Instagram. Entitlement. Gratitude. Perspective.

So I recently got back in Instagram and Twitter (@mallorybueche people!). I know, I know, welcome to 2012 Mal. The truth is, besides writing and speaking to the masses, I don’t feel like people want to know about the details of my life. Yours looks better than mine according to your pictures so why would I torture myself? Never the less, I know that if I even want my voice to be heard on a big ole stage, I need to become relevant again which by necessity requires me to invade your life with mine from a distance.

I have read many times over and agree that social media is a joy stealer because it by its nature reveals everything we don’t have. I remember when I was on a dating fast from 2012-2013 I all of a sudden noticed that everyone on my Facebook was getting married.

“WTH Lord? I’m 25 and I can’t even date while all of these super cute sorority younger girls are getting engaged! My life sucks.”

Oh. Wait. It Doesn’t.

This pretty much happens with everything, someone bought a house; someone was hanging out with my friends while I wasn’t there, marriage, babies, Euro trips, people losing weigh; you name it.  The pictures, posts and tweets on these sites tend to stir up in us a longing, revealing that we at our core are entitled. We think we deserve a certain kind of life and when we perceive that much of the world has what we don’t; it leaves us feeling empty.

Now this is the negative view of social media but with my re-entry into the world wide web of lives, I have noticed something different to be explored. Although technology has changed us in quite an irreversible way, the human heart remains the same. Almost every picture that I have seen in the past few days is somehow beautiful and if I can put aside my jealousy, I can allow that picture to bring me to gratitude.

Example. I just saw a picture of a friend running through a vineyard in California. Now I have two options.

The first, I can choose to be jealous that I am not with her in Napa. I can be jealous that I don’t have beautiful ombred hair, I suck at taking pictures and I am not 3 years younger than I am. Dang, all of a sudden me with my baller husband, objectively cute baby and happy life in Denver, well we suck!

OR

The second, vineyards exist and are beautiful. They produce tasty grapes but also make wine, a delightful indulgence. My friend is cool and so is her ombred hair. Every single thing is this picture is pretty neat and the same being has created it all. That same being created my life and surrounded me with His creation. This creation cries out to His Glory asking me to do the same. Praise God for vineyards, Praise God for wine, Praise God for my friend and for the beauty He has placed before us both.

The former view is one of comparison leading to entitlement and ending in despair. The latter view is one of gratitude leading to appreciation for all creation and ending in glorifying the creator.

My friends, we were made for the latter.

All creation cries out to the glory of God! Have you ever taken the time to notice that your surroundings seem to ring out to something beyond itself? If you haven’t, you are too busy. If you have, you would be wrong to let your joy in creation stop there, it has a creator and the gratitude belongs to Him.

After my Saturday morning run I posted a picture of the mountains towering over me patting me on the back for a workout well done. My run was awesome and every single facet of it, the invention of running, my able body, the beauty of my surroundings, the technology of audio books can be linked back to the real creation of a real creator.  There is an author of life and everything flows from Him. He does not change because you ignore Him; it simply leaves you in the wrong.

There is no guarantee that those who are posting these beautiful pictures are living out blissful lives. I actually know for a fact that many of them are not. It is despite the imperfection of our lives, the bruises we get by simply waking up in the morning that millions search for beauty and somehow… FIND IT! Let us not forget it’s maker.

To quote G.K. Chesterton “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder”

How many of us every reach this?

Look beyond the comparison trap of social media and find instead an invitation to gratitude. Wonder just might be lurking around the corner. We as a people have largely lost our ability to be captured by wonder. We far to often consume the created without giving a thought to it’s creator. I propose that we can regain this if we click on our phone apps with a different perspective. No matter object, God deserves the glory and it is in glorifying God, and forgetting ourselves that true joy can be found.  

My Louisiana Tribute: The Virtue Revealed in the Underdog

I fortunately and unfortunately no longer reside in the Promised Land. When I was younger I considered people like my Aunt Joan and my Nanny traitors for having “grown up” in Louisiana and somehow I have found myself a hypocrite residing in Denver, no cajun accent. Most people do not even know that the place of my upbringing exists. “South of New Orleans?” they ask, “ that’s a place?” Well it is a place; I am I from there. Houma, Louisiana. I might as well be a mermaid. As I watch yet another Katrina unfold although this time from a distance I feel a bit helpless so here is my quick tribute and observation on the truths to be revealed in this tragedy.

I love most things about Louisiana. Don’t get me wrong; the state is literally a hot, humid mess lacking all things that matter on paper like good government, good education, good economics and on and on. I often tell people that my favorite state in the union is Mississippi because it is the only state that scores lower on these things than Louisiana.

So what did we do when we fell short on the characteristics that would attract industry and make us “popular”? We focused shared culture, cajun spirit, faith and community. To live in south Louisiana is to perpetually celebrate all of the microcosms that hold us together. Almost every person that lives in Cajun country loves LSU football, Saints football, water sports, seafood, fried food and well all food. Let’s also not forget Mardi Gras and alcohol. South Louisiana is made up of the descendants of a people who were kicked out of Acadiana. They then decided to settle one of the most unlivable places in the United States and somehow made it awesome. We have always been underdogs; the metaphorical news media has never wanted to cover us. We are ALWAYS rebuilding and we are ALWAYS resilient.

See, humanity was made to fight a noble cause. We tend to be at our best when we are fighting for the good and tend to fall into our worst when we lack something for which to fight. It is true that Alexander the Great fell into depression after his last conquest because he had no other kingdoms to defeat. The great Rome imploded due to its own debauchery when it too, completed conquering the known world. As we find this country richer and safer than ever, we too are beginning to implode on licentiousness and silly sentimental arguments between ourselves. Humanity does not change. We are brilliant and yet we are broken and so we need something to inspire us to our brilliance or else we will sink into our brokenness.

What I have seen from afar this week is yet another testament to this truth. All over my Facebook feed, southerners are posting only supporting words, prayers or help for those who have experienced loss. Despite lack of national attention, locals are working tirelessly to help those affected by the storm. When we are drawn outside of our own affairs, and ourselves we are suddenly reminded of what is important and again find purpose.

We do not need a storm or a war to have a noble cause for which we can fight. Despite the comfort in which we sit, whether we acknowledge it or not there is much to fight for as we too follow Rome becoming the cause of our own defeat. We need to fight for our young men who have been emasculated by the slow destruction of masculinity and the unprecedented fatherlessness in our nation. Growing right before our eyes is the number of men who would rather play video games and watch pornography than hold a steady job, get married or start a family. We need to fight for our families as our national birthrate is at an all time low and few care because children inhibit lifestyle. We will pick between two of the worst candidates in history in November. I can go on and one siting race relations and economics and poverty but you can hit up FOX or CNN for a deeper depression. These issues that surround us today have arisen because we do not see and do not fight the invisible battle within and without ourselves. We have forgotten the greatest commandment “ Love God and THEN Love Neighbor and THEN Self” This alone is a noble cause for which we can fight, a battle that if we win will restore, rebuild our society. If we chose to go against our own selfishness, character and virtue could again reign.

To my friends and family in Louisiana, I wish I were with you. I am so proud of the fighting spirit that many of you possess. As you rebuild your homes and our culture, please fight for what is true, good and beautiful. Let humble submission to God and neighbor be the law of the land and let the devil be our fight. Maybe this will spread across the nation from the Louisiana underdogs who are ALWAYS rebuilding and ALWAYS resilient.

#PrayforLouisiana #GEAUXTIGERS #Blackandgoldsuperbowl?

Why I respect Lin Manuel Miranda, He did not throw away his shot

I will never forget the day that Lin Manuel Miranda changed my life.  This may be a dramatic statement but my secular dream job is to be on Broadway and those who know me know that I am animated enough to have made it. Jesus, however, knocked on the doors of my future claiming it for His own.

I digress.

It was a morning last October. “What do I even like anymore?” I asked myself. Two years serving college students followed by engagement, marriage, two job changes and then pregnancy left me lost.  I had given up so much of what I had once enjoyed and wanted it back. “I could listen to Rent or Wicked,” I thought. Nah, I need something new. So I did what any normal musical loving soul from Houma Louisiana would do and I texted my much trendier friend, Katharine.

“New Broadway musicals I should listen to?”

“HAMILTON!”, she replied.

Ok great. So I spotified Hamilton and a love affair began.

My friends, I LOVE this musical. My other secular dream job is history teacher so you can imagine that the marriage of my two loves would change my life (see, no exaggeration). Jared also enjoys the musical so we basically listened to it nonstop from October to March. We even played Hamilton in labor and delivery. Yes, little Penelope was born to the musical history of the American Revolution.

“Hamilton” has taken the musical world by storm and Lin Manuel Miranda, the genius behind this hip hop history is a brilliant man who is now somewhat of a Hamilton evangelist. As I read and listened to his interviews and speeches, however, I found myself torn. I liked him, but he also annoyed me just a bit. This bothered me and so I asked myself why a man who I would clearly be a friend with in real life would bother me. The answer I realized is that I am annoyed by Mr. Miranda because his passion, follow through and success reveals my laziness.

See, every time I heard or read an interview with Miranda he was fearlessly and passionately promoting Hamilton. This man is completely captivated by Alexander Hamilton. He is captivated by his inner struggles, his outer success and the drama of revolution that surrounded his life. Introduced to Hamilton by the biography written by Ron Chernow, Miranda ask himself,“ How has this not been made a musical?”. He then spent the next 6 years writing every single word rapped in the show.

He found a true story to be told and gave the very best of himself to tell it.

Today, anyone who likes musicals or history knows in almost completion the story of Alexander Hamilton and the drama of the revolution when before, most people might have known that Arron Burr killed Hamilton. It was Miranda’s unwavering, “ I don’t care if you don’ t like it because I do” passion that annoyed me. This man just won’t quit and that is precisely why the soundtrack landed at our little Penelope’s birth and in the ears of millions around the nation. His risk led to his success and I am jealous!

Miranda took a truth that was interesting, valuable and otherwise unknown and made it beautiful. He literally does not care if you don’t care. In this lies the indictment.

I, Mallory Bueche Smyth, contain a rivaling passion in my being. Everything matters to me and I too have found a Truth that is far more interesting, for more valuable, deeper, mysterious and despite our best beliefs, unknown. It is the drama of the salvation of human history. In the words of Frank Sheed, it is

"God, infinite and eternal, Trinity, Unity; humanity, finite, created in time, fallen and redeemed by Christ; the individual human person born into the life of nature, reborn into the life of grace, united with Christ in the Church which is His mystical body, aided by angels, hindered by devils, destined for heaven, in peril of hell"

The man of Jesus Christ captivates me. It is the Truth of His incarnation, the success of His ministry, and the façade of His defeat by death and the drama that surrounds our salvation. This is the foundation of our very existence. How is it that I have not yet given the very best of myself to this Man and to the telling of this story? Although we think we know it, we as a society know about as much about our salvation history as we did about Hamilton before Miranda told us more!

I hope to one day shake Mr. Miranda’s hand and thank him for sharing himself and his loves with the world regardless of any criticism or obstacle that got in his way. I hope to tell him that by his slight annoyance, he inspired me to get off my butt and join him. I hope to thank him for truly making my life better and I hope that by following in His footsteps I can pay it forward and inspire you the reader to give a second look to the most interesting story ever told and take your place in the narrative.

P.S. If you haven’t listend to Hamilton, do yourself a favor! It’s right here.

God and Mary in 2016. His relevance.

Every now and then I need just a little bit of Sister Act in my life. The 1990’s Roman Catholic Rock movie with Whoopie Goldberg arguably at her best and without a doubt at her most joyful. To my husbands delight, we rocked out to a few Sister Act songs this morning in honor of the Assumption ofMary celebrated today. I mean who doesn’t love it when the shy novice of a religious order surprises all with powerhouse vocal chords that put the cherubim and seraphim to shame.

Now of course, I would not be telling you about my Sister Act love, making myself irrelevant to anyone born after the year 1989 if there was not a very very profound point to be made about God’s ultimate coolness. We will get back to Sister Act my wish for religious sisters to turn up the jams in our churches today but for now, let’s talk about God’s realness and relevance. Enter… the Virgin Mary.

Regardless of how you feel about Mary, travel with me back to the beginning of God’s promise on her life. The first chapter of Luke gives us almost all that we know about her. After the angel appeared to her and told her, “Surprise you are going to be the mother of God”, she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth. At their greeting, Elizabeth gives Mary one hell of a compliment, “ Blessed is she who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled “ and then the climax. Mary recites a canticle giving all glory and gratitude to the God of Jacob in one of the most beautiful prayers ever uttered by human lips.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon His handmaiden’s lowliness; behold, from now on all ages will call me blessed.  (Read the rest here)

All ages will call her blessed? ALL AGES?

Last time I checked all means all and so if God is real and He keeps His promises then we should be able to see this “All Ages” claim happening even now! So let us ask. Have all generations called her blessed? Is Mary in fact truly blessed for believing that what was spoken to her would be fulfilled?

My dear friends, I present to you a 2016 National Geographic cover. 

“ The Most Powerful Woman in the Word” 

What? A young woman from Nazareth who lived 2000 years ago was named the world’s most powerful woman in 2016 by a secular global exploration magazine. And what’s the article tag line? (you can read the whole article here)

Mary barely speaks in the New Testament but her image and legacy are found and celebrated all over the world.

Blessed INDEED is she who believed that what was spoken to her would be fulfilled. It is hard to argue that the God of Jacob who supposedly sent his son to us through Mary 2000 years ago is made up when His promises are still being fulfilled in tangible, visible, recordable history today. This article goes on to talk about the influence that Mary has had all over the world over the past and in the present. It is hard to say that this woman is meant to distract when she by her own words is constantly pointing us to the living God. He is real and she by her mere presence points to Him and His character.

Mary reveals to indistinguishable truths about God. First, God is real and He is a powerhouse. Second, this powerhouse of a living God is personal. He made a promised to a no name girl and He kept it. It was through that promise that He sent us the God man, all powerful but in the muck and the mud of humanity. He cares about the details of your life, He loves you and He is faithful. We can see this in history. Even Whoopie Goldberg, probably not on purpose, blessed Mary by the filming of Sister Act. God used Hollywood to honor His lady and they didn’t even realize it.

God. Is. Cool.

All generation call her blessed indeed and our blessed Mother will forever point us to a living and relevant God who wants to be in the details of your life. You can choose to ignore him but you cannot choose to block Him out of existence, He continues to prove Himself.

Happy Assumption Friends!