If you gotta start somewhere, why not here? If you gotta sometime, why not now?

I was just listening to this on CrossRhythms radio. I don't know the name of the song, or who sings it. It might be City on Our Knees or something like that. Anyway, it just stuck with me just then. I've even put it on facebook as my status. If you gotta start somewhere, why not here? If you gotta start sometime, why not now? Well, why not? I can kinda think of plenty of reasons, not least being that it's half past five on a Sunday night, so there's not a huge amount that can actually be done. But probably my greatest reason is that I don't know where I'm meant to be taking my life. Having said that, I got the definite sense when I was in Cambridge that I wasn't going to know until I was ready for the next step. Right now, I know I'm going to study history, and that's far enough to know for the next three years or so. Let's face it, I got to the thing at college with my results with no real idea of what I intended to do, besides history, maths and English Language, and probably sociology. I wanted to do either biology or physics, they said it probably wasn't such a great idea, I decided in the end to do English Lit, and it's a decision I'm very glad I made the way I did. Then, this year, I was thinking I'd drop English Language and do American History (was going to do it the year before, but the teacher ended up not being there, and I was already definitely dropping Sociology), but I couldn't do that because it's actually the same syllabus as the Modern one, you just do different questions. Then John said I could do AS Ancient if I wanted, so now I am. Life's exciting.

So, 'If you gotta start somewhere, why not here?'. What've you got to start with? Well, if you're reading this, you obviously have access to a computer, and enough of an education to read. That's a pretty good start, more than a lot of people have. More than that, if you're reading this you have the know-how to actually use a computer, to look at blogs and web pages. That's a start. What are you going to use the computer for? To bless others, or to satisfy yourself? Actually, you can do them both at the same time. Blessing someone, with your time, with your thoughts, with your prayers, with your money perhaps, can give you just as much as it gives them. If you read other blogs, chances are, you've your own. What are you using it for? I'm talking to myself as well here, by the way. Is it a blessing, or is it a curse? Is it something that people can read and gain encouragement, or is it something that tears down? There are, of course, a lot of other things a computer can be used for. When you use it to communicate, does it bring words of life or death? 'If you gotta start somewhere, why not here?'. Why not? 2010 (nearly wrote 2009 then!) is a new year. What better time to decide that, in this new decade, you are going to use this computer to bless, not to curse?

'If you gotta start somewhere, why not here?'. If you're reading this, you can read. You can see. What are you looking at, what are you reading? Again, I'm speaking to myself here too. Are you reading things, watching things, that build you up? Or are you watching things that damage you, that destroy you? I find it incredibly difficult to find stories that are both interesting and clean. It seems that every thriller writer feels the need to have a femme fatale, or just a femme full stop, and they also seem to need their MC to fall in love and describe exactly what that falling in love entails. That's not love, that's lust. Alastair MacLean is one of the few thriller writers who doesn't have his characters leaping into bed with beautiful women. And I was watching Indiana Jones yesterday, and it would've been a lot more enjoyable had there not been a clumsy, awkward scene in the middle where he was waiting for her to come sleep with him and she was waiting for him to come sleep with her. So, how do you avoid it? Well, I guess you skip past the chapters that contain it, or try and find authors who don't think that's the best policy for their characters to follow. It's not easier. In fact, I found it a lot easier to find good, clean music to listen to than to find good, clean books to read. I can highly recommend http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk as the perfect place to listen to Christian and secular music that does not equate love and lust, does not involve swearing, and is still brilliant music that you would not feel ashamed to let your mates listen to.

'If you gotta start sometime, why not now?'. It's a New Year, a new decade even, just about (okay, so it was yesterday, but still, close enough). Isn't that the time people always use as a good marker to change something about themselves? So, why not now? I kind of think I am. I think this post is the start of me integrating what I was trying to do last year with Point of Contact, into this blog. And I'm going to try and keep it up, through the year. And, as a bonus, I have just found out for you what the song I quoted in the title is. City On Our Knees (I guessed write!), by Toby Mac. Worth having a listen on YouTube, I would say. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFL2NDxF-CA .