faith is universal.
our specific methods for understanding it are arbitrary.
some of us pray to Jesus, some of us go to Mecca, some of us study subatomic particles.
in the end, we’re all just searching for truth, that which is greater than ourselves.

religion is like language or dress.
we gravitate towards the practices with which we were raised.
in the end,though, we are all proclaiming the same thing.
that life has meaning.
that we are grateful for the power that created us.
whether you’re a Christian or a Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist simply depends on where you were born.

the funnel web, native to Australia, is almost certainly the most venomous spider in the world – worse even than the Brazilian wandering spider and, God knows, they’re bad enough.
if you ever see one of the black, full bodied creatures – a Sydney male, the most venomous and aggressive of the species, i promise you, if you’ve never seen a spider before – if you didn’t know an arachnid from a hole in the ground – the moment you see a funnel web, you would know that you’re looking at something deadly.
they are men – and a few women – like that in the world.
you sense immediately that they havent been touched by the humanity that inhabits most people.

fairy tales have been recounted across generations and exaggerated over time, borrowing so heavily from one another that they have evolved into homogenized morality tales with the same iconic elements – virginal damsels, handsome princes, impenetratable fortresses and powerful wizards.
by way of fairy tales, this primeval battle of “Good vs. Evil” is ingrained into us as children through our stories: Merlin vs. Morgan le Fay, Saint George vs. the Dragon, David vs. Goliath, Snow White vs. the Witch, and even Luke Skywalker battling Darth Vader.

to survive in this world, we hold close to us those people on whom we depend.
we trust in them our hopes, our fears.
but what happens when trust is lost?
where do we run when things we believe in vanish before our eyes?
when all seems lost, the future unknowable, our existence in peril, all we can do is run.

there comes a time when a person has to ask themself whether they want a life of happiness or a life of meaning.
we may like to have both, but it can’t be done.
two very different paths.
to be truly happy, a person must live absolutely in the present.
no thought of what’s gone before and no thought of what lies ahead.
but, a life of meaning, a person is condemned to wallow in the past and obsess about the future.
people need hope, but they trust fear.

there is good and there is evil.
right and wrong.
heroes and villains.
and if we’re blessed with wisdom, then they are glimpses between the cracks of each, where light streams through.
we wait in silence for these times, when sense can be made,
where meaningless existence comes into focus,
and our purpose presents itself.
and if we have the strength to be honest,then what we find there, staring back at us, is our own reflection; bearing witness to the duality of life.
and each one of us is capable of both the dark and the light,
good and evil,
of either,
of all.
and destiny, while marching ever in our direction,can be rerouted by the choices we make,
the love we hold on to,
the promises we keep.

you can run far.
you can take your small precautions.
but have you really gotten away?
can you ever escape?
or is the truth that you don’t have the strength or cunning to hide from destiny?
but the world is not small.
you are.
and fate can find you anywhere.

we are, if anything, creatures of habit, drawn to the safety and comfort of the familiar.
but what happens when the familiar becomes unsafe?
when the fear that we’ve been desperately trying to avoid finds us where we live?

you do not choose your destiny.
it chooses you.
and those who knew you before fate took you by the hand can’t understand the depth of the changes inside.
they can’t fathom how much you stand to lose in failure.
but you are the instrument of a flawless design.
and all of life may hang in the balance.
a hero learns quickly who can comprehend and who merely stands in your way.

sometimes, questions are more powerful than answers.
how is this happening?
what are they?
why them and not others?
why now?
what does it all mean?