Cool Story

So, I have a pretty cool story for you. Actually, it is not as much cool as it is funny. But I will warn you in advance, I am typing this online and not in Word first. Please ignore the bad grammar (I am doing that because there will be a lot of pictures I do not feel like worrying about the formatting afterwards, this way I can just do it all at once).

Anyways, something wierd happened about a week ago. All of a sudden EVERY person in the whole city of Wau knew my name. I could not walk more than 10m without hearing someone yell "Daniel!" I was confused. But what confused me more was that they were saying "Daniel Bryan" or "Daniel Brown" So I was thinking to myself:

"Okay Dan... you started summer camp a few weeks ago, I guess word spread that the only white guy in Wau's name is Daniel, and I guess there is some famous guy named Daniel Bryan, so they just yell that since it his name is Daniel too."

So I convinced myself that word spread around town what my name was... Well, then I noticed older guys saying the samething... So then I thought:

"Okay, that is wierd... that guy is like 30, camp is for students through Primary 8... how did word spread to him being in a completely different age group?"

I had to get to the bottom of this, so I looked this Daniel Bryan cat up...

Okay, so that is Daniel Bryan. It became abundantly clear why all of a sudden EVERYONE "knew my name"

....This is me...

This is me at a football tournament that our parish is hosting.

Yes, my beard has gotten rather unruly.

But as soon as I googled him I realized they did NOT know my name.... they knew this WWE star and saw that I was a white guy with a beard too.... it was just 100% coincidence that we are both named Daniel!!

I was a bit bitter. One sister asked me, "Daniel, are you not shaving for style or because you are lazy?" I said, "Sister... Jesus had a beard, and we are called to be Christ like." Okay, so it actually is just out of laziness that I have this beard...

But, this is what I was going for with the beard...

Or this...

Why does no one say, "Francis of Assisi!!!!" or "Jesua!!!" (Jesus in Arabic, not a typo**) when they see me and my beard?!

In their defense, not every picture of St. Francis has a beard. So they are off the hook for that one. But in almost every picture, Jesus has a beard! So, why do I hear "Daniel Bryan!" not "Jesua!?"

I joke around about my beard and all, but it should make you think... where do religion and Christ place in my mind... Behind Daniel Bryan or at the forefront?

No, I do not think my beard should make everyone think of Jesus, but putting my beard aside, when we see other people do we think of them in terms of pop-culture and how beautiful or not they are... or do we think of them as being children of God with Christ dwelling in them?!

Jesus dwells in every single one of us (yes, even those that you struggle to love and frustrate you to no end), how often do we bring that to mind?

Peace and Love,
~Dan