like tears in rain

I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain… Time to die.

So, I have a blog. It’s something I’ve thought about doing for a while now, and I’ve finally decided it’s something I think would be useful. In this post, I’m going to write a little about myself, why I started this blog, and what the title means.

So, myself: my name is Caleb. I’m happily married to my wife of 5 years, Stephanie, and we have two little boys. Noah just turned three, and Elijah is almost 11 months old, and we live with our 9 year old black lab, Leila, in a suburb of St. Louis. I’m a chemist by trade, and a large part of why I’m starting this blog is a pretty serious career change I’m in the middle of: I am currently in training to be a high school science teacher (more on this later).

I’ve decided to start this blog in an attempt to connect with others who can help me be the best teacher I can be; while this won’t be exclusively a “teaching blog”, it’s something I hope to use it for. I also plan to write about what’s happening in my life. Stephanie and I are very involved in our church, and I plan on posts involving our involvement in Harvester Christian Church’s programs, from our Life Group experiences, to our experiences with the awesome Junior High ministry we’re involved in, to my reactions to corporate church services. It won’t be exclusively a “religious blog”, but you can expect posts dealing with our experiences with the church.

Now; what does the title mean? I’m sure you noticed the movie quote above. Go ahead, scroll up and read it again. It’s a quote from Blade Runner, one of the greatest science fiction films in the history of great science fiction films. It’s from a monologue given by the replicant Roy Batty when blade runner Rick Deckard finds him and ‘retires’ him. This quote has always resonated with me; I always felt bad for the replicant, because all the experiences he’s ever had are going to be forgotten.

I don’t want my life to end like that.

This is the single biggest reason I’m changing my career; I don’t feel like I’m helping anyone in my current career, and I don’t want my impact on the people around me to simply be overwhelmed by the chaos of the world around them. I’m not saying I want people to remember me; rather, I want my life to positively influence the lives of the people around me, and I don’t feel that my current career fulfills that goal.

I want to make a difference. I don’t want to be lost…well, like tears in rain.