I'm just kind of fed up with the way that things have been going in this new year of 2009. It makes me really sad because everyone I know is sad, or angry, or whatever. It kind of pisses me off too. What do any of us have to be upset about? We're in high school, we live in a NYC suburb on Long Island, we don't have serious problems. There are tons of people in the world that are way worse than me or anyone I know. And I know people know this, they just mope and complain anyway. Instead of wasting energy complaining, get out and do something! If people devoted half the time they spent complaining (including myself, as you can see from this journal entry) towards bettering themselves and others, everyone would be so much better off. Some may call me naive just because I'm not world weary, but personally I love my life and I don't see a reason that anyone else should be upset with theirs. Obviously, I don't know anything about what other people are going through, but still...grow up people. Stop complaining like spoiled 3 year olds about how difficult life is and start changing your life. If you don't like it, CHANGE! It's really not that difficult people. I just don't see the problems that other people see I guess. Maybe if we all could stop looking for problems and start looking for opportunities and solutions we'd be much happier. Myself included; I spend way too much time pondering the problems of other people that need my help. I enjoy helping people but sometimes you need to listen to yourself. Listen to your head, your heart, your body and you'll find out much more about yourself. Read, learn something! You'll be that much happier for it. Spend your time improving your situation instead of drowning your sorrow in your draught of choice. Instead of poking fun at those of us who have ideals and standards that we wish to live by, try and find yourself a reason to live. Better yet, find yourself a reason to die. Life is cheap, people will live for anything. Be it food, drink, drugs, money, women, God, whatever...you can find quite the number of things you would live for. Better yet is to try and find something that you would die for...friends, family, a loved one, God...These are the things that you will always have no matter what, this is what is the most important to you and this should be your focus. Follow your heart, follow your dreams. Trust in yourself. You will find what you are looking for. If anyone was offended by this (I don't know why you would be, because this journal is by no means a personal attack...It's just a general rant...) then I'm sorry I offended you. I still hope you listen to me, and I hope that anyone that is feeling hopeless, lost, tired...I hope that they can find something in here that will help them in some way, and I hope that they can find a way to help themselves out of their current lethargic state and be happy. Good luck to those who need it.

Tell me this show wasn't the shit back in the day
[link]
And yes, I know this isn't a real journal entry but whatever.

I'm finally getting a new video camera!!!! Since I know that you can't put up video on Deviant check out my youtube page (www.youtube.com/matcauthon12) which has my parkour and freerunning videos on it. I'll probably be making a new page for my different projects, look for a ton of fun new videos once I get my camera next week! YAY!

"I sought for the greatness and the genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers – it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. No until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits ablaze with righteousness did I meet the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
-Alexis de Tocqueville

This week, I went on a two day trip to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Upstate New York. I had a really fun time (I even met a lady that sounded like 'Goldmember' from Austin Powers) and enjoyed it a lot. However, one thing really disturbed me. I was hiking with my family and we hiked to the top of the mountain. It was beautiful and we were sitting on this bench that was next to a big rock. On the side of the rock, someone had written this (among other things): "Why is it that smart people are forced to live in a country where you have to believe in fairy tales to get anywhere? If a politician has different views, he cannot say them outloud because of an outdated book. Is this really what our founding fathers wanted?"

Now I have a lot of problems with this. First of all, the fact that this person is referring to the Bible as a 'fairy tale.' As I've said before, the New Testament has the most original copies, and 99.5% of these copies agree completely with each other. To put it in context, Homer's 'Iliad' has a 13 or 14% text agreement, and it is not even complete. Also, the Bible contains many historical facts (real places, people, kings, battles, etc.) and the person of Jesus is mentioned in countless manuscripts (one of the best examples being the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus). In fact, Jesus' "supposed" miracles are also mentioned (however, they are often attributed to witchcraft or called 'unexplained'.

My second problem is what this anonymous person said about politicians and their religious views. Nowadays, politicians are flamed more for having religious views than if they are atheist or agnostic. For instance, look at Sarah Palin. She is a Christian (if a bit misguided) and she has been called a religious zealot countless times by countless people across the country. America has been slowly losing her faith and she must have a resurgence or she will lose it almost completely.

To hit the final point about the Founding Fathers, I believe that this is what they wanted. A religious, free America. That is why God is mentioned so much in the Declaration of Independance. To me, that is just common sense, it is so blindingly obvious.

So, to sum up what I've wanted to say...
To all you practicing Christians, get out there and spread the Good News in whatever way you can. Whether it is through writing, music, media, movement, whatever. Just do your best, even if you don't think you know enough to talk to others about your faith. Remember, that is what the Holy Spirit is for.

Also to my fellow Christians, don't annoy people you are trying to convert. Brow-beating them with a Bible won't get any of us anywhere. Just tell them the Gospel, plain and simple. It is up to them to hear it and receive or refuse it. Let the Holy Spirit do His work.

To anyone reading this who is not Christian. Please hear us out. We are not all Bible-thumping morons (although I guess that's what most people want to think) and I for one would love to discuss theology with anyone at anytime. Philosophy, theology, I love to talk about it so please come up and talk about it with me. I'll do my best to explain my views, and I would really like to hear what you have to say.

Please excuse me for any spelling/grammar mistakes I've made in my writing, it's pretty late and I'm tired from marching band

To everyone, everywhere: Peace, and may God bless you

-Max Henry

"The Lord's Men" is the title of the graphic novel series that I'm working on right now. Currently, my only drawing is the sketch I just put up, but that should be changing shortly. For "The Lord's Men" I decided to use a different drawing style, my own unique drawing style (as opposed to a manga/anime style). I figure if I can't draw cartoons and I'm not Japanese I might as well stop trying to draw like other people. This sketch took me about an hour or so to finish, with shading and everything. I'd like to do a close-up sketch like this for every main character, then do a sort of "group shot" with each main character having a certain pose, etc. Well, yeah, I hope you enjoy the sketch, because I have a feeling most of you will enjoy the writing.


Anyways, here's an excerpt from "The Lord's Men."


"I have always believed I am special...I should have died the night I was born...Since that day, I've been this close to death countless times...Choking, drowning, suffocating, falling, burning...But never dying...I guess the first sign of what I was came when I was little...Six other kids trapped me under a small dome...They had been playing with it, and decided to see how long I could go without air in the dome...They were all bigger than me, and all six sat on top of the dome, holding me down...I don't like tight spaces.

I saw white and my mind went blank...I went into a berserker rage...My blood was on fire...Though there wasn't room in the dome for me to sit straight, I stood up and hurled the dome away from me...The other kids lay five feet away, where I had thrown them...Two were unconscious, the other four lay moaning nearby...Nobody asked me if I was alright...The children didn't know how I had gotten out, and the parents didn't realize anything was amiss...But by then I had started to see...

My calling...His calling...To become one of His..."