"If you died this very day, would you go to heaven?"

Happy April Fools to one and all! I am alive and kickin', chicken, in the great state of Texas. Since last I wrote I have stupidly jumped from planes, kissed a few beautiful women far outside my league, played in the Wisconsin snow, eked my way through Ranger School, and received my deployment orders to Baghdad, Iraq with the 4th infantry division out of Fort Hood, Texas. Many experiences, most of them life-changing, but I can't take the time to reflect on them all at once. Instead, I shall tell a tale!

This morning my roommate Steve and I were sitting in our living room watching mindless MTV and what it passes off as the "real" world, when who should come to the door but Born-again Christians! Huzzah, what fortune! Two gentlemen younger than I greeted me with a flyer advertisement for their congregation and the direct, simple question, "Sir, are you saved?"

Thereupon this exchange took place:

Me: Yes, I believe so.

Youth #1: If you died this very day, would you go to heaven?

Me: (contemplative, but affirmative) Yeah, I'm pretty sure I would.

Youth #1, not expecting my last answer: Well, do you ask Jesus for forgiveness for all of your sins?

Me: Pretty much a daily activity, yes.

Youth #2, believing me sarcastic: Only you and God know the truth and whether or not you truly ask for forgiveness.

Me: Yes, I reckon you're right.

Youth #1, fixated on my certainty of heaven: You could die today, or tonight in your sleep...

Me: or in Iraq, yes, I agree.

Youth #1: ...and you believe that you would go to heaven?

Me: Yes.

...Awkward pause ensues...

Youth #2: Well, we're having a rock/rap concert tonight at our congregation...

This is my life now, and with daily confrontations like this one with life's biggest questions how can anyone "mess with Texas"? 17 days and I fly to Kuwait. My sense of urgency is rising, but for what reason exactly I can't say for sure. Life's details just seem sharper, like every simple action or occurrence has become interesting, a simple pleasure to enjoy like a sweet bite of an apple. What's sweetest is to find that my sense of certainty has become hardened. I had no sarcasm when I talked to those dudes this morning. I answered honestly and without hesitation. It's encouraging because the rest of 2006 looms in outright uncertainty from here, about a mountains worth.

That's all for now. Just some simple thoughts. Please enjoy this picture and EVERYONE COME SEE HOW GOOD I LOOK(ED)!!!!!

This is the day before I started Ranger School, before a 14 pound weight loss and 20 pound weight gain upon my graduation. ( can't stop eating cinnamon roll flavored Pop Tarts. They are delicious).

Love to todos

Dan