Destiny, gifts, perspectives and the land of good and evil

This whole concept of destiny, the purpose, the plan. Why am I here? What contribution will I make to the world? What are they going to say about me after I leave it?....
Ever wonder about old acquaintances or people that you hear of years ago, and have a fleeting thought about where they might be now? Back in the day, there was really no way of knowing unless by chance you happened to run into them or know of someone who did. But today, hindsight and things like Facebook, internet archives, and just new ways of finding information allow us to catch up with people, to see and realize things about them that perhaps we didn't know before. We know more about people now (seemingly when they are not a major presence in our lives) then, I think, we could have known back then (when they were a major presence). Another example: We read about a celebrity when they were up and comming in Hollywood and look at their life today as Hollywood vetrans and think, "so that's why so and so did that or does that." I think we are allowed to see the complexity of creation (people specifically) and its (their) purpose in deeper ways than people could in past generations. Its an interesting... and kind of weird time to be alive. The scriptures speak of a time when "knowledge will increase."
Is having knowledge a good thing? Yes absolutely, but I think its, at the same time, very dangerous if you don't look at that whole picture. For example, someone may see one thing about a person and assume they are like that all the time. Yes, that person has knowlege about that person, but its not full knowlege because they do not know that person well enough to predict with some accuracy how a person may react in different situations. So with our increased knowledge, we must always try our best to put it into the fullest context that we can. No sound blurb or twitter tweet, helpful as they may be, could ever give us a full and accurate context of every situation.
As a spiritual person, I beleive that our natural eyes don't see the whole picture of anything. There is a saying that where we see an acorn, G-d sees a forrest. I believe that we were created with purpose and given gifts and abilities to glorify G-d, whether we choose to recognize Him or not. Then as a Christ follower, I have learned that belivers are also given spiritual gifts to coincide with their natural gifts and this edifies the body of believers.
I also believe that G-d's enemy, satan, has a thing for taking these gifts, be they both spiritual and or natural, and twisting them out of proportion to cause confusion for the seeker and division for the Christ-followers. The enemy has probably found this a very effective way to thwart and pervert G-d's plan that all humanity would come to function as was intended by the Creator. The result: spiritual confusion and disillusion with G-d.
Sometimes for us in the body of believers, we tend to have tunnel vision when it comes to our lives in the context of G-d's plan.... I see something now (like a certain worship style or perference).... I don't understand it, so I become aggressive. Or maybe my zeal gets the best of me, and I take my eyes off of the cross and onto imperfect people saying that this group worships better than that group or this group activates this gift better than that group. The problem lies in my "better than" thinking.
If I say,"oh, go to this church because their (insert something here) is better than that church" or something like that, or I think in my heart a snarky thought about how someone worships (such as "well, it figures so and so would go there because they are___") I am definatly not looking through the big picture, seeing the church as a global body that composes the bride of Christ. I'm just focusing on factions, in other words, I'm majoring on minors, and with my personality, a constantly am aware that I have the capability to go off on minors at any point, often to my detriment. There is nothing edifying in my heart attitude when I'm like this. James 4 hits it home for me. "What causes fight and quarrels among you? Do they not come from the evil desires that battle within you?" Sometimes Christ followers stumble in their journey, alot of times, we even stumble over each other.
Why then, does G-d allow there to be churches that think, act, and worship differently? Why isn't there just one church directly connected with Him? I guess my weird response would be.. it is One. Out of many, its one (factions and all). All of the different chruches around the world in the context of their individual cultures show us a different attribute of a mighty God. Sometimes I see the strength and beauty of G-d when I watch Asain beleivers worship. When I was in Sweden, I recall being reminded of the loving and gentle nature of God as I watched the people worship in their reflective manner. In my African American brothers and sisters, I am reminder of Christ's zeal for his children and intense passion. Its as if each culture is a different colored chip that composes an ever shifting and re-shaping kalidescope of one God's individual attributes. You wouldn't fully know Him until the individual shapes move again and you see a brand new formation, but its all the same kalidescope. We are always learning new things about Him from our perspective, but He Himself never changes.
What must I do then, to see all of the kalidescope, to gain broader knowledge? Let the kalidescope turn. Allow G-d to show me His attributes through whatever way he chooses. This may mean visiting a service where the congregations emphasizes a differnt aspect of God than what I am usually used to pondering. For example, for a Christ follower who emphaizes the joy of the Lord, let them visit another body that emphaizes the value of suffering and how that can produce character. For a believer who is acquainted with the work of suffering, let them visit a congregation that focuses on joy in the Lord. Rather than being at each other's throat's and quarreling a like little children over gifts (after all, when you think about it, both joy and suffering are gifts if they produce a positive result) we can embrace each other's perspective on the value of each gift and bring glory to the creator.
Well, that's it for now. Off to go and explore what new things I can learn about life, spirituality, knowledge and just plain old fun in this thrilling, dangerous, wonderful, and facinating journey.

preparation for summer

So now I have to get the house I am renting ready for summer. First for me though, I need to get some summer clothes. Due to living on a severely tight budget, I first have to purchase some cheap summer clothing. It ain't gonna be anything fancy at all, I'm just gonna buy some slightly oversized t-shirts and soccer shorts. It will last me the whole summer. Next I have to keep being diligent about certain things, such as getting stocked up on summer snacks (light crackers and cheese, jimmy johns sandwiches (will last a day or two), and of course that awesome arnold palmer ice-tea lemonade. Its amazing how much money goes just to keeping you alive. Sustinance is basically the majority of my budget.
Gardening is another thing I like to do, that relates to summer, but not in a lame sort of way. Gardening can be full of action.. you battle your garden's weeds and all of their cousins who appeared after your last weeding session, you treck out early to avoid the heat of day and strategically think of how much time you have to get as many soil breaking and weed combating maneuvers that can be done before your arch-enemy, the sun's uv rays discovers your hidden location under a tree and makes you aware of this fact by aiming its blistering rays at your face. I can't wait......but this, to me is what I would expect for an awesome summer!