Just a face in the million(s?)...my inauguration experience

the day was filled with a lot of excitement, energy, joy, politeness, and (in danger of being cliche) hope. here is the rundown (with help from my twitter updates):

• 6am: pressed the snooze (repeated this action a few times)
• 6:27am: got up, showered, layered, skipped breakfast (bad idea)
• 7:09am: got in the honda with Chad and hit 295 to go to greenbelt (metro stop)
• 8:03am: got in line at greenbelt with pre paid ticket (thanks, chad...pic below)
• 8:25am: boarded metro (sardines in a can) and was planning to get off at L'Enfant Plaza...found out it was closed...replanned to disembark at ChinaTown/ Gallery
• 9:33am: got off the Green line and walked with EVERYONE out of the station (VERY SLOWLY)...headed to national mall and stopped at street vendor to get teriyaki on a stick...WOW GREAT chicken i love street food vendors...got a coke (it actually got colder as i drank it)...kept walking down to 18th st and then north (? i think?) to the mall...what a great moment when we saw the mall!
  
• 10:32am: Arrived on the mall. No security checkpoint. Quite a few "haters" with bullhorns and ridiculous signage letting everyone in sight know they were going to hell...but hey, here's the thing: this is freedom! even though i dont like it they have the right to do that and it is great...b/c the people around have the right to respond (and boy, did they)
• 10:32-11:40am: Mall Experience. Ok, here's the deal: we walked and got as close to the capitol as we could...we got to the washington monument (on the left if you are looking at the capitol)...about 50 yards from the flags (right at the first elevation). everyone in attendance was so cool. i love talking to pepople in crowds. i laughed a lot. had a very funny conversation with a few college students about how the first lady's prefer to all be called LadyBird after one kid mistook Rosalynn Carter as "LadyBird" Carter...it was funny in the moment. Then, one guy started yelling at these three twenty somethings because his mother couldnt see after they stood in front of her. but here's the thing: she was sitting down while the million or so people around her were standing. Moron. But I sincerely accept his "moron-ness"...We all watched on the big screen as the dignitaries entered...several cheers and several jeers.
• 11:40-noon(ish): big boos when bush and cheney showed up. big cheers when obamas and biden showed up. big cheers for Aretha and (oddly enough) several boos for Rick Warren (confused me...but from what I gathered, his stance on abortion and homosexuality is what people really hated). During his prayer though, there were a couple great moments: when he named the obama children, the crowd cracked up laughing (loud) at how he said "Sasha"...watch it on youtube here (scroll to 3:40-3:44...he just said it funny)...but the great moment was when Rick Warren began praying the lord's Prayer...and EVERYONE (around us anyway) recited it along with him. WHAT A GREAT MOMENT...one that made me very emotional (among other moments during the day)...
• Aretha and String performances: didnt hear them well at all...
  
• Obama swearing in and speech: ok, everything was on a delay (audio) out in the mall...BUT...when he was sworn in, i was very proud of my country, and of how far we have come. I think Obama's speech was THE best inauguration speech I have heard. CNN and several other media outlets didnt like it, but it inspired me...several phrases (unclench your fist, shake off the dust, when i was a child...) really surprised and challenged me. i was encouraged and inspired...and i will admit it, i cried a couple of times. it was such a surreal moment in the crowd listening, hoping, believing, and being inspired that we can be empowered to do something great. i really hope this lasts. after the speech, everyone (EVERYONE) clocked out and started to leave...
• 12:53pm: started walking away in a general exit direction (pic left)... however, we were moving towrd the porta potties...this cause dus to get out of the general movement toward the ONE exit we could reach...this caused us to stand together for a long time and not move for about 15-20 mins. then...
• 1:27pm: i lost chad. we decided to call and meet at the most visible landmark on the way out...the crazy christian bullhorn guys
• 1:29pm: chad and i were reunited at the bullhorn guys, and i made chad take a picture of me and the loudest one around (left)
• 1:30pm-2:28pm: we walked up 18th st (ave?) shoulder to shoulder pretty slowly...tried to find shortcuts with no luck around police barriers...flagged down a cop to help a woman who was passing out (she had family with her we didnt just leave her) and THEN i spotted heaven close to K st...
• 2:29pm: lite white berry and a doughnut at CARIBOU COFFEE (big hint: if you EVER want to get me a gift, a CARIBOU gift card is the way to go...or take me there and hang out with me i would like that more)...and we walked NORTH to the Metro after standing at the parade route debating whether to stay for the parade or not...so we boarded the orange/blue line at Farragut (sp?) around
  
• 2:42pm: packed into an overcrowded train (you didnt have to hold on because the crowd around you held you up)...and made the decision to take it to pentagon city (b/c so many stations (like L'enfant) were (supposedly) closed
• 2:45-3:46pm: caught te yellow line and went north to the green line and ended up where we started at greenbelt...had some great convos with people on the way...one couple i talked to couldnt get to the mall so they ducked into an embassy suites and watched it on tv...we laughed a lot...they were form cali...another guy i talked to lives in western baltimore...moved there from new orleans 13yrs ago...cool dude
• 3:47pm: got back to greenbelt and loaded my tired self in the car and drove home (via 95 this time)
  

the day and the moment were great. i am so glad i went. forgive the typos...i dont wanna edit.
taking risks,
n

Discovering Love From a Sponge Bath

Love. As a middle school student, I knew everything about love. In high school, I became even more of a genius. By the time I graduated college, I realized I had no idea what love meant at all; I just knew it when I saw fragments here and there. When I got married, I discovered it a little bit more (and I learned how to empty a dishwasher without being begged to do so, but not without a fight). Today, love is measured in our culture with a ridiculous scale that is mixed with emotion, pleasure, and pain. Any top ten song can tell you about love (from what I have heard of these songs, it has something to do with a lockdown and just dancing so you can shake it...no lie).

So with all this noise, let’s throw in Jesus: a Jewish man who worked with wood and became a traveling teacher of God thoughts. A man who, without the whole deity thing, would be a very odd source of wisdom. And now, with culture, religion, life history, and my own two cents, this one word (or emotion, fact, currency, choice, etc.) should be easy to define. After all, I have a bountiful buffet of things to define it with...

If I have developed from one truth since middle school, it is that my life is complete when defined through Christ (Colossians 2:6). And with this life, love therefore needs the opinion, no, the true definition from Christ.

I love what John says about Jesus in the thirteenth chapter (John 13:1): “he (Jesus) now showed them (his proteges) the full extent of his love.” At this point, Jesus takes a towel, and does the dirtiest job in the house: he gives everyone’s feet a sponge bath. From this standpoint, washing dishes isn’t that bad.

John makes a big statement about Jesus here: His love serves from the lowest point; and that’s why it is timeless (full extent here is defined as love that continues after Jesus’ death). You see, in the act of a servant, love dominates the conversation. Death and personhood are not as big as love.

Now, go figure that one out!