Resurrection Sunday... and just

So this weekend is "Easter Weekend" ...today is good friday, and sunday is easter sunday. i have to say, i hate the amount of Christians that celebrate with bunnies and eggs and don't even care that theyre worshipping a pagan diety. the vast majority of them don't even know. i hope never to just do things in ognorance like that.. and if i am, i should hope that there are people in this world who care enough about me to correct me. BUT
the real point of this weekend is to honor Christ, and remember all that He did through us through His death, burial, and resurrection so many years ago. my family will be in town, and i'm excited to be hanging out with them. I'll actually be writing a paper all weekend, but i can squeeze in some quality time too, i'm sure. Tonight i've got a couple of parties (one housewarming, one birthday) to go to, so today's gonna be pretty busy.
I keep thinking of the human video that Todd and I did with the youth at cornerstone for Resurection Sunday last year. It's a powerful sketch... I would love to do it again. And then I think of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, and what a good film that is. Not in an entertaining way, but in a truthful, powerful way. There's power in the truth.. there's freedom in the truth.
And then I think of this year, and how my schedule has hardly changed for the sake of this weekend. It's basically business as usual, you know? I mean I'll stop for a minute and reflect on all that Christ's done for me, or at least start to... and then what changes? I don't like this admission, nor the realization behind it. I'm going to make this weekend a time that I earnestly seek the Lord and honor Him for who He is and what He's done for us. And still get my research paper done. lol. But yeah. I'll try to remember to write here about the outcome of this weekend sometime early next week.

So I went to a tentmeeting revival service thingie with Jon on wednesday, and there was one particular moment in the message where the speaker was talking about a verse from 2 Thessalonians and trying to explain Paul's purpose for writing what he did, etc. etc. And he used the word "just" like 5 times within maybe 2 or three sentences: "He's just saying here.. Paul just wants them to.. We're just... And Paul just... So God just..." etc. etc. And that word kindof strikes a chord with me.. I don't like it. I try not to say it. We're actually not allowed to use it in my acting class.. we'll start to explain our character's actions and say "I just felt that-" and the prof will cut us off with "No, you did not 'just.' You did." Like, if you've ever seen Finding Neverland (and if you haven't, you should. goood movie) there's a part where Peter says, "he's just a dog." and James responds with,

"Just a dog? Just? tsk tsk tsk - Ortheos, don't listen to him! Ortheos dreams of being a bear, and you want to dash those dreams by saying he's just a dog? What a horrible candle-snuffing word. That's like saying he can't climb that mountain... he's just a man; or, that's not a diamond... it's just a rock. Just..."

I agree with this sentiment. you short-change yourself when you use the word "just", and I think (not always) it tends to belittle whatever point you're trying to make. If you JUST want God to give you the strength to make it through this day, then how the heck is He supposed to make you more than a conquerer? If you JUST want God to provide you with the finances to make it through this month without getting your electricity shut off, then how is He supposed to bless you with enough so that you can pay for someone else's electric bill? hmm? If you ask God to "just be with us tonight".. how much more can He really do with that? He's gonna be here, He was already gonna be with us because He already said He would.
Just. Such a confining word. Just....

<3