Pilot

Konnichiwa!

This blog is now officially established to update all those who want to follow me on my (mis)adventures in Japan. It will not, however, be limited to the unique experiences I'd like to share, but will also be a sort-of impersonal journal - an avenue for my thoughts and readings during the next two years that are worth sharing.

The inspiration for the blog's title is from a song I've learned recently on the guitar that made 'MatTV's Top 10 summer hits' for its catchy melodies and heartfelt lyrics:

The Precipice

The Classic Crime

I wish that I could play the violin.

I'd play till tears roll down your cheek and chin.

And if you sang along,

We could write the saddest song.

Sometimes I indulge my every whim

And piece by piece, I build the cell I'm in.

But I only stay here long

Enough to write the saddest song.

Chorus:

I dreamt I stood on a hill that I wish was a mountain

To look back on all my accomplishments,

Well they must have been small because I couldn't seem to find them

So I took a leap off of the precipice.

I wish I could play piano well.

I'd hit the keys that make your spirit swell

And if you sang along,

We could write the saddest song.

Bridge:

Whatever the cost

Whether it works out or not

Whatever the cost

Whether it works out or not

I'll follow you

I'll follow you

I'll follow you with all of my heart

The chorus and bridge particularly hit home as they express the artist's desire to follow the Lord's will, a desire I believe all us Christians express daily ("...Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..." -Mat 6) and will wrestle with at multiple points in our lives. "Am I in the Lord's will right now?" "What is His plan for me?" "Among several life paths, which one does God want me to take?" As I sung the lyrics for myself, I couldn't help but make it my own prayer.

In the chorus, the artist struggles with the meaninglessness of all our personal achievements; so in his quest for purpose and significance, he takes 'a leap off of the precipice'. In other words, he gives everything away in hopes of gaining something of actual/eternal worth - just as Christ describes in the parable of the man who finds a treasure in a field and sells all his possessions to buy that field (Mat 13:44-46). This last line of the chorus poetically describes what we are called to do every day when we take up our crosses and follow our Lord (Luk 9:23). By our living lives of surrender, we unite ourselves to the One who is our purpose, to the One who tells us that His will is "to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." (Eph 1:10)
So what is God's will for us? Unity. With Himself. And with others. We might stress ourselves with questions of the Lord's will: What will my next job be? What school should I go to? Who should I marry? While these are important life decisions, the results of them are many orders smaller in importance compared to our daily decision to follow Christ. The questions we should be asking are: Are we studying His Word with all our heart? Are we praying like our lives depend on it? Are we caring for those who can't help themselves, just as Christ did? Are we sharing the gospel like we believe Hell really exists?
I don't mean to belittle our big life decisions. Our life decisions still carry significance to God because He cares very much about the details of our lives - He doesn't create things He doesn't care about - but our daily commitment to His Word and His commandments has an eternal impact on our own souls and on the souls around us. This is His will. Our other big life decisions will simply become a manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit being worked out in our lives as we daily draw from His living water.

Now the bridge of the song explains what it's like to follow God's will; and the artist's prayer reminds me of my own. There have been times in my life where I'm so convinced that I'm acting out of God's spoken will for me that when the plans crumbled and failed, I questioned God's goodness instead of questioning my own intentions and assumptions. On a specific occasion, I pursued a certain path with the full confidence in my feelings of peace during my prayers and fasting, in the confirmation of God's Word, and in the validation of my close friends. And then it all fell apart. It was over a year later that I discovered my confidence was misplaced in the formula I created for determining God's will. I was confident in my knowledge. I was confident in my spirituality. I was confident in my heart's desires. I had a confidence that produced only pride and legalism.

I still don't know how to determine God's will in these life decisions, but I don't think it's a puzzle or a riddle that God expects us to figure out. And I think my accepted ignorance puts me in a good place. All I know now is that if I choose to follow God every day, He promises to always be with me in whatever I do and wherever I go (Rom 8:28). Because God has been faithful up to this point, I am confident that He'll let me know if I am acting outside of His plans for me. And while He may not speak to me face-to-face like He did with Moses, or give me dreams like He gave Joseph, God will align my desires to His desires as I pursue Him, and not His will.

I leave tomorrow for Japan and, more than anything, I'm excited for my new adventure. I have no idea what my life will be like a few months from now or even a week from now, but "whatever the cost" and "whether [my plans] work out or not", my choice will always be "to follow You with all of my heart."

This blog, more than it is about time spent abroad, is about the Precipice - that choice I make every day.