Called to FOCUS for His Sake

In my great and extensive expertise of blogging (note that it is neither great nor extensive), I have discovered that I should PROBABLY stay clear of topic articles and stick with what I can do best: tell stories!! Some have been called to be orators, others rhetoricians, and finally those of us who are story-tellers. I've slowly come to accept I am the last of these...but that's okay!! I have many adventures to share with the WORLD!!!! :D Anyway, into what I've come here to share!!

As some of you may know, the Lord has called me into serving Him further and through discernment and much prayer, I am currently serving as a missionary for the FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students)!!! Next year I will be serving at Drake University in Des Moines, IA and quite literally, I'm like...

Like...I'm not kidding at all. I am so excited/happy/ecstatic/joyful to be serving 1) in Iowa: my third favorite state, 2) with my AMAZING team!!!, 3) through FOCUS and 4) for the students of Drake to experience Christ personally, within their life. I. AM. PUMPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll get into FOCUS more in detail later on but first, let me tell you about how my summer has been thus far. Right after I graduated on May 24th (WHAT WHAT!!!), I commenced packing for my journey ahead. After some tears, some beers and seven-ish boxes, I was able to pack my entire life and sigh as I reflected on my last four years. My years in college came to an end and I had a "what next?" moment that made me too nostalgic to function. Luckily, it was vital that I functioned because I absolutely needed to be out of my house before I left for Florida for summer training. "Wait...did he just say...?" Yes. I said Florida.

Since May 30th, I have been in Ave Maria, FL for New Staff Training for FOCUS!! To give you an idea of Ave, here's a picture:

Needless to say, it's pretty nice!! This entire city is a little Catholic experiment in the middle of the Everglades. Quite literally, we are in a multi-million dollar manufactured city in the middle of what was a swamp. This becomes most evident to us when we walk to class and are greeted by the likes of all alligators, armadillos and giant grasshoppers!! Don't get me started on the gnats and mosquitos...but otherwise, it's great!!!

One of the great things about training is how detached I feel from the world these days. It honestly feels like we are in a bubble or that Florida is just a separate world from the one we live in. Bugs Bunny had it right!!

But on to what most of you might be thinking: where did this FOCUS thing come about, Brandon? To many of my friends, it may honestly feel like this came out of nowhere. In actuality, I've been thinking about doing FOCUS for a while now but just recently decided to move forward and trust God by following this strange desire.

So a little about FOCUS...the Fellowship of Catholic University Students is an apostolate of missionaries who are sent out to colleges across this nation to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the students and invite them into a relationship with the same Christ. Through forming friendships, running Bible studies, and discipling students to share the Gospel with others, FOCUS strives to win over the campus, the country and the world for Christ!! 

Anyone who has gone to college knows well that incoming freshmen crave one thing when they step foot on campus, and that is a place of belonging. Being in a new environment means that these freshmen are looking for someone/something to follow/do. They are CRAVING for something to call home and make them feel welcome. That's why every college campus have herds of younglings wandering the campus early in the year.

It is because of this craving that many students seek their worth through many facets that sadly DO NOT sustain them. Many turn to partying, drinking, 'hooking-up', drugs and many other thing that promise so-called happiness. Friends, these are NOT healthy for you: mind, body or soul. Because of this lack of direction and inability to find proper worth, many students slump into depression or convince themselves that everything is okay and that they will grow out of it. 

Did you know that 48% of college students report going to church "few times a year or less"? When I heard this statistic, I was deeply sorrowed. I was not sad from an outsider's view. I was sad because I witnessed this statistic come to life before me. Many threw away their faith to pursue something that, in the end, will disappoint them and will not last in the long run. As Coldplay said in their song Viva La Vida, "I discovered my castle stands upon pillars of sand and pillars of sand." I pray that my friends who fell away from their faith are kept safe by the loving grace of God but when I see them, it is evident that a collapse is often the only thing that can put them back on course.

While many missionaries are called to serve the physically poorest of the poor abroad and domestically, I felt a call to be a missionary but to the impoverished countries. I have seen slums and have talked to the people, but I walked away with joy for they had faith stronger than I could fathom. The Lord called me to serve those in poverty but of a different kind: spiritual poverty. The greatest tragedy is the man who has all possessions but is drowning in silent desperation. I could have been that man and was on track to do so, but Christ came into my life and transformed my heart to seek that which has no end!!

The college student does not know it but what they seek is Christ in their life. Friends, family and strangers; the Lord is generous to all who come and seek Him. He stands with open arms to welcome stranger and returner alike. He never stops loving his people and never stops leading us to recognize our full potential. I may be a missionary on a college campus but this is the mission of Christianity itself. Jesus commands of us, "Go make disciples of ALL nations..." (Matthew 28:19) and this is the mission I invited you ALL to join in on. 

I welcome you to truly consider what I've presented. My work with FOCUS is the work every Christian is called to but most may not be able to do. Regardless, everyone has a place in the mission. As Mother Teresa said, "Some give by going, others go by giving." My purpose behind this article wasn't to fundraise but while I'm here, why not? Part of being a FOCUS missionary is that I must raise 100% of my living expenses. By no means did I write this article to ask for money but if you are interested, here is my fundraising page: focus.org/goto/brandonmiranda

If you choose to donate, thank you and know that this is more than donating to a cause. This is an opportunity to join in this mission with me!! If you do give, PLEASE contact me in some way because I want to personally thank you for joining me in this mission. Also, the life of a missionary is one of prayer. Thus, if you have special prayer intention, please tell me and I will be sure to pray for you.

If you do not chose to give, I thank you for reading my article because I want each one of you to know what I'm up to and the mission Christ has called me to serve. I ask for your prayers as I move forward because I honestly need more prayers than I do money!! 

But honestly, no pressure at all :) I mean it!!

My Beef with the "L-Word" & Why the "F-Word" is Great too!!

I know what you're thinking: what is the "L-word" you have a beef with?? While I could think of a good handful of words that start with L that I don't particularly like, the one that I'm speaking of may come as a shock to many. Did you guess LOVE?? If you did, congratulations!! You are wrong.

The the word I speak of is LEADER. Throughout my life, I have went through countless hours of "leadership training" and so often we are asked the question: what is a leader? Many have mentioned a person with integrity, confidence, ambition, power, control, compassion, superb personal skills, relationality, and the list goes on endlessly. I've sat through hours of motivational speakers tell me that a leader is someone is gifted or endowed with the ability to inspire the masses to action or someone who rises to the top of the crowd through merit/ability. 

I ask you, look at the definition:

lea•der |ˈlēdər| noun1 the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country:2 the principal player in a music group.3 Brit. a leading article or editorial in a newspaper.4 a short strip of nonfunctioning material at each end of a reel of film or recording tape for connection to the spool.5 a shoot of a plant at the apex of a stem or main branch.

As you can see, a leader is simply someone who leads. STOP READING INTO IT!!! But I'm mostly kidding. We just tend to overinflate the definition of leader when it is such a simple action and definition.

So why do I have a beef with the word leader? Well...I have more of a problem with the risk we run with the idea behind leadership training. Leaders are super great but we run into a bit of a "trophy culture" with the concept these days. Let me try to explain.

You've heard it said that we are ruining our children by giving trophies to everyone as toddlers in sports. We tell everyone that they are a winner, which on some level is true but could lead to the end of competition as we know it! I've always sucked at sports, so I don't have a trophy to my name but I'm pretty sure that I never deserved one for my athletic performance. I would hope that if I ever did get a participation trophy that my dad would grab it, throw it to the ground, and smash it into unrecognizable pieces.

Naturally you'll ask yourself, do you think this because you're bitter about this? NO!! Growing up, my brother was a star athlete and had a room filled with championship and MVP trophies from the three sports he played. As a child, I'll admit there may have been a time when I was jealous of this but it was more of a motivation to prove myself. I may not have athletic prowess but I must have been good at something!! I eventually found things I was good at but I'm straying from my point a little...now back on track!

Much like this "everyone gets a trophy" business, I find myself in a room with ordinary people being told they are the "cream of the crop" or "the select few" or something to that effect. While that may be true for some, it most definitely is not true for all. In fact, if given the option, I have a feeling many of the people in those rooms would prefer to follow another than withstand the pressure and responsibility of being in charge!!

Just like the trophies, not everyone can be a leader. For if everyone were leaders, who is left to do the following? Creative solutions say that leaders do the following while leading in their own respect but my question is this: why is it that the identity as a leader trumps the identity as a follower? One possible explanation is that being a follower has a connotation that you are inferior. Fair enough, but as I've seen in these seminars on leadership which I've attended, there is a fine line between humility and egotism when messing with the power of leadership. 

I know that you're probably dying to know what the "F-word" could be. If you guessed follower, you are correct!! After my little rant on leaders and leadership, I just seek to give more credit to followers. So often we push followers to the wayside and focus on honing leadership skills so we can excel in life and receive everything we ever dreamt of. For most of my life I did this very act of emphasizing leadership in my life and guess what? I received a lot of what I dreamt of but in the end, I missed something.

This wouldn't be a B. I. S. C. Miranda original post without a mention of God, right?!? Anyway, when it came down to it, how would I want to be defined? I obtained several positions of leadership throughout my years and I've received my reward but when all things fade, I want to be defined as a follower. That is, a follower of Christ!!

This identity as a follower became my most important descriptor and I am glad it did. Jesus is a leader I can get behind and I'm more than happy to follow!! But the reason I even wrote this article is to stress how important it is that we do not lose sight at the big picture.

In a culture where we exalt the leader, we must foster within ourselves and in the hearts of those to come the importance of being a righteous follower. Life isn't always about leading and when it is, one should not abuse the authority gifted to them. The true leader is the one who acknowledges that they are not the ultimate authority. A true leader guides their people on the path of shared righteousness for the purpose of forming men and women to take the reins of authentic leadership as well. 

I look at great spiritual leaders and without exception I see a people who empty themselves to wholly follow Christ and ablaze the world with faith. Contrary to everything I've ever been taught in those seminars, exalted are those who follow justly for they will experience true happiness and will lead others on the right path by their example. I'm not saying to avoid taking up leadership because we need strong leaders!! What I am saying is that once you have the reins of leadership, never forget that being a follower of the truth is what makes us authentic, fruitful and honest leaders.

Death by Boredom

I just want to start off by saying that I'm not ACTUALLY dying from boredom. So, don't worry Mom :) I love being home but we could both agree that the amount of inactivity I am currently exhibiting will eventually, if it hasn't already, turn my brain into mush. As is, my every second is spent like this...

The funny thing is, I have hundreds of things I could be doing and a couple of things I definitely SHOULD be doing but I can't find the motivation!! The person who came up with the 4-1-4 academic calendar should be imprisoned for giving college students the opportunity to do absolutely NOTHING for six weeks if they so choose. Of course the college student will choose to do nothing!! After a semester of writing over 62 pages of papers and engaging in a rigorous learning environment, a six-week break sounds wonderful! It always sounds like a great idea until about Week 3 when you wake up after sleeping for twelve hours and you ask yourself,

"Why am I awake??"

I remember the days when I use to wake up, go through my morning routine, run to class since I was always late, go to Mass, eat lunch, work, go off to my first extra-curricular activity, fifteen minute break, second activity, dinner, hour break, work until 2 a.m. then back home to sleep!! That was the life... Now my day consists of waking up, maybe taking a shower, moving over to the couch, walk ten feet to the kitchen for lunch, back to couch, getting up to walk five feet to the table for dinner, back to the couch and staying there until I get up to go to bed. While this seemed like "the life" the first three weeks of doing this, I slowly am realizing that I probably lost my ability to read from my deprivation of mental activity. Am I slowly dying from boredom?? Maybe, but I did pick up knitting!! And I successfully watch 96 episodes of Showtime's Original Series Dexter!! That counts for something, right?!

You've probably read this post and wondered, "Where is he going with this?" The answer: nowhere. In the Life of B.I.S.C. Miranda, there is nothing productive that has occurred. Everything I do is boring, lazy and probably shortening my life. Great news though!! I leave for California on Saturday and have a full slate of things to do once I'm there!! And in all honesty, I should probably do the many things that remain on my docket of things that MUST be done before I return to school and back to my normal, hectic pace of life.

So life is on the horizon--I'm sure of it!!

The Beard

So for y'all who do not actually see me on a regular basis, I grew a beard as a bet since the beginning of September. Unfortunately, I shaved my face mane in preparation for Senior pictures at the end of this month. Also quite unfortunate, I lost the bet to grow my beard and looming punishment will eventually catch up with me!!

Anyway, I planned on writing this post WHILE the beard was in full growth form but I have been busy for the last couple of weeks. For you all who did not have the opportunity to see this beauty in person, here you go!!

I may be horrendous at sports, have a particular fondness for the arts, an avid poet, a decent baker and many things you wouldn't necessarily term as "manly" but there's one thing that is undeniable: I can grow a beard--a manly one at that!! With this facial hair growth, my recent fondness of beer and my promote to a Bass instead of a Baritone has made my testosterone levels SKYROCKET...but actually. Desires to chop down trees, wear flannel, let that chest hair grow freely, and camp in the forests of the beautiful state of Minnesota started to bubble but then I thought, "Wait...I already do that all!!" No kidding.

Now I would be lying if I said I enjoyed every moment I had a beard. There were days when I could not concentrate in class because all I was thinking was how itchy my face was. I woke up some mornings, looked at my face and all the straggly hair popping out in my beard and dread/resent the fact that I needed to not only comb my head hair but now my face as well. After I ate, I had to ensure that nothing was caught in my beard I could not feel it on there. Sometimes my face would smell weird...and don't get me started on beard dandruff!! People may have loved seeing me with a beard but I could not handle the countless disadvantages some days. I tried everything I could to maintain healthy facial hair ranging from shampooing/conditioning to routine trimming to washing my face several time a days to reading endless article about beard care online. Some may be sad that I shaved but know that I did everything in my power to keep it up!! Ultimately, the decision to shave was a good one...at least for now. I'm back to looking like this:

Angie's utter shock was not to the absence of the beard by the way...

But I would also be lying if I said that I didn't miss having my beard. It made me feel older and more serious. Too often, my smooth face gives off the perception that I'm kind and happy and nice and pleasant. Though all those may be true, my beard did not give off that perception. It gave me an option to be serious when I wanted to be and highlighted my facial expressions otherwise. That growth on my face made me look like a distinguished gentleman and challenged me daily to be a true man. 

And while all those things like being a Bass, enjoying a beer, chopping down trees, growing chest hair, camping in the woods, sporting a beard, etc. are all "manly", that wasn't what I strived for when I looked in the mirror every morning. Sure, the beard was a good reminder to be a man but all of us men must step back and ask ourselves: what does it mean to be a "true man"? Simple for men of faith: imitate Christ. 

Beyond all these macho things I've described, a true man is loving, prudent, self giving, respectful, steadfast and humble. A true man fights for truth and rejects evil. He sees challenge and takes on the task with faith and resolve. And you know who had a beard?? That's right....JESUS CHRIST!! If you want a model of a true man, Christ is your beaming example. His sacrificial love and his strength in every sense (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual...) is what we should aim for. Scatter the proud!! Cast down the mighty!! Lift up the lowly!! Fill the hungry!! Show others mercy!! Heal the sick!! Stand up for what is just!! That is what Christ calls us to do and what the prototype of a man should be!!

What started as a bet turned into a beard. What was a beard turned into a call to manhood. What was a call to manhood turned into an imitation of Christ. Funny how that happens...

The First of Hopefully Many

As much as I love writing, I despise starting a new blog with its "Inaugural Post". There is something about starting anew that terrifies me into neglecting to ever want to begin. For example, I've had the domain for this blog for over four months and this will be my first official post!! I know, I'm off to a MARVELOUS start...

So why am writing? Because I miss writing for the world to see!! If you happen to follow my blogging endeavours (I don't expect that you have), you may know that I spent four months studying abroad in Rome and blogged throughout the experience. This blog, Roamin' Like A Roman, was so much fun to write!! I would literally look forward to creating a new post every single time I found the time to do so. It wasn't until I wrote my "Letter to Bernardi" post that I realized the fun was coming to an end. I would no longer have material to blog, which left me like....

So the idea and inspiration to start a new blog sprung up!!! Unfortunately, motivation was nowhere to be found...

As my dad always told me as I was growing up, EVERYTHING has a purpose. I will go on record and tell you, the only purpose this blog serves is to be an outlet of my desire to write again!! I miss my mini-rants and documenting my life and going on tangents and posting pictures. I know that Facebook and Twitter are meant to serve as outlets of Internet sharing, but I want something a little more in depth than 140 characters or wall posts. Hopefully I can utilize this blog to curb my need for writing!!

So if you are reading this, WELCOME!!! I'm Brandon and I'm here to have fun...