a land called Fantasia.
“You make walking look boring!” – a middle school student from Naples, FL visiting DC
A few days ago my Dad brought the FENX back to DC after a many month hiatus to do repairs and add some “special modifications”. Since then I’ve been spending large swaths of the last few days doing shake down tests as I drive around DC. Today was no different , as I made my way down the National Mall and back to test the overall range and speed of the vehicle.
As I sat down on this rock, my bag of materials beside me, I stared out at the horizon, lost in time as the surf hit the beach, white bubbles greeting golden unmolested sand. I found myself looking back in time, to the last time I was here at this place – one year ago…
Seven years ago…
I rapidly blink as my eyes come back into focus; the words on the page suddenly becoming clear. I stare at ancient wisdom, words and ideas of a time gone by, words of wisdom from great men, words I desperately want to grasp and understand with my feeble mind; a language no longer used, the language of the Founders. I try as best I can to block out the noise around me, it’s that camp song about the Blue Jay, again. As I feel movement under me, the wheels on the bus propelling me and about 45 other people forward, I realize how uncomfortable the seat is; it sure doesn’t help that the little kryptonite goblin known as joint pain sees an opportunity for mischief . The fact that everyone is screaming, the fifth verse of the song having reached it’s apex, doesn’t do me good either. All of these factors come together at once, shattering any concentration I thought I had mustered in an attempt to further my knowledge.
This past weekend I took my “first step into a larger world” and spoke at the Students for Life of America conference that happens each year around the March for Life in Washington, D.C. I’d never spoke at a conference before and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous walking into a room that was at 75% capacity – filled with teens and college students – and could hold 700 (or more) participants; it was big. If that wasn’t enough, you know it gets serious when they wire you up with one of those “head mics” that wraps around your head and the mic sticks out from your face. No lapel mic for this run through Beggar’s Canyon.
Quest: “a long and arduous search for something” or “An expedition undertaken in medieval romance by a knight in order to perform a prescribed feat”
While those definitions aren’t “bad” ones, I prefer the concept of a quest that’s advocated by Tim Keller: A quest is a journey that, in it’s undertaking, you either die or you return from it so changed that you cannot go back to your life as you knew it before.” Built into the idea of a “quest” is uncertainty. Inherent within is the possibility of failure; victory is not assured. Contrast that with the idea of conquest. In the 21st Century that term tends to be used by men in connection with exploits of a sexual nature. It’s a term that indicates that “victory” is assured, or has already happened and it’s being told after the fact. There is no uncertainty here, no opportunity for development of character when one considers conquest. Conversely, a Quest is all about growth of character.
Imagine a world where the precious life of an unborn child is cherished; imagine a world without abortion. My friend Kristan Hawkins does that all the time. She’s the director of Students for Life of America here in Washington, DC and the mind behind the Students for Life of America Conference that happens annually around the March for Life. While the March for Life has drawn nearly a million people in recent years to the National Mall in Washington to stand for the unborn, this conference draws 2,000 pro-life student activists to hear from luminaries in the pro-life movement.
Author, Speaker, and Super Nerd. Aaron Welty speaks and writes regularly connecting the dots of life, faith, and science fiction. Originally from Michigan, he now lives and works in the Washington, DC metro area.