One of my favorite parts of the show was when Hughes, when commenting on why he made them study, said that he enjoyed caring for people and could quit fighting and go work for a nursing home. On the other hand, the show can be a pain to watch too. Like when the other team’s coach was making fun of Hughes for his Christianity and also the frequent bleeped-out profanity of the foul-mouthed guys.

Are we left here on our own?
Can you feel when your last breath is gone?
Night is weighing heavy now
Be quiet and wait for a voice that will say

Come awake
From sleep, arise
You were dead
You’ve come alive
Wake up wake up
Open your eyes
Climb from your grave
Into the light
Bring us back to life

You are not the only one
Who feels like the only one
Night soon will be lifted friend
Just be quiet and wait for the voice that will say

Come awake
From sleep, arise
You were dead
You’ve come alive
Wake up wake up
Open your eyes
Climb from your grave
Into the light
Bring us back to life

Rise, rise, rise, rise, rise

Rise, rise, rise, rise….
Shine, shine, Oh shine
We will shine
We will rise
We will shine, shine, shine

Gamer 2: Yeah, it’s going to be cool and all, but don’t you think you are betraying Halo by looking so forward to Halo 3 so much. I mean, we have Halo 2 right now and it’s perfectly fine.

Gamer 1: I like Halo 2, in fact I love it, but Halo 3 is going to be so great. I think of it even when I’m playing Halo 2.

Gamer 2: So basically you’ve abandoned Halo 2.

Gamer 1: By no means, I still play it and enjoy it. I still try to increase in rank and meet xbox live newcomers. I just know the advantages that Halo 3 will bring at its arrival will me much greater than Halo 2, even if I increase all the way to rank 1 and the number of people I can play on xbox live grows exponentially before it comes out. Is it not possible to greatly anticipate the Halo 3 release yet still love what I have?

Gamer 2: I suppose, but to me a true Halo fan has such loyalty to Bungie and its masterpiece that they are fully satisfied in playing Halo 2 and increasing their stats. Halo 3 can be released tomorrow or in 100 years, but I’m content in the current game play. Plus, by the time it comes out, my rank and stats will be nearly perfect which is almost as exciting to me as the game’s next gen, greatly improved sequel complete with all of its added weapons, levels and other assets.

Genesis 1:24 - God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so.

When God created man, he crafted man out of the earth just like every other creature, but breathed the breath of life into his nostrils himself.

Genesis 1:26 - God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

2:7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

This distinction between the origin of the spirits of man and beast seems to be what Solomon had in mind when he said:

Ecclesiastes 3:21 - Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, whether it goes downward to the earth?”

When every man dies, his spirit returns to where it came from, God (cf. Ecclesiastes 12:7). On the other hand, when an animal dies its spirit returns to where it came from, the ground. Yet, Ecclesiastes also teaches us that man and beast are the same in terms of the essence of their being:

3:19 For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals: for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Our spirit is no different in essence than the beasts, as it serves as our life force, so to speak, just as it does them. We all have one breath. So why is it that our breath of life returns to God, while that of the animals goes downward? Resurrection. There is coming a day when the spirit of every man will be breathed back into his nostrils. It returns to the God who gave it until then.

Luke 23:46 (ESV)
Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

But how do we tell them? Do we expect them to understand exactly what we felt in that brief and commonplace moment? For them to appreciate it would require a level of empathyequal and opposite to the teller’s ability to recount it to them. Of course, one can’t expect everyone to be empathetic enough to appreciate such a seemingly mundane event (human’s are also very self-centered). It has to be expressed in an artistic and succinct way. The event was but a moment, so the reflection must be also. Haiku is perfect for the occasion.

First, we lament the mind-numbing and momentous loss of life [of 911]. We mourn for those who perished and pray for their loved ones. Though thousands died, each was an individual, snatched without warning from family and friends. We cannot explain such tragedies, and humans cannot finally prevent their repetition. We can ponder certain larger implications, however, and be reminded of eternal verities. What appear, from earth’s viewpoint, to be apocalyptic bowls of wrath, may always serve constructively as trumpet calls of warning. We live in a fallen world. Nothing earthly is ultimately secure. God weeps, I believe, but he is not threatened. Evil does not take him by surprise. Isaiah chapter 40 says that God is still sovereign, just as he has always been.

Second, no country, including the United States of America, is invulnerable to evil or — should it ever be necessary — beyond the reach of divine judgment. It is a false pride which suggests otherwise, as ancient Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre and Rome all bear witness. The prophet Obadiah’s words to haughty Edom still warn wise souls today. The phrase “in God we trust” must be more than a motto on a coin. It must motivate and describe a manner of life. America has been richly blessed by God, but God is not indebted to America.

Third, whatever happens now or hereafter, we can hope individually in God himself. Every one of us will die — unless Jesus returns first. We come into this world facing death. The only uncertainties are when we will die and how. Yet there is no place for panic, no time for terror. The prophet Habakkuk waited for the sword to fall on his own nation, helpless to change the course. Even so, the faith-filled finale in Habakkuk chapter three remains a model expression of confident trust in God when all else is gone. When we finally cross over into eternity, only God will be by our side. Because of Jesus Christ, we can repose in God’s presence from here to there as well.