There's Always Someone Cooler Than Me

You know how sometimes you fall head-over-heels for a song by an artist you love, and you play it all the time, really loud? And then you get new music and, over time, you kinda forget about that particular song because it came on a really skinny EP that gets lost among the forest that is your CD drawer? Then one day, you’re driving to work, surrounded by insane drivers (present company excluded), and the song just pops into your head out of nowhere? And then, after your brain stops singing that song, you’re reminded of a related song by a completely unrelated band? And you arrive at work with time enough to go to the deli and grab a muffin and banana (crisp and slightly green, just as you like it)? And it seems as if perhaps the Holy Spirit even speaks through music that has to be censored for a blog? Yeah, I love mornings like that.

And I love one Mr. Ben Folds.

And one of my life's ambitions is to be his definition of uncool.

Not so much because of my love for Mr. Folds, but because of my love for Jesus Christ, and His love for people, and His call to be uncool.

I want to smile at people like I don't have to prove I'm better than them, because I know I'm not... and because I know who is.

I want to be wholeheartedly devoted to something too big to be expressed through clothes... or even blogs, for that matter.

I don't want to put on a show, and I want to bear with those who do.

I don't want to size up people I meet, or worry about how they're sizing me up, but take them at face value... as a child of our Creator.

I want to look people in the eye.

I want to listen.

I want to see the person inside, beneath the shallow veneer.

I want to extend hospitality to them, genuinely, without strings attached.

I want to be with people.

I don't want to make anyone feel tiny, especially not in an effort to make myself feel tall.

I don't want to stress about what may happen, what others may think, what may make me look silly or strange.

I want to just get up and dance... to have nothing to lose.

I don't want to hesitate to love someone, 'cause every moment life is slipping away.

I want to remember that life is wonderful and beautiful and that we're all children of the King of the Universe.

I don't want to be a chump.

Thank you, Mr. Folds, for the gentle reminder. And, for the record, I think you're wrong:

...and I don't believe in God, so I can't be saved

all alone, as I've learned to be in this mess I have made

~ Ben Folds