Brian See

something to think about

2010-06-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

As I am sitting in Pioneer Square, listening and watching people around me I can't help but notice that there is an overwhelming theme in everyone's existence in this place, community. If only in twos there is either practice or desire of being in community with others.

Studying psychology there are two different types of people, extrovert and introvert, but no matter where you find yourself I believe that everyone was designed to be in community in one fashion or another to share ideas, feelings, life experience, just themselves to be heard, understood, and empathized. See its funny because as humans we naturally go through cycles of wanting to be around others, talk to others as well as times when we want to be alone to reflect, center, and reach balance again, BUT, we all need someone to help us and to help them.

Its as basic as one of the first stories ever told from the beginning of time with adam and eve. God created all things and when he saw that Adam was not well without eve, he created a companion, a helper if you will and we see this in Genesis 2:1818The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now just a side note to help understanding and so you don't get the wrong idea, many people interpret this scripture as eve being created to solely be a submissive slave to Adam, this is not so at all! If we look at the original Hebrew language which the Old Testament was written in we see the word helper as עֵ֫זֶר (ezer) which does literally translate as helper, but it is important to look at this passage in context as well as at the definition of helper. If you read before and after this passage you see that Adam had the task of caring for the Garden of Eden. Now I don't know about you but gardening seems to be a daunting task and I would want a helper not just in gardening and cultivating land but also my life. See married couples, couples, friends, companions, whomever that other person is who you rely on for compassion, love, and connection may be, they help you don't they? They don't serve you without help from yourself, it is a equal investment in relationship and equally rewarding, something that should be celebrated.

This connection that we can experience with friends is a gift that we should all cultivate, that means being interested in others and "helping" others cultivate and garden their lives. Find friends that you can trust, talk to, confide in, and ultimately share life with because life is not worth living alone.

enough is enough

2010-01-10T22:38:00.000-08:00

Bills, loans, car, rent, school, work, church, friends.... ENOUGH!

I am so sick of worrying about things that I cannot control, or DO I have control over these things? The answer is really the deciding factor, not in whether I worry or not, but whether I can change my situation in life.

Decisions suck. Period.

The Holy Days Bring New Things!

2010-01-06T08:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, well it has been brought to my attention that I have not updated my blog in FOREVER. (Andy Purscelley) So, lets just get into it.

The Holiday Season is always crazy for me, probably much like everyone. Schedules are botched, stomachs are stretched and bank accounts are empty. Everyone is relieved that Christmas music no longer fills the air in public places and commercialism has moved on to less controversial, pink and cheesy holidays. I myself am exhausted from just not being on a set schedule, don't get me wrong, its nice to switch things up, but it is also nice to be in a grind. I also think that I haven't had a day where I have consumed less than 5000 calories since October. yuck. I am excited to be done with Holiday "social eating".

Now that I have gotten all the negative things out of my mind, I can focus on the positive things that happened this season. For a couple years my family, in efforts to take focus off of the commercial side of Christmas, has drawn names for gifts and has put a cap on the amount spent on each person. I LOVE this, not only because I am always down on cash, but I feel it is necessary to refocus the true meaning of the holiday. Don't get me wrong, I love receiving gifts, but I love being able to make Christmas uncomplicated by de-cluttering its events.

We had my entire family over, including my future in laws!! Which, yes I am engaged and I'll talk about this in a bit, but having family over and spending time talking, eating, and playing games was my favorite time of this season this year, and naturally will continue to be my favorite part. Another huge part was the Christmas eve service, awesome awesome awesome, I was so moved by the music and the message, I haven't experienced such a framing of the Christmas Story in a long time. It is truly incredible that a bit over 2000 years ago, God came in wholly human form to save us from ourselves!! crazy.

OK, now to the seriously fun stuff that is new in my life. December 11th was a day that was a long time coming, and will be a permanent memory in my mind forever. Leading up to that day, there was much suffering and stressful preparation to make sure that every detail would turn out perfect, but in the end it was well worth it. My now fiance Lisa and I had a leisurely afternoon of Sushi, talking, and driving around, as we were deciding what to do I realized that my original plan was not going to work, so with no hesitation I informed Lisa that we were going on an "adventure" and that she needed to get some warm clothes. Once all packed, we sat in her driveway, ready to jump into this timeless day. She opened her first clue, which through rhythm and rhyme directed us to drive to Detroit Lake Dam. We were on our way. Our drive was, as usual, laced and full of fruitful conversation, singing, dancing, and goofing around. Once we arrived at the dam it was frigidly cold, but we got out and took pictures, as customary for us when we pass by the huge manmade fete. Lisa told me that she had never touched icicles in their natural state, and the only ones in the area were across the freeway, so with caution she ran across the road to be able to cross something off her bucket list, but getting caught in the moment of excitement, she ran across the busy freeway to pose for a picture and forgot to touch the ice! So being a goof ball, she turned around in the middle of the road, almost running in circles in the middle of the busy freeway! She then touched the ice and returned safely to me. We then warmed up in my car and she read her next clue which lead us to a lake that we played in the previous summer, close to Hodoo Ski Area. We drove through the Santiam Pass Mountains and continued to enjoy each other. He arrived at the lake, parking on a small, narrow shoulder of the road, being that snow plows had not cleared the road into the lake campground. We played in the snow, took some pictures and walked in the snow before we were back in the car on to our last destination. The clue directed us to Suttle Lake, a place where we have a lot of already wonderful memories, but we were on our way to create one of the greatest memories either of us shared anywhere. We arrived just as the sun was beginning to dive into the horizon. Being that the temperature was in single digits, the entire lake was frozen, enabling us to run, jump, and slide right on top of the lake! For a moment we were truly walking on water! After a bit of shenanigans on the ice we began our intended hike around the lake. On our hike we saw a bald eagle, and as the sun continue to hide itself, it lit the surrounding mountains and hanging clouds on fire! It was one of the most beautiful environments I had ever been in. We were almost to the other side of the lake when I recognized the place that I wanted Lisa and I to stop for a hot drink break, provided by my thermos. We sat for a time, enjoying our hot chocolate and tea. My heart began to pound, and I realized that I had not been this nervous since I asked Lisa to be my girlfriend, but this in no way was even close in importance. I finally found the words coming out of my mouth, "do you know why I brought you here?" See, Lisa and I had been talking about getting engaged for quite some time, like almost 2 years so this moment in time was not only a long time coming, but was somewhat expected. BUT, Lisa was gracious and replied in her sweet soft voice, "I have no idea why you brought me here Brian." I proceeded to get down on one knee and explain to her why I felt that that particular place was so meaningful. That small peninsula in the lake was where I had given Lisa a bouquet of wild flowers (which she still has to this day) and it is also where we shared our first kiss as a couple. I then began to describe how meaningful her keeping those flowers was and is to me. Then I pulled out her ring and explained that the ring was much like the flowers, just an object in itself, but by giving it to her, and having her wear and cherish it made it the most special object in the world. I then proceeded to ask her to marry me, and of course she said YES!! We were so excited we could hardly keep it together. I am pretty sure the smile did not leave my face the entire 40 minute hike back to my car. We started calling our families to tell them the great news, and it was actually quite funny because, being that we were driving through the mountains, cell service was in and out, and considering the importance of the news, breaking signal was quite stressful at times.

All in all, it was a great Holiday season, time for new life, time for new love, and new beginnings.

New Obsession and Hobby with L

2009-10-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

So there is a new obsession in my life. Its an activity that I feel I was born to perform and although many if not most people don't understand it, I love it all the same.

It all started when Lisa and I were sitting in my dining room and we heard sirens in the distance going down the hill toward downtown Oregon City. Lisa stated, "I wonder what is going on, I wish i could go where they are going." This statement reveals something about both Lisa and I, we both love action, we both love sirens and lights, and we both love to experience "scenes" together. So without missing a beat, I looked up the incident website provided by an undisclosed source and told here what was going on. She, in shock, said, "How do you know that?!" and I showed her our new obsession, going to emergency services calls. Now, I don't know if this is illegal or if we are just having an honest good time, the reality is I don't want to know either way because even if it were illegal, I don't think Lisa and I could stop! We are dedicated 'last responders' and we love our calls and all the things we experience in between!

Viva la última respuesta!

too many books on the bedroom floor

2009-09-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

so... i attempted to seperate books that i have read from the books that i need to read from the books that just sit on the shelf to make me look cool and smart and i realized that the books that i need to read way out weigh all categories. This is really depressing because i have no time to do NOTHING. i try to write music and i find i don't have time, i try to read books and i don't have time, i want to workout and i DONT HAVE TIME! crazy, i need more time and i just can't find it. but oh well... thats it, no time.

Schools need reform, or actually just need to retro-form

2009-09-25T13:43:00.001-07:00

ok, this is my uneducated synopsis on the present day education system. IT SUCKS! Ok, sure state mandated benchmarks are being made on the daily, but seriously, school is more than just stats. What happened to the school system that formed kids into educated adults, not just in curriculum but in life! I feel that we are missing the mark big time. I don't blame the educators because they are wrapped in a system that is flawed and are victim to narrow minded lesson plans, if anything i feel that our educators (at least the ones that try) are the only saving graces that our education system has. they are the front lines in a war against a depleting generation in all respects, many times they have more influence than the children's parents do, give them a chance to teach, and teach well. TO BE CONTINUED...

I hate mornings, I love mornings

2009-09-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

why do i love mornings some days and hate them others? oh yea, because i live in oregon and when it rains in the morning it makes me want to die. maybe its because i have to go work in the rain and cold in the winter at 7 in the morning? anyway, i just hate rainy cold mornings. BUT, when it is sunny and i can wake to see the sunrise there is no better day. I also like getting up early to get a butt load of stuff done, pray, eat a good breakfast and utilize the whole day, but unfortunately we are getting into rainy season. We'll see what happens.

One thing that is amazing in the morning though is morning prayer, it is the first thing during the day so why not start it right by aknowledging He is God and that i am reliant on him! also it is just the right way to start the morning and to set my mind straight with where it needs to be for his will. PRAY PRAY PRAY

why do crapy things happen?

2009-09-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

as i was getting my hair cut this morning i was chatting with my stylist and we started our conversation like any other, small talk first, 'how are you? whats new?' and then this conversation mysteriously transformed into a discussion of crappy things that have happened in both our lives, mainly describing all the tradgedy that both of us had experienced in the past year. Unfortunately she had lost her brother less than a year ago, i had lost a good friend of mine to cancer, one of our friend's father had passed away, and the list goes on. So the main question of the conversation was, why does crappy stuff happen?

I think the easiest way to look at this is to understand that we will never understand why things like this happen. we will never fully know why God permits things like this to wreck our lives because ultimately He has a greater plan for all things, and through His permitting of crappy things, there are, I believe, greater things to come. Personally i would gladly subdue myself to crappy things for the rest of my life, knowing that God's provision and divine will is ultimate truth and ultimately what needs to happen in order for this world to be a better place.

spiritual gifts

2009-09-16T15:09:00.001-07:00

what deems a gift as spiritual? spiritual gifting is something that i feel is commonly put in a box definition as something that is given only to believers, and those who are involved in the church but i would go as far as to say that any gift imparted on anyone, christian or not, are spiritually imparted because we are made in Christ-likeness.

God loves us, He created us, and we are in His image in one way or another, we have personalities and abilities that are our responsibility to use those for the kingdom of God. The gift is defined in how they are used.

p.e.s.m.

2009-09-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

So i filled out an application for a small school in Milwaukie, Oregon that is hosted by my home church's denominational conference. I was a bit skeptical at first and after three days of class i am still skeptical. I just feel like although they are involved in explaining theology and diving into the study of scripture and how to logically apply it to ministry, i feel that it is heavily weighed towards, and at times supported, by denominational theory. The fact that it is so strongly supported by denominational declarations makes me wonder if all these theories and statments are from scripture or if these things are just commonalities among leaders over time of the denomination.

Although i am weary of this, the teachings and teachers are solid. I know it sounds as though i am bashing everything i learned form these packed three days of class, but i really do feel that the classes were great. If anything, its just nice to be involved in theological discussion because it gets the wheels turning to explore and navigate scriptures which is good for me.

I hope its not obvious, but i am actually in class right now and quite distracted so i will update when i get out, maybe my thoughts will be more complete! peace

Worship #1

2009-08-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

So, the latest thing going on in my head is worship, naturally, after spending a week straight exploring musical worship with over 200 high school students. I guess there is a need to explain the week as it unfolded to support my current thoughts on worship so thats where i will start.

The week at camp started as any other year, I was aprehensive at first, not really wanting to be there, out of my comfort zone which really consists of doing nothing, and i was really just not feeling the whole camp environment (over dramatic, over emotional, and really just fake), but after the first night i realized that this year was going to be different. The first night of worship started with the same thoughts of inadiquacy, unworthiness, and overall just feelings straight from the devil. But once we started playing my viewpoint started to change, i realized that these kids are here to simply worship, not to hear us play, or even to judge our musical abilities. And in that realization we began to worship ourselves. The moment that brought it all home was when i looked back at our drummer to signal the ending of a song and saw him totally immersed in the holy spirit. it was a moment that will be in my mind forever. That is the moment that we strive for, to be completely lost in the spirit, and as leaders i feel it is hard to accomplish that because we have so much more on our mind (the right key, the right melody, the right words). When worship leaders fall into worship themselves, that is when worship as a congregation is truly great.

First time in the eye of the public

2009-01-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

When i considered starting a blog i was apprehensive at first but i think that this will be a great way to express the way i feel and my thoughts. I tend to be quiet when it comes to opinions, consequently because many people in this world either shut down ideas in a flash, interrupt, don't support or respect things that are said, or all of the above. Anyway, all in all, if you are reading this, get ready for serious ideas from Brian.

peace