Eleven years ago, on January 21st, 2002 (which also
landed on a Monday like today that was also Martin Luther
King's Day), I had a spiritual awakening. It was the
first I had of its kind and I probably hadn't had one
like it since.
Don't get me wrong. I've made a lot of spiritual
progress since then, but that one was just so sudden and
it came upon me with so much power and love from God. It
was so sudden and it was so needed as I was going through
a major depression back then. (I've since spoken to
someone who was clinically depressed and on medication.
She told me that my case was worse than hers, and that if
I would've saught medical attention, they would
definitely have medicated me.)
Anyway, that awakening brought me out of that depression
without any medical attention or drugs. God can do
amazing things.
Ever since that awakening, I've also been making progress
in my life in terms of following not only what's "safe"
but following God and following what He has placed in my
heart. I've made decisions that did not and still does
not make sense to many (especially when many only know
one way, one program,... with a one track mind. Not that
that one track is wrong. When so many people follow the
same track or same type of life, it's got to be working
(to a certain extent). But it's just not the only way,
or even the best way as most people think. Anyway, I
digress.
11 years ago, when I had the sudden awakening that God
brought on upon me, I was living by myself in San
Leandro, California. The awakening came upon me after
the night before (or shortly after 12am on 1/21/2002).
Then I went to sleep probably with the best sleep I've
had for awhile upto that point. When I awoke in the
morning, I drove down to the closest book store, Borders
in Union City and asking God to give me answers.
(This is probably not significant, but I thought I would
include this detail anyway. After going through a lot of
books, two books captivated me on that day. If I
remember correctly, they were _Not Your Mother's Life_
by Joan K. Peters and _The Call to the Soul_ by Marjory
Zoet Bankson.)
Despite gradual progress since then and despite having
gone on a less traveled road that I needed to get on, I
still seem to have a long ways to go. Maybe you would
like to hear me say that "I've come a long way" which may
be true, but it seems to me that I have a much longer way
to go. I won't say that I am tired but I do feel fed up
on some days because I am not as far along as I had
planned (although progress has been apparent).
Back in my awakening of January 21st, 2002, I did not
know why God chose Martin Luther King's Day to awaken me.
Since then, I can see a little bit more of why, but I
probably do not know entirely yet why God chose MLK day
And the mystery expands as this year, my anniversary of
my spiritual awakening is again on a Martin Luther King's
Monday and it coincides with Barack Obama's public
inauguration of his second term as President of the
United States.
Now I've been learning about Barack Obama even before he
became President, just as I've been learning about a
number of others who I consider to be iconoclasts (Sergei
Brin, Larry Page, Rick Warren, Joyce Meyer, Steve Jobs,
Taylor Swift, Matt Damon,...) From what I've seen and
read about, Obama is someone I admire. (It doesn't mean
I agree with everything he believes in his idealogy, but
I don't think there's anyone we would agree with entirely
including those we admire or look up to.
Well anyway (to conclude this journal entry), I will say
that I've made progress since January 21st, 2002, but I
have a lot more progress to make. May God bless me even more so than He has and
be with me. I am sure more will be revealed to me.
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