If anyone would like to keep up with me and my random musings, i will occasionally be blogging at http://atick84.blogspot.com/ Tweet
Author Archives: andrewticknor
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I found the following story interesting and thought-provoking in a book of short stories I am reading written by Tolstoy: Once upon a time the archangel Gabriel heard the voice of God speaking from paradise, blessing someone. Gabriel said “Surely this is some important servant of my Lord, God the Father. He must be a great saint, or hermit, or wise man.” The archangel went down to earth looking for the man, but he could not find him, neither on …
For a good time read Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton simultaneously with How (Not) to Speak of God by Peter Rollins. Tweet
Three self-realizations: 1. I let very few people in. There are not a lot of people who I have mutually vulnerable relationships with. 2. Those people who I do let in, I have exacting standards of the love that I expect from them, the way I want them to love me. 3. I come nowhere close to loving anyone in the way that I want to be loved and never have. Tweet
I have always been frustrated with the image of the spiritual life being a roller coaster, however I have often found it to be the most realistic way of describing my life. This year I have discovered new, richer, more fulfilling pictures of what the spiritual life is, or at least has been to me. I feel like my life has been so up and down, so cyclic. I feel like I struggle with so many of the same things …
A few weeks ago I called home and was talking to my mom, telling her that I no longer wanted to get close to anyone, that I was going to shut myself off from people and that I was going to become some sort of monk/hermit/loner. This was brought on by the pain of losing relationships, realizing how far I have become from people who at points in my life have known me better than anyone else. As I talked …
I can’t believe how fast this year has gone by. Last week was the last week of school at the middle school. I still remember the days in the fall that I spent trying to get connected with a teacher and the awkwardness of my first few weeks at the school. It is awesome to now look back and see how many, many boring repetitive days of helping 7th grade students with math has paid off. Last Tuesday I went …
I was talking to one of my closest friends the other day. I have know this person my whole life and we talk often. We usually talk about the ways that I fall short, he is really good at helping me to see the ways that I am not being the person who I desire to be, the things that I need to work on and change. He reminded me that I fail miserably in my attempts to love people. …
These thoughts are not at all original, but then again are any of our thoughts ever truly original (a topic for another blog altogether). They were greatly influenced by a book I’m reading by Peter Rollins called The Fidelity of Betrayal: God is not an object to be acted upon, or an object to be reflected upon, for in both of these we are set up as authorities, in charge or control of the experience. Rather God is Subject, the …
I’m reading this book by Walter Wangerin Jr. called Ragman and Other Cries of Faith and at the beginning this is an excerpt from the beginning of that book: Where can I look and I do not see you? The city? Hot with human enmity, cold with old mortality, the city? Busy and fatigued; kissing below back alley stairs, lips as limp as rotten violets; and children cursing like their parents, parents careless; parties for wasted wealth on Saturday night, …
I had a very interesting experience at Tim Hortons the day that I flew back to Ohio. The night before I left, I was up packing and hadn’t got that much sleep before I left at 5:30 am for the airport. On the flight home, I was reading a book about the parable of the prodigal son by Henri Nouwen and was overcome by the love of the father for both of his sons. For whatever various reasons, it was …
There is a wonderful quote attributed to Saint Augustine that was very influential in John Wesley’s teachings and ecclesiology. The quote is as follows: “In essentials, unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” This quote has always resonated deeply within me. It makes sense. From a pretty young age, I have always had a deep desire for all to be well in the world, wondering why everyone couldn’t just get along, why couldn’t we all just agree upon what …
I can’t do this I am not cut out for this I don’t understand I don’t have enough energy This hurts my head This hurts my heart Drowning in a sea of personal pronouns So self-absorbed So egocentric So damn narcissistic Tweet
I remember in high school, listening to Bob Marley with a few of my close guy friends. At the time we were all disillusioned with girls, to say the least and we had adopted the song No Woman, No Cry as our anthem. We would cruise around town, signing along, talking about how we didn’t need girls, how they were nothing but trouble and how glad we were that someone like Bob Marley had captured our sentiments and put them …
This blog is primarily me trying to sort out thoughts that I have had recently and I am afraid that it will not end up with much coherence, only formulating questions and trying to reconcile them in some minor way. From my experience growing up in the church, reading the Scriptures, being a part of small groups and bible studies, having numerous accountability partners and reading a large number of theology/Christian books, I have often struggled with the concept of …
Since I have been here in Atlanta, I would estimate that I have heard the song Live Your Life by T.I. at least ten times a day. Over Christmas break one night, I was sitting in my room, missing my roommates and neighborhood and so I decided to listen to the song. I was listening to the words he was speaking as the song was starting and those words have continually been in the forefront of my thoughts the past …
Changes occur so very often Such a natural part of life Ever shifting, never settling Longing for heaven as home Don’t hold on, it’ll only make it worse Accept the change, flow with it Know that soon it will come again Till finally we press into permanence Appearances deceive, first impressions False perceptions, full of misconceptions Rumors and lies of another’s character May we see straight to the heart When I speak, don’t talk Listen When I speak, don’t think …
Last week I watched the movie Into The Wild. I love that movie. I loved the book. When I was watching the movie this time there were two things that stuck out to me. The first thing was when he was in California and he is walking through downtown and he glances in the window of a really nice restaurant. He sees a guy around his age in a suit, laughing with a beautiful girl, enjoying food and drink. The …
This blog is the result of a few different conversations that I have had with friends in the past few weeks and the proceeding thoughts I have wrestled with since those conversations. In a few discussions, I was talking with others about the things that I have experienced this year, the issues that I am aware of now that I was previously blinded to, I remember a friend telling me that she didn’t know that there actually were homeless people …
This past weekend we went to the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Alabama and we also saw the 16th Street Baptist Church which was bombed resulting in the death of 4 girls. I still can’t get over the fact that the civil rights movement was so recent. In my head it seems like it took place such a long time ago, not 50 years ago, while my grandparents were my age. As I was looking at one of the displays …