Friday, October 22, 2010

Buffalo Stampede

Ideas stampede through my mind like buffalo used to stampede through the plains of central Montana. Sometimes in the midst of the stampede is one lost buffalo calf, circling aimlessly, dodging the bigger guys, and somehow surviving the stampede. Often times this happens in my mind with ideas.

A little buffalo of an idea that has been running circles in my head for the past four years comes from Clay Binford. When I told Clay that I had been listening to the band Burlap to Cashmere, he had me listen to Stephen Delopoulos. The first track on his album, Me Died Blue is called "Another Day." When Clay first dropped this dope track, he told me about an incredible idea he had for a commercial. He vividly painted a picture of a luxury car driving through Glacier National Park, a content family on vacation, soaking in the magnificent views while the song "Another Day" plays in the background.

To my knowledge, Clay's idea is still an idea. The idea is stampeding through my head today. Does this mean that the idea will become reality? Maybe another day.

Too often the Holy Spirit nudges me to make a phone call, send a letter, or stop what I'm doing and have a conversation with someone. I tend to say: "I'll do that another day." Recently, I put off a phone call for two weeks before scrolling through my phone's contact list and pushing send. I waited until another day left a voicemail. A text message came as the response. Instead of quickly texting back, I waited until another day. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit had that idea going through my head to have that conversation with that an old friend. Our communication kept getting put off for another day, but we finally met up.

You'd think a hundred years worth of buffalo stampedes crashed through that coffee shop on Tuesday. In less than three hours, Jeremy and I shared more ideas with each other than is humanly possible.

Some of these ideas were what we ought to be doing with our current reality. Other ideas were looking forward to the new lives we will have after our temporal life on earth comes to an end. Ideas about creativity, money, friends, trust, outer space, books, concerts, houses, family, communicating God's unconditional love, degrees, jobs, memories, Sabbath rest, and growing up. What I put off until another day was so encouraging that I was left hoping for another day like the one I just lived.

I have an idea.

Don't live another day saying you'll do what God wants you to do another day.

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