joecraveman

Joe Craveman - the movie!

Apparently my story and my search for my soul cravings makes for good movies. Check out my "trailer."

Does love conquer all?

All you need is love.
- John Lennon & Paul McCartney

At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.
- Plato

Bart, with $10,000, we'd be millionaires! We could buy all kinds of useful things like...love!
- Homer Simpson

Hatred can be overcome only by love.
- Mahatma Gandhi

I keep coming back to this reality that love has something to do with intimacy. This idea and reality of love is historically famous. Everyone seems to have some sort of idea of what love is and how love can impact humanity.

But love seems to have lost it's power. It seems to have shifted as the culture has shifted. It is no longer something pure. Love has been blotted out by the ink of selfishness.It has become transactional. 'I will give as long as there is a promise of getting something in return.'

Is this the way we look at love? I guess it would make sense of why marriage has become so rare. No one needs to get married anymore because they just move in and have kids without the promise of being selfless. I feel like these are the new vows that are being presented by the world;

"As long as they don't have to promise my life away at the altar than I will spend some time with you.

As long as I don't have to become truly vulnerable with you in this relationship than I will attend your family parties.

As long as I can protect myself for fear that you might cause me pain and walk away at the end of the night I will share certain things with you.

Don't ask me to be intimate with you. I can't give you that. Don't ask me to share my full life with you. There is too much risk in that. There is to much of a chance that at the end of the night your love will turn into hatred."

These vows are being said to not only our mates but are being said to our children as well. We no longer want to be parents that get to know our children. We don't want to connect with them in a way that is true and real but busy ourselves with the work that holds us hostage at the office. We put televisions and computers in our children's rooms to distract them from a real relational intimacy. We then come to find that our children are becoming raised by the culture that has so distorted a pure love and they become whores and drunks.

i think it comes down to the fact that none of us know how to connect with this intimacy. I don't know where to go to find this trueness. I have never seen it lived out in my peers or in my own parents. I guess we are just living what we were taught.

There's gotta to be more than this. There has to be an answer to this craving that I feel inside. Where to look? I guess my best bet is to try and find people who know what they are doing. Any suggestions? Who should I talk to?

Looking for the Legacy

My internal organs lit on fire when I saw it happen.

I went to a Sox game last week and I saw a short exchange that would be worth much more than each party would realize until much later. It was between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife, a mother and a father, two lovers. He leaned in and whispered a secret that was obviously only known by the two of them. She smiled and then they kissed. That short exchange hopefully will last them longer than it did me.

I still long for that. There is that intimacy that I just can't truly grasp.

I guess I'm longing for something more than a short lived moment. I want an intimacy that will leave a legacy on the people that are around me. I don't know how to find it though. I don't know where to start.

Plus I don't know if I truly want it. I mean, to really grasp that kind of intimacy I'm sure there is a point where the other party knows you. I'm not just talking about knowing in a mental sense, but in a whole sense. The other party has got to know you not by the role you play but by your whole identity. I don't know if I want someone to know my whole identity. I'm not the nicest guy. When I look back on my life there are certain situations that sear in my mind that I know I would not want someone to know.

But I guess that whole vulnerability thing is determined by who the other party. If the other party is a person I know that I will never truly become vulnerable with. I would look like a monster. If this other party is something else, if it's some sort of God who is caring than I might want that. The question is where to start to find it? There are so many places to go to find myself.'

I guess I could start with what I am most familiar with. I was reading the news and discovered that Ingmar Bergman recently died at the age of 89. He is noted to be one of the greatest film makers in the history. He is known to be a man who sought to make films that challenged the profound themes of life. He is a legend and his work will remain in the movies that he created. He knew intimately what he wanted to do with each film. He created it with a purpose and a mission.

I want to understand the legacy of intimacy. I want to find it. 

My Soul Cravings

For the first time, I feel like I am finally able to talk about what I'll call my soul cravings. You see, for a long time now, I've known there was something missing in my life, but I didn't know how to describe it or what to do about it. Lately, I've come to realize that my soul longs for certain things. And I think it's inherent to all people: everyone has cravings, stuff that their soul needs to be satisfied. I think most people try to satisfy these cravings with things that are eventually destructive: addictions, relationship that don't work, material stuff, money, power... whatever...

So I finally have to guts to post here for the first time. I HAVE SOUL CRAVINGS! I have a need for intimacy, destiny, and for purpose... What does all this mean? How can I find answers?

WHAT ARE YOUR SOUL CRAVINGS? Please post with your thoughts.

Joe Here

Hi, I'm Joe -- people call me the Craveman because I'm looking to satisfy my soul cravings. No, I'm not a caveman... I'm a Craveman! So I'm out there talking to people and trying to figure out what this thing called life is all about. How can I find answers to my most burning questions? Where can I find intimacy, not just with people, but with something greater... like God? What's my destiny... purpose??

All these things and more I intend to talk about and pursue on my new blog. So welcome! You comments are especially welcome!

what is this all about?

Hey, Joe Craveman here. I found this church in Chicagoland. It's called Community Christian Church. Find a location near you by clicking here. The brand new series "Soul Cravings" begins on the weekend of September 15-16, 2007. Find out more about Soul Cravings by clicking here. Subscribe to the CCC podcast here.

CCC might have the answer to help me satisfy my soul cravings. Check it out.