depravity

In the heat of a moment fueled by the spontaneity-loving lyrics and peppy beat of "22" by Taylor Swift, some friends and I decided last night at 9 PM that a trip to New Orleans was a good idea. After some deliberation and wishy-washiness about whether or not we should go through with it, the four of us came back to campus and put on comfy clothes before hitting the road at 10 PM for the 3-hour drive to NOLA. The drive down was exactly as you'd expect if you know us- dancing to Taylor Swift songs, screaming some Broadway, sharing embarrassing stories and admitting crushes past and present. Stopping about 18 jillion times to let Wallace pee. Once we finally got down there, Meg stunk at being a navigator (sorry, Meg, but you know it's true. You and my GPS just weren't getting along.) so getting close enough to Cafe du Monde and parking in a good spot were not as a easy as they should've been. Then some creep followed us around the parking lot, waiting in his dark car for us to leave ours, until we finally drove around the parking lot enough that I guess he thought we weren't worth the effort to mug/rape/murder. That, and I'm pretty sure Jesus put an almost physical hedge of protection around us all of last night, which rocked because Nola is a scary place.
Which brings me to my point.
Humans are depraved.
I firmly believe that I was made for city life, specifically London city life, and I'm quite comfortable negotiating large crowds and drunk people and clouds of cigarette smoke and walking past the red light district of London. I assumed this would translate to New Orleans night life.
Wrong.
There is something about New Orleans that alarms me. It is dark and oppressed, even in the day. London is too, so don't think I'm hating on the South or anything. I'm simply saying there is something about NOLA that's different and I can't quite put a finger on but it scares me.
Through our adventures last night we passed quite a few drunken wanderers, deceived seekers of happiness, and fallen (quite literally) love-wanters. It shocks and saddens me how far we run from God to get the things that only He can give. It reminds me of my own unfaithfulness and desperately wicked heart.
It reminds me that though I am full of earth and stained with dirt and prone to depravity, He is Heaven's worth and everything that is bright and clean and the antonym of me.
Hallelujah.