Untitled Essay on My Favorite Literary Work for AEGIS English Tryouts

I love to read, for learning, for fun, and for my own intellectual pursuits, and I have been doing so since kindergarten. This is probably the biggest reason that I can write as well as I do. Some of my first books were the encyclopedia and the Boxcar Children. In fifth grade I read The Hobbit, and in sixth grade I became familiar with Congo and Sphere, both by a favorite author of mine, Michael Crichton. If I had to look at all of the things I’ve read, however, and pick the work that has had the biggest impact on me, I would have to say that it is the Holy Bible.

This is an awfully broad choice, since the Bible is a compilation of so many different works. I have good reason, however, because they all fit together around a common theme, and there is not a single area of my life that has not been affected by what I have read in my Bible. It has changed how I relate to people, what I look for in a friend, what I think love is, and how I think the world began. It has inspired me to action, to the service of others, and to the glorification of God above all else by exemplifying Christ in my life.

The Bible is an unmatched source of encouragement, inspiring me with the stories of people who sold out for God, and endured all kinds of hardships here on earth, not losing sight of a goal that would outlast material things, even to the point of death. It comforts me, explaining how this life is not all there is, that it can not even be compared with what is to come, and that Heaven is a free gift that doesn’t have to (and indeed cannot) be earned, but accepted and paired with repentance.

The biggest part, from which all of the other influences flow, is the life of Jesus, recorded in the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). This man, Jesus, was God’s son, God-in-the-flesh, and was born on earth by a virgin. Once he was grown, he began to teach, explaining things to the Jewish people, and later to everyone. Then the time came for him to die.

In order to fulfill prophecy, to become the sacrifice that would atone for man completely, Jesus had to be betrayed by one of his followers, Judas Iscariot, and die upon a cross. He willingly accepted this, because it was God’s will, and gave his life for everyone. Now, because of Jesus, anyone can come before God without the guilt of sin, because Jesus took it upon himself. The Old Testament leads up to this, following the plight of man, the troubles of Israel, and the futility of this life. The rest of the New Testament is a follow up, telling what happened to His disciples, how He was raised from the dead after three days, reiterating the necessity of fulfilling Old Testament prophecy, and then going on to describe the early church and to settle doctrinal issues through letters to the churches, ending with the promise of Christ’s return and what it entails in the book of Revelations.

If I had not been and were not continuing to be affected by the Bible, I would be a different person entirely. I probably would not want to serve others, and wouldn’t want to make the world a better place. I would be the center of everything, whether it showed outwardly or not, and I would be greatly concerned with either prolonging my life and milking it, or getting everything in such a way that my life is short and sweet. In short, I would have no love, and no hope.

Instead, because of the Bible, I care for others. I try to style my life in a way that reflects Jesus’ life, serving others, and putting a big focus on sharing the good news that I know with those around me. I said I try; indeed, I do not always succeed. A classmate of mine died not so long ago, and though I did not know him well, I had ample opportunity to be a positive impact on his life, and did not seize the opportunity. In this way, more than any other, the Bible has influenced by giving me a pressing burden to share what I know with those around me.

If You Don't Stop Preaching To Me, I Can't Be Your Friend

I don’t think anyone has ever said that to me, but if they did, here is a rough idea of what I’d have to say. You see, saying this indicates that this person doesn’t understand a lot of things, about me, about life, and everything else. First of all, I’m a Christian. It is a Christian’s life-long mission to share the wonderful knowledge we have with everyone we come into contact with; it’s the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” And they’re right; if they don’t understand this, they’re going to have an awfully hard time being my friend. But wait, there’s more.
I have many really cool friends, and make new ones every once in a while. What I really hate, though, is when I lose one. And I’ve lost several over the ages. And even if I keep in touch with my friends until one of us dies, that will always separate us, at least for a time. The thing is, I know that I will see all of my friends who are truly Christians in Heaven when we’ve all “shuffled off this mortal coil”. I’ll still lose all of my non-Christian friends, though, and that will be forever. So, I want to do everything I can to know that I will see every single one of my friends after I die. I mean, after all, if I was best friends with a non-Christian, and we stayed that way, all the way from now to, say a hundred or so years from now, we’ll still be separated in the end. And hey, what is a hundred, even hundreds upon hundreds of years together, compared to the rest of eternity apart?
And besides all of that, it still isn’t my complete reason. It’s not just something I’m supposed to do, nor is it just a way of keeping friends. Perhaps you, the reader, have read some of my other stuff, and noticed a similar trend. You see, Christianity isn’t a club or superstitious religion with a set of rules to follow. It’s a way of life; it’s The way to Life. It saturates every level of your person and your personality; you’re not just soaked in it, it’s dripping and pouring off of you. That’s why I can never stop “preaching to you,” be it spelling out the gospel in front of your face, or doing my utmost to live it in front of you.
But one final note: this knowledge of mine, not belief or feeling, but solidly-grounded knowledge, and the spread of it, is more important to me than any friendship I could ever have. Your life and the lives of other people I know mean much more than the chance to be friends with them. If this means that I cannot be your friend, then so shall it be, but I will be dead before I cease to try and present the gospel to you, and friend or no friend, you cannot stop me from praying for you.

Smartest Man Alive (For A Little While Longer, Anyway)

Yeah, that’s me. The smartest man alive, assuming I live much longer. Oh, yeah, I’m a real genius. I know all about gravity, even a little about relativity, but I don’t seem to think such things apply to me. Then there are things like electricity, and elementary physics. I know some about that, too, yet I used to lick 9v batteries, and stand in front of moving vehicles, and race trains across the tracks (on foot, no less, or just walk close enough to touch them while they’re moving and spit on them, getting knocked over by the rush of air after they pass).
Nothing will match what I did the other day, though. Nothing comes close. It had been a good day, not particularly absent-minded or anything. It was the day I had my hard finals, though, so I was a little overwhelmed, even after school. Youth stuff at church had been awesome; I’d really had a meaningful time in worship, and when I got home, I was feeling great, if maybe a little unawares.
The sky was nasty, and was threatening all sorts of weather. Of course, it goes without saying that there was quite a bit of lightning, so I went outside to watch. I do this all the time. It was great, because it wasn’t raining here, in fact, I don’t think it ever did. The lightning was a ways off, too, and hard to see. That’s when I came up with my genius idea.
I’ve always loved to climb trees. That’s another brilliant streak of mine; no height is too high, no branch too weak; if I’m not through, I just keep on going. I especially love to get up onto roofs. Yeah, that’s me, the smartest man alive. I climbed up onto my roof so that I could watch the lightning.
It was beautiful. Nothing can completely describe the awe that I felt, watching the blazing sky over the very tops of trees, far away in the darkness. Flashes here, blinking over there, boom, boom, rumbling bass better than any stereo you’ve ever dreamed of. Then it hit me.
Suddenly, there was an incredible, blinding flash and a loud BANG! Thinking back on it now, I can’t figure if it was actually lightning or my own shock and panic. Standing there, on my roof, in the middle of a thunderstorm, so I could see the lightning. That’s me, all right. I could have been killed. I wasn’t quite the tallest thing around, but I was pretty close. Somehow, despite this realization, something made me want to stay, and I was fighting such urges all the way down the tree and into the house, and into my room where it was safe, so I could play on my computer and get zapped during a power surge.