"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." ~ Frederick Buechner
“What we call the beginning is often the end and to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from….We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time”
~ T.S. Eliot
“But I have to believe that Jesus prefers honesty to anything else. I was saying, ‘Here’s who I am,’ and that is where most improvement has to begin.” ~ Anne Lamott
I Woke up
Alone
Two trips to Canada
Saw one old friend that I thought I would never see
Graduated with my BA
Started graduate school
“Action are always more complex and nuanced than they seem. We have to be willing to wrestle with paradox to pursue understanding.” ~ Harold Evans via Deb Hirsch
Filed bankruptcy
Started working as a bartender
Moved into my own apartment
Started Bar Church
Fell asleep
Alone
“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” ~ Frederick Buechner
Interviewed by NPR
Interviewed by the AP
Met a U.S. Senator
Marched in Duluth to Free the Hikers in Iran
Stayed alive thanks to great friends
Anxiety and depression have been my two companions while loneliness surrounded me
Went to therapy
Started taking celexa
Trazadone to sleep
Lorazapam to relax
And I found out so are many others
Life is hard
Yet…not without joy
Catherine
“Have you wept at anything during this year?
Has your heart beat faster at the sight of a young beauty?
Have you thought seriously about the fact that someday you are going to die?
More often than not do you really listen when people are speaking to you instead of just waiting for your turn to speak?
Is there anybody you know in whose place, if one of you had to suffer great pain, you would volunteer yourself?
If you answer to all or most of these questions is No, the chances are that you’re dead.” ~ Frederick Buechner
Was told I was a horrible husband and father
Was told there was nothing attractive about me
Was told I am a liar
Was told I should not do ministry
Was told that I am a phony
Was told I am too sappy
Was told therapy has done nothing for me
Was told I have wasted a year on myself
Was told finishing my BA has not made me a better person
Was told I am full of myself
Was told that I should be leading no one
Realized the people you meet along the way help you to become who you already are but were afraid to be.
“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.” ~ E.E. Cummings
Was told that my arm is not heavy
Was told I kiss really good
Was told I am a breath of fresh air
Was told I inspire people
Was told that I “…possess a keen mind and acute intellect for theological issues…”
Was told by Abba that, “I am his son, in whom he is well pleased.”
Was told by Jesus, “You have unsurpassable worth to me, I love you, I died for you.”
Was told that I am, “…a gifted thinker and speaker…”
Was told that I am, “…an amazing individual…”
Was told about something I wrote that it, “… is beautiful...you really need to write in the future…”
Was told that I am “…a great friend…”
God told me, “you are my beloved.”
“…the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.” ~ Anne Lamott
Performed a wedding ceremony
Drank a lot of beer
Started a blog
Went to a silence retreat
“…pay attention to the world and all that dwells therein and thereby learn at last to pay attention to yourself and all that dwells therein.” ~ Frederick Buechner
Read a lot of books
Journaled
Took pictures
Made new friends
Visited old friends
Learned about who I am
Accepted God’s love
Accepted my own acceptance…some of the time
Experienced grace
Experienced God
Drove a lot of miles
Lived out of my car
Lived with friends
“You’re here to love, and be loved, freely. If you find out next week that you are terminally ill – and we’re all terminally ill on this bus – what will matter are the memories of beauty, that people loved you, and that you loved them.” ~ Anne Lamott
Sat in cafés with friends “as good as spring itself”
Made “poetic memories”
Danced
Had mystical moments
Watched the sun rise
Watched the sun set
Slept till I woke
Went to a couple great movies
Shared meals with friends
Watched while someone died
“…any man’s death, when we are confronted by it, reminds us of our common destiny as human beings: to be born, to live, to struggle a while, and finally to die. We are all of us in it together.” ~ Frederick Buechner
Told someone I loved them
Was told “I love you” by someone
Thought about dying
Learned not to be afraid of living
Cried
“But of this you can be sure. Whenever, you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not God is speaking to you through them in the mystery of where you have come from and is summoning you to where, if your soul is to be saved, you should go next.” ~ Frederick Buechner
Laughed
Napped
“Rest and laughter are the most spiritual and subversive acts of all. Laugh, rest, slow down.” ~ Anne Lamott
Thought
Wrote
Was hugged
One hug was better than a thousand others
Held hands
“…we are flesh as well as spirit and that the touch of a hand has its own holiness.” ~ Frederick Buechner
I’ve waited well…some of the time
Been presumptuous other times
Been a hypocrite
Been authentic
Had moments of confusion
Had moments of clarity
Been alone
While surrounded by people
Been in community
While all alone
"The journey is the accumulation of stillness. Patience. Emptiness. The union that I seek is not of my creation. The self I have created impedes union. Stillness must be learned, and the endless time in which I learn it is filled with doubts and desolations. Stillness often feels like abandonment. Why isn't Spirit communicating with me? What have I done to deserve such a stony, cold silence? How do I avoid filling with new terrors the emptiness that terrifies me?" ~ T.S. Eliot
Sat in silence
Drank a lot of coffee
Some wine
Some whiskey
Listened to many stories
Made a difficult phone call
“Jesus…he never approached from on high, but always in the midst, in the midst of people, in the midst of real life and the questions that real life asks.” ~ Frederick Buechner
Listened to old songs
Listened to new songs
Made mistakes
Felt vertigo of the soul
“…vertigo is something other than the fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified we defend ourselves.” ~ Milan Kundera
I’ve sinned
Been forgiven
I’ve been lost
I’ve been found
“When the kingdom really comes, it’s as if the thing you lost and thought you’d never find again is you” ~ Frederick Buechner
Prayed for people
People prayed for me
Heard God’s whispers
Wrote poems
And…there has been…
Darkness
Swirling
Relentless
Fierce
Constricting
Choking
Suffocating
Drowning
Breathless
Darkness
“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing ... not healing, not curing ... that is a friend who cares.” ~ Henri J.M. Nouwen
Was loved by some in both my darkness and my light
Was hated by others
Learned what “3” means
When you experience Jesus through another person how can you ever let that moment go? It is eternal! You are forever connected to that person, that soul, for you have participated, been in communion with the heart of God.
I ached
Ached to be known
I was lonely
I was betrayed
Felt reality collapsing in on me
“…when Jesus was dead and hidden in the tomb, and nothing made sense, and no one knew that he was going to be alive again. Most of his disciples had left Golgotha on Good Friday even before he died; only a few women remained at the cross. The disciples skulked off like dogs to the Upper Room, to wait, depressed and drunk – or at least this is what I imagine. I certainly would have, and I would have been thinking, ‘We are so fucked,’ Father Tom adds that there was a lot of cigarette smoke that night…” ~ Anne Lamott
My heart broke
There was sadness
There was despair
Then hope
“Hope is not about proving anything. It’s about choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak shit anyone can throw at us.” ~ Anne Lamott
I am alive
Light
Love
“Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost.” ~ Milan Kundera
I skipped stones
Watched a waterfall
Loved my kids
Known trust
Dreamed
Been...surprised
Awed
Depressed
Defeated
Deflated
Overwhelmed
Scared
Angry
Calm
Peace
Tranquility
Blessed
Happy
“If you have a body, you are entitled to the full range of feelings. It comes with the package.” ~ Anne Lamott
Searched for Trinity’s kiss
And…the journey still goes on…and on...
“He (Jesus) says he is with us on our journeys. He says he has been with us since each of our journeys began. Listen for him. Listen to the sweet and bitter airs of your present and your past for the sound of him.”
~ Frederick Buechner
“If knowing answers to life’s questions is absolutely necessary to you, then forget the journey. You will never make it, for this is a journey of unknowables – of unanswered questions, enigmas, incomprehensables, and most of all, things unfair.” ~ Madame Jeanne Guyon
“…following a God who is very much on the move to unknown places – lead us into uncertainty and eddies and missteps and hardships. On such a journey, we need an actual connection to this God or we’ll be crushed…” ~ Dave Schmelzer
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." ~ Jesus
Friday, December 31, 2010
Trinity....Grace...Joy....
Where the Imago Dei is, the Father is…
Where the Truth is, the Son is…
Where Life is, the Spirit is…
And where pain and suffering and loss are,
All three are, as there can be no experiencing of the Trinity,
Except through pain, grieve and loss as it is through these, that grace gives way to joy and then to love.
“You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy." ~Jesus
Grace means learning to be a fully human being, with all that entails! What in all its meaning it is to be alive, to experience life abundantly. To be able to know when you are dying that you lived! (And we are all dying) You really lived!
To agree with Thoreau, “… to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…” in every moment that we are given to be alive and know that we are not alone in the living of it – we have our friends, our community of grace all around us.
God knew what he was creating when he made us and then later he intimately experienced what being human is, through Jesus, God becoming man!
He knows, he knows, he knows what we feel – all of what it means to walk on the earth. To feel the ground beneath us, to have rain fall on us and the sun warm our face – he knows.
He also knows suffering and joy, pain, loss and happiness – he laughed and cried, got tired, took a nap and died! He knows!
As Brennan Manning has written, “Jesus expects more failure out of us, than we do…” he knew a Peter that denied him and a Thomas that doubted him and a Judas that betrayed him. But he also knew who each really were and how amazing the grace of his Father is. That is why he came to die, to free us to live the abundant life we all are intended to live – the wide open life that only grace makes possible.
Where the Truth is, the Son is…
Where Life is, the Spirit is…
And where pain and suffering and loss are,
All three are, as there can be no experiencing of the Trinity,
Except through pain, grieve and loss as it is through these, that grace gives way to joy and then to love.
“You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy." ~Jesus
Grace means learning to be a fully human being, with all that entails! What in all its meaning it is to be alive, to experience life abundantly. To be able to know when you are dying that you lived! (And we are all dying) You really lived!
To agree with Thoreau, “… to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…” in every moment that we are given to be alive and know that we are not alone in the living of it – we have our friends, our community of grace all around us.
God knew what he was creating when he made us and then later he intimately experienced what being human is, through Jesus, God becoming man!
He knows, he knows, he knows what we feel – all of what it means to walk on the earth. To feel the ground beneath us, to have rain fall on us and the sun warm our face – he knows.
He also knows suffering and joy, pain, loss and happiness – he laughed and cried, got tired, took a nap and died! He knows!
As Brennan Manning has written, “Jesus expects more failure out of us, than we do…” he knew a Peter that denied him and a Thomas that doubted him and a Judas that betrayed him. But he also knew who each really were and how amazing the grace of his Father is. That is why he came to die, to free us to live the abundant life we all are intended to live – the wide open life that only grace makes possible.
A Dream...
Go to Europe to study,
Contemplate philosophy, theology and life itself.
Teach, think, write, wonder...
Go slow.
Watch the sun rise and set,
Sit near the ocean.
Walk in the mountains,
Sip coffee in a Paris cafe.
Walk amongst the ancient ruins,
Make poetic memories,
And sleep until I wake!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Divine Milieu...Bruce Springsteen - The Promise...
Inside I felt like I was carryin' the broken spirits
Of all the other ones who lost
When the promise is broken you go on living
But it steals something from down in your soul
Like when the truth is spoken and it don't make no difference
Something in your heart goes cold
My Place Today...
At Dunnigans Pub in Two Harbors, Mn drinking a Stella and reading N.T. Wright's, "Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church" - excellent book! Highly recommended!
Divine Milieu...Bruce Springsteen - Badlands....
For the ones who had a notion,
a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin
to be glad you're alive
I wanna find one face
that ain't looking through me
I wanna find one place,
I wanna spit in the face of these badlands
Divine Milieu...Bruce Springsteen - Darkness On The Edge Of Town...
Everybody's got a secret Sonny
Something that they just can't face
Some folks spend their whole lives trying to keep it
They carry it with them every step that they take
Till some day they just cut it loose
Cut it loose or let it drag 'em down
Where no one asks any questions
Or looks too long in your face
In the darkness on the edge of town
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
RELEVANT Magazine - The Fighter
I went to see this movie last week and it is very good! Here is a review of it from Relevant magazine.
RELEVANT Magazine - The Fighter
RELEVANT Magazine - The Fighter
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Bar Church - Christmas Eve Service...
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
While they were there, the time came for the baby to
be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising Go
d and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
(Luke 2:1-20 TNIV)
Christmas....Freedom....
Freedom…
On December 25 we celebrate the birth of a baby and this has relevance and meaning because of what it has come to symbolize in our imaginations. A day of joy, hope, freedom – a beginning of a life that would end thirty-three years later on a Cross.
This baby, this light, this miracle, God being born to be with us!
Love breaking into the world.
The first chimes of true freedom!
Jesus, the baby born to set all peoples free, as one of his disciples later wrote, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb" (Revelation 7:9-10 TNIV).
It is no wonder that Jesus began his ministry by reading this from the book of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor….Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:18-19, 21b).
Freedom…
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
A Kiss...
To kiss in unbroken silence is both beauty and tranquility. To be kissed by Trinity in this way is transcendent freedom.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
My Place Today...
I have forgotten how good Heinekin tastes...Heinekin and writing poetry at the Landing in Two Harbors, MN.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Eucharist...
Eucharist
Emptied, poured out.
Nothing left, deflated, defeated.
Paralysis in giving, in living.
How am I to be filled?
How am I to live?
"I am, I said,
To no one there,
And no one heard,
Not even the chair,
I am, I said."
Poured out like an offering,
A goblet of wine,
Spilled on the offering table.
An emptied chalice,
Bleeding and bled for humanity,
All humanity, the Imago Dei.
The children of Abraham,
Blessed for anothers faith,
Loved for being,
Alive for living,
Filled by grace.
Eucharist
Emptied, poured out.
Nothing left, deflated, defeated.
Paralysis in giving, in living.
How am I to be filled?
How am I to live?
"I am, I said,
To no one there,
And no one heard,
Not even the chair,
I am, I said."
Poured out like an offering,
A goblet of wine,
Spilled on the offering table.
An emptied chalice,
Bleeding and bled for humanity,
All humanity, the Imago Dei.
The children of Abraham,
Blessed for anothers faith,
Loved for being,
Alive for living,
Filled by grace.
Eucharist
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
A Christmas Juxtaposition: John Lennon - “Happy Christmas (War Is Over)”
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
~ Galatians 3:28-29 TNIV
“‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’”
~ Revelation 21:4-5a TNIV
~ Galatians 3:28-29 TNIV
“‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’”
~ Revelation 21:4-5a TNIV
Two Poems by William Blake: Thinking About Church in A Pub...
The Little Vagabond ~ William BlakeDear mother, dear mother, the church is cold,
But the ale-house is healthy and pleasant and warm;
Besides I can tell where I am used well,
Such usage in Heaven will never do well.
But if at the church they would give us some ale,
And a pleasant fire our souls to regale,
We'd sing and we'd pray all the live-long day,
Nor ever once wish from the church to stray.
Then the parson might preach, and drink, and sing,
And we'd be as happy as birds in the spring;
And modest Dame Lurch, who is always at church,
Would not have bandy children, nor fasting, nor birch.
And God, like a father rejoicing to see
His children as pleasant and happy as he,
Would have no more quarrel with the Devil or the barrel,
But kiss him, and give him both drink and apparel.
The Garden of Love ~ William Blake
I laid me down upon a bank,
Where Love lay sleeping;
I heard among the rushes dank
Weeping, weeping.
Then I went to the heath and the wild,
To the thistles and thorns of the waste;
And they told me how they were beguiled,
Driven out, and compelled to the chaste.
I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen;
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.
And the gates of this Chapel were shut
And "Thou shalt not," writ over the door;
So I turned to the Garden of Love
That so many sweet flowers bore.
And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tombstones where flowers should be;
And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joys and desires.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
A Poem..."Deep Calls To Deep"
"Deep calls to deep..."
The grayness of the sky,
The coolness of the breaking waves,
The hardness of the shoreline,
The nothingness in the wind,
"Deep calling to deep..."
The brokenness of my being,
The desolation of my soul,
The hunger and emptiness in my heart,
The ache of longing, the pain in sighing,
"Deep calls to deep..."
Who will answer?
Who will sit in silence?
Who will kiss me back to life?
Who is not afraid to walk into darkness?
"Deep calls to deep..."
The grayness of the sky,
The coolness of the breaking waves,
The hardness of the shoreline,
The nothingness in the wind,
"Deep calling to deep..."
The brokenness of my being,
The desolation of my soul,
The hunger and emptiness in my heart,
The ache of longing, the pain in sighing,
"Deep calls to deep..."
Who will answer?
Who will sit in silence?
Who will kiss me back to life?
Who is not afraid to walk into darkness?
"Deep calls to deep..."
For A New Friend...Brandi Carlile - Before It Breaks...
Around here it’s the hardest time of year
Waking up, the days are even gone
Though the color of my coat
Lord help me killing off the cold
Where the raindrops sting my eyes
I keep them closed
I don’t feel a lot of pain only the lonely
And my quietest friend
Ever the moonlight, have I let you in
Say it ain’t so, say I’m happy again
Say it’s over, say I’m dreamin
Say I’m better than you left me
Say you’re sorry, I can take it
Say you’ll wait, say you won’t
Say you love me, say you don’t
I can make my own mistakes
Let it bend before it breaks
I’m all right, don’t I always seem to be?
Am I swinging on the stars
Don’t I wear them on my sleeves
But when you’re looking for a crossroads
It happens every day, and whichever way you turn
I‘m gonna turn the other way
Say it’s over, say I’m dreamin
Say I’m better than you left me
Say you’re sorry, I can take it
Say you’ll wait, say you won’t
Say you love me, say you don’t
I can make my own mistakes
And learn to let it bend before it breaks
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Divine Milieu...Bob Seger - Still The Same...
“There you stood, everybody watched you play
I just turned and walked away
I had nothing left to say…”
~ Bob Seger
It Was Time...& It Took All I Had...
“I’m lurching forward in my life again, and it feels as if someone finally cracked open a window that had been jammed.”
~ Anne Lamott
“There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.”
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 The Message
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.”
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 The Message
"Is it getting better, or do you feel the same? Will it make it easier on you, now you got someone to blame?"~ Bono
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Brennan Manning...
"In Love's service, only wounded soldiers can serve."
"To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God's grace means."
"The ragamuffin who sees his life as a voyage of discovery and runs the risk of failure has a better feel for faithfulness than the timid man who hides behind the law and never finds out who he is at all."
A Blessing from Larry Hine…Spiritual Director for Brennan Manning:
May all your expectations be frustrated,
May all your plans be thwarted,
May all your desires be withered into nothingness,
that you may experience the paralysis and poverty of a child,
and sing and dance in the compassion of God
who is Father, Son and Spirit,
Amen and Amen.
"To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God's grace means."
"The ragamuffin who sees his life as a voyage of discovery and runs the risk of failure has a better feel for faithfulness than the timid man who hides behind the law and never finds out who he is at all."
A Blessing from Larry Hine…Spiritual Director for Brennan Manning:
May all your expectations be frustrated,
May all your plans be thwarted,
May all your desires be withered into nothingness,
that you may experience the paralysis and poverty of a child,
and sing and dance in the compassion of God
who is Father, Son and Spirit,
Amen and Amen.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Advent: The Silence Is Broken...
“Advent is the season when we remember how Jesus put on flesh and moved into the neighborhood. God getting born in a barn reminds us that God shows up in the most forsaken corners of the earth.”
~ Shane Claiborne, Common Prayer, A Liturgy For Ordinary Radicals
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.”
~ John 1:14 The Message
Saturday, December 4, 2010
My First Allegiance ...My Life, My Reality, My Story...
Then Peter spoke up, "We have left everything to follow you!"
"Truly I tell you," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
~ Mark 10:28-31 TNIV
Who's your brother, who's your sister
You just walked passed him
I think you missed her
As we're all migrating to the place where our father lives
'Cause we married in to a family of immigrants
My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
It's to a king & a kingdom
There are two great lies that I’ve heard:
“The day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
And that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
And if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him
But nothing unifies like a common enemy
And we’ve got one, sure as hell But he may be living in your house
He may be raising up your kids
He may be sleeping with your wife
Oh no, he may not look like you think…
~ Derek Webb. A King And A Kingdom
"Truly I tell you," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
~ Mark 10:28-31 TNIV
Who's your brother, who's your sister
You just walked passed him
I think you missed her
As we're all migrating to the place where our father lives
'Cause we married in to a family of immigrants
My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
It's to a king & a kingdom
There are two great lies that I’ve heard:
“The day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
And that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
And if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him
But nothing unifies like a common enemy
And we’ve got one, sure as hell But he may be living in your house
He may be raising up your kids
He may be sleeping with your wife
Oh no, he may not look like you think…
~ Derek Webb. A King And A Kingdom
Friday, December 3, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Spiritual Warfare...The Matrix - Fight Song...
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Eph 6:12)
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." (2Co 4:7-10)
"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your fellow believers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." (1Pe 5:8-10)
Sometimes it starts with a silent curse
Sometimes it doesn't waste time
You still think I look upon this with hatred in my mind
I won't lie It took some time
But I know one thing It took me away from!
All the things love gave me
So I had to let things go!
I can go another round despite you.
I'm still healing
No I'm not reeling
Yes I'm feeling
This is my fight song
Now I'm left with a scar to reverse.
Yes another burden to fight I guess
I made it this far so I know things will be alright
I won't lie I will survive I'm still healing
No I'm not reeling
Yes I'm feeling
This is my fight song
But I know one thing
It takes me away from
All the things love gave me
So I had to let things go!
It's so hard to forget
But I must let go...and begin
To live again and not give in
I figured out I will land on solid ground
I will land on solid ground
I will go another round
I can go another round despite you.
I'm still healing
No I'm not reeling
Yes I'm feeling
This is my fight song!
~ Scott Strapp
Spiritual Warfare...The Matrix..."Wake Up"
The Matrix fight scenes as a metaphor for our spiritual warfare against "the powers and principalities" – as the Apostle Paul wrote, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12 TNIV).
Just as Neo stops the bullets of the Agents we to, “….can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Eph 6:16).
It is our mind and our imagination that makes reality and it is what we use to fight the spiritual realm… In the book of Romans, Paul wrote this, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:2). Greg Boyd in his book Seeing Is Believing wrote, “We become what we imaginatively see. If we all imaginatively see are the vivid re-presentations that have been instilled in us by the pattern of the world, we will be conformed to the patterns of this world. But if we learn to imaginatively see ‘the glory of God in the face of Jesus’ (2 Cor. 4:6), we will be transformed ‘from one degree of glory to another’ (2 Cor. 3:18)….. “We are continually interpreting our world, and the way we interpret it is mostly determined by the way aspects of our world trigger imaginative re-presentations that encode messages, create feelings, and thus motivate behavior. The re-presentations that are most vivid, most concrete and most like our physical experience exercise the strongest influence on our lives.”
We must awake; “This is why it is said: ‘Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you’” (Eph 5:14).
Awake out of the Matrix of the “…deceptive state of being…” to the reality that is in Jesus and fight the fight against an Enemy that cannot conceive that he has already lost, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature (the deceptive state of being), God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col 2:13-15).
So the Enemy lashes out against any advancement of the Kingdom of God, to any liberation, any awaking to the really real – God and his Kingdom.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Facebook Status forwarded by Chris Fletcher
Gary David Stratton: "(P)eriods of great social stress have tended to be times when (Christian) apocalyptic thinking goes into overdrive." Sound like anyone you know?
Original Facebook Status: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=173800431&v=wall&story_fbid=169581129739619
Sent via TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com)
Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless
Original Facebook Status: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=173800431&v=wall&story_fbid=169581129739619
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"A Heroic Act of Love..."
“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
~ The Apostle Paul
"The Poverty of Uniqueness" & Identity...Part I...The Matrix...
“Am I now trying to win human approval, or God's approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” ~ The Apostle Paul
Anyone who has ever stood up for the truth of human dignity, no matter how disfigured, only to find previously supportive friends holding back, even remonstrating with you for your boldness, feels the loneliness of the poverty of uniqueness. This happens every day to those who choose to suffer for the absolute voice of conscious, even in what seem small matters. They find themselves standing alone. I have yet to meet the man or woman who enjoys such responsibility.
The poverty of uniqueness is the call of Jesus to stand utterly alone when the only alternative is to cut a deal at the price of one’s integrity. It is a lonely yes to the whispers of our true self, a clinging to our core identity when companionship and community support is withheld, It is a courageous determination to make unpopular decisions that are expressive of the truth of who we are – not of who we think we should be or whom someone else wants us to be. It is trusting enough in Jesus to make mistakes and believing enough that his life will still pulse within us. It is the unarticulated, gut-wrenching yielding of our true self to the poverty of our own unique, mysterious personality.
In a word, standing on our own two feet is often a heroic act of love.
~ Brennan Manning
"The Poverty of Uniqueness" & Identity...Part III...Rodger Hodgson (Super Tramp)...The Logical Song...
But at night,
When all the world's asleep,
The questions run so deep for such a simple man.
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned
I know it sounds absurd
but please tell me who I am,
Who I am...
Sunday, November 28, 2010
My Place Today...
At Dunnigans Pub...The Bible, A Journal & A Stella...hmmm...
Jesus is in the midst of everything and anything...love wins!
Jesus is in the midst of everything and anything...love wins!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Betrayal Redux...The Matrix and Esau...Exchanging Reality for a Deception...
‘Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom.) Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?" But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.’
~ Genesis 25:29-34 TNIV
Divine Milieu...Bright Eyes - Lua...
“…what was normal in the evening by the morning seems insane….
what is simple in the moonlight by the morning never is….
It was so simple in the moonlight now it's so complicated…”
~ Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), Lua
Darkness...Redux...
“Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”~ Psalms 139:12 TNIV
Now...
Years seem like months now,
Months seem like weeks now,
Weeks seem like days now,
Days seem like hours now,
Hours seem like minutes now.
Minutes are nothing but fleeting moments now,
Moments are all we have now,
All that is real, is now,
“Now” in each moment, that is all.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
My Place Today...
Caribou Coffee on Lexington in Arden Hills, MN - thinking, writing, and drinking coffee.
The War Zone, The Crossfire...Some Thoughts on Evil...
"And in the world, a heart of darkness, a fire-zone,
Where poets speak their heart then bleed for it..." ~ U2, One Tree Hill
**A thanks to Gary Stratton, PhD. for introducing me to this song**
“And we're caught up in the crossfire,
Of heaven and hell,
And we're searchin’ for shelter….
Tell the devil that he can go back from where he came,
His fiery arrows drew their bead in vain,
And when the hardest part is over we'll be here,
And our dreams will break the boundaries of our fear,
The boundaries of our fear…” ~ David Fowler, Crossfire
"I wanted movement and not a calm form of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life."
~ Leo Tolstoy
“…I freely admit that real Christianity goes much nearer to Dualism than people think. One of the things that surprised me when I first read the New Testament seriously was that it talked so much about a Dark Power in the universe-a mighty evil spirit who was held to be the Power behind death and disease, and sin. The difference is that Christianity thinks this Dark Power was created by God, and was good when he was created, and went wrong. Christianity agrees with Dualism that this universe is at war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel….Enemy occupied territory – that is what the world is.” - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
“Scripture says we suffer under the tyranny of a ‘ruler’ or ‘god’ or ‘power’ of this world (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2; 1 Jn 5:19). - Greg Boyd, Is God To Blame
“The explanation for why God’s creation looks like a war zone is because, according to the Bible, it is a war zone! Far from following a meticulous divine blueprint, creation is now governed by a powerful being who resists God’s purposes at every turn.” - Greg Boyd, Is God To Blame
“Cast all your anxiety on him (God) because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your fellow believers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1Peter 5:7-10 TNIV).
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13 TNIV).
Where poets speak their heart then bleed for it..." ~ U2, One Tree Hill
**A thanks to Gary Stratton, PhD. for introducing me to this song**
“And we're caught up in the crossfire,
Of heaven and hell,
And we're searchin’ for shelter….
Tell the devil that he can go back from where he came,
His fiery arrows drew their bead in vain,
And when the hardest part is over we'll be here,
And our dreams will break the boundaries of our fear,
The boundaries of our fear…” ~ David Fowler, Crossfire
"I wanted movement and not a calm form of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life."
~ Leo Tolstoy
“…I freely admit that real Christianity goes much nearer to Dualism than people think. One of the things that surprised me when I first read the New Testament seriously was that it talked so much about a Dark Power in the universe-a mighty evil spirit who was held to be the Power behind death and disease, and sin. The difference is that Christianity thinks this Dark Power was created by God, and was good when he was created, and went wrong. Christianity agrees with Dualism that this universe is at war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel….Enemy occupied territory – that is what the world is.” - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
“Scripture says we suffer under the tyranny of a ‘ruler’ or ‘god’ or ‘power’ of this world (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2; 1 Jn 5:19). - Greg Boyd, Is God To Blame
“The explanation for why God’s creation looks like a war zone is because, according to the Bible, it is a war zone! Far from following a meticulous divine blueprint, creation is now governed by a powerful being who resists God’s purposes at every turn.” - Greg Boyd, Is God To Blame
“Cast all your anxiety on him (God) because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your fellow believers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1Peter 5:7-10 TNIV).
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13 TNIV).
Monday, November 22, 2010
Jesus And A Towel...And The Cross...
"It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him" (John 13:1-5 TNIV).
The following comments are from Greg Boyd and the original can be found on his website: http://www.gregboyd.org/
Brad Cole is a friend of mine who runs a ministry called Heavenly Sanctuary.
This ministry puts on Conferences around the country on the Character of God — and they get it right. This year they hired an artist named Lars Justinen from the Justinen Creative Group to paint the above picture to use on posters advertising their conference. Under this picture they had captions like “Follow the Leader,” “God IS Great,” and most accurately, “Jesus - Still Too Radical?”
This ministry puts on Conferences around the country on the Character of God — and they get it right. This year they hired an artist named Lars Justinen from the Justinen Creative Group to paint the above picture to use on posters advertising their conference. Under this picture they had captions like “Follow the Leader,” “God IS Great,” and most accurately, “Jesus - Still Too Radical?”
Heavenly Sanctuary had contracts with several malls in the Seattle area to hang these posters advertising their conference, but no sooner had the posters gone up than angry calls began flooding the malls. Many people — but, it seems, mostly Christians — were offended at the image of Jesus washing Osama Bin Laden’s feet. There was such an outcry that each of the malls decided to go back on their contract and take the posters down. The Christian College that Heavenly Sanctuary was renting space from to host the Conference also canceled their contract. Brad had to scramble to find a secular venue (which, ironically, had no problems with the poster).
What does this say about how many American Christians envision Jesus? Obviously, the protesters believe that Jesus would not wash Osama Bin Laden’s feet. But Jesus died “not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world” (I Jn 2:2) — and this obviously includes Osama. So if Jesus died for Osama, how are we to imagine him being unwilling to wash his feet?
What the protest reveals is that many Christians have tragically allowed their patriotism to co-opt their faith. They have allowed their American citizenship to take priority over their Kingdom citizenship — despite the New Testament’s instruction for disciples to consider themselves “foreigners” and “exiles” wherever they happen to live (Heb. 11:13; I Pet 1:17, 2:11) and to consider their real citizenship “in heaven” (Phil 3:20).
Many American Christians seem to want a Jesus who will defend their country and hate their national enemies as much as they do. Many want the Jesus of the Middle Ages whom Crusaders called on to help them slaughter — not serve — their Islamic enemies. Many seem to want to reduce Jesus to just another version of the tribal gods that have been called on for centuries to bless tribal battles. Most wars throughout history have been fought under the banner of some god or another.
Fortunately, the real Jesus isn’t anything like this. Knowing all power had been given to him, John says, he wrapped a towel around his waist and washed the dirty, smelly feet of people he knew would deny and betray him in a couple hours (Jn 13:3-5). Knowing he could call legions of angels to vanquish his foes, the real Jesus rather chose to let them crucify him, because this is what they needed him to do (though they of course didn’t know it). Then, with his last breath, the real Jesus prays to his Father to forgive his barbaric torturers — and all of us (Lk 2
3:34).This is the kind of power the omnipotent God of the universe uses against his enemies. And this is the kind of power we’re to use against our “enemies.” It’s the power of Calvary-like love.
We’re called to imitate the Jesus who washes the feet of enemies, dies for them, and prays for their forgiveness. We are to “live in love, as Christ loved us and gave his life for us…” (Eph. 5:1-2). When we were enemies, Jesus nevertheless ascribed unsurpassable worth to us by paying an unsurpassable price for us. We who claim we are his disciples are called to do the same. We’re to sacrificially ascribe unsurpassable worth to all people, including our enemies — even Osama Bin Laden.
In light of God’s servant love toward us, we must be willing to wash Osama’s feet — and pray for his forgiveness.
Jesus says to us:
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt…” (Lk 6:27-29)
And in case we missed the point, he comes back five verses later and says:
“…love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. (How important is this? Read this next sentence carefully).
Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Mo
st High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Lk 6: 27-29; 35-36).
st High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Lk 6: 27-29; 35-36).When we act like our kind Father, we reflect the fact that we are his children.
In Christ, God’s been kind to Osama. May we who are his children do the same. May we be encouraged by the above picture rather than offended by it. May we pray, “Father, forgive Osama. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
I'd like you to consider something.
The New Testament defines agape love by pointing us to Jesus Christ (I Jn 3:16). To love someone is treat them like Jesus has treated you -- dying for you while you were yet a sinner.The New Testament tells us that the command to love (= looking like Jesus Christ) is the greatest command, encompassing all others ( Lk 10:27; Rom. 13:8, 10; Ja 2:8). It tells us everything else in the law hangs on our fulfilling this law (Mt 22:27-40).
It tells us that love is to be placed above all else (Col 3:14; I Pet 4:8). It tells us that everything we do is to be done in love (I Cor. 16:14). It tells us that nothing has any Kingdom value apart from love, however impressive things may be in and of themselves (I Cor. 13:1-3). It tells us that the only thing that ultimately matters is faith energized by love (Gal. 5:6). And it tells us that this love is to be given to all people at all times, including our enemies (Lk 6:27-35) .
Indeed, Jesus makes loving our enemies the pre-condition for being considered "children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked" (Lk 6:35). We're to "be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful" (Lk 6:36).This is simply what it means to look like Jesus Christ.
Now follow me:
If love is to be placed above all else, if everything else is to be considered worthless apart from love and if everything hangs on fulfilling this one law, how can we avoid the conclusion that refusing to love even our enemies is the worst heresy imaginable? To miss this all important point renders whatever other truth we may possess worthless.In this light, we have to ask, who is the worse heretic: Michael Servetus who was burned alive for denying that the Son of God was eternal, or Calvin who had him burned alive? Burning someone alive is not loving them, doing good to them or blessing them (Lk 6:27-28, 35).
And without love, whatever other truth Calvin may have been defending becomes worthless. If we're thinking biblically, how can we avoid concluding that Calvin was not only a worse heretic than Servetus, but that he committed the greatest heresy imaginable?
But I don't mean to pick on Calvin. Throughout church history from the time of Augustine (who first justified persecution in Jesus' name), millions of people were tortured and murdered for their alleged heresy. Yet, if we're thinking biblically, how can we avoid the conclusion that the Church that carried out this barbarism in Jesus' name was far more heretical than all the heretics it persecuted?Ironically, while millions were tortured and murdered for having "heretical" views on things like baptism and communion, there's not one episode I know of throughout church history of anyone so much as having their hand slapped because they lacked love.
Yet, everything hangs on this.Finally, while we have an obligation to distinguish between what is and is not the Kingdom of God, we have to carefully guard against self-righteousness. Rather than feeling righteous by contrasting ourselves with Calvin or any other Christian persecutors from the past, we have to ask ourselves:
Are we guilty of the worst heresy imaginable? Do we do everything in love? Do we place love above all other considerations?Do we love Osama Bin Laden?
Think about it. Live in love, as Christ loved you and gave his life for you (Eph 5:1-2).
Greg
P.S. In case some of the faces on the poster are unfamiliar to you, they are (left to right) German Chancellor Angela Merkel; Tony Blair, England; Kofi A. Annan, UN; Osama bin Laden; George Bush; Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh; and Jiang Zemin, former president of China.
Before The Fall...
Before the FallThere was a man
And his God
Relationship
Before the Fall
There was a garden
And two trees
Peace
Before the Fall
There was communion
Between God and the man
Harmony
There was communion
Between God and the man
Harmony
Before the Fall 
The man was alone
Even while with his God
And his God said,
“It is not good for the man to be alone…”
Before the Fall
Feeling alone and with God
Was ok, we’re human
We ache for another
As did Adam
Before the Fall
The man was alone
Even while with his God
And his God said,
“It is not good for the man to be alone…”
Before the Fall
Feeling alone and with God
Was ok, we’re human
We ache for another
As did Adam
Before the Fall
Divine Milieu...Ani DiFranco - 32 Flavors...
I'm not trying to give my life meaning
By demeaning you
And I would like to state for the record
I did everything that I could do
I'm not saying that I'm a saint
I just don't want to live that way
No, I will never be a saint
But I will always say
Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster
I am thirty-two flavors and then some
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision
So you might want to turn your head
Cause someday you might find you're starving
And eating all of the words you said
Divine Milieu...Sandra McCraken - In Feast or Fallow...
When the fields are dry, and the winter is long
Blessed are the meek, the hungry, the poor
When my soul is downcast, and my voice has no song
For mercy, for comfort, I wait on the Lord
When the earth beneath me crumbles and quakes
Not a sparrow falls, nor a hair from my head
Without His hand to guide me, my shield and my strength
In joy or in sorrow, in life or in death
In the harvest feast or the fallow ground,
My certain hope is in Jesus found
My lot, my cup, my portion sure
Whatever comes, we shall endure.
Whatever comes, we shall endure
The Beatles and Buechner....
There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all
~ The Beatles, In My Life
“…but places are full of mystery as times are, and almost from the start I knew that, of all places, it was the one that was right for me.” ~Frederick Buechner
Divine Milieu...Billy Joel - My Life...
They will tell you, you can't sleep alone in a strange place
Then they'll tell you, you can't sleep with somebody else
Ah, but sooner or later you sleep in your own space
Either way it's okay to wake up with yourself
I don't need you to worry for me cause I'm alright
I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home
I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life
Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone
Then they'll tell you, you can't sleep with somebody else
Ah, but sooner or later you sleep in your own space
Either way it's okay to wake up with yourself
I don't need you to worry for me cause I'm alright
I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home
I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life
Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone
Seasons and Grace...
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heaven…”
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1 TNIV
“A season for every activity…” – these words really struck me about a week ago. The whole notion of seasons of life, seasons of our stories, that we all must experience and encounter along our life journeys if we are to be fully alive and human.
Last Sunday night I was at the “Love Tells the Story” tour listening to Donald Miller, Sandra McCracken, Derek Webb and the Robbie Sealy Band. Derek Webb made a comment while introducing one of his songs that sparked this line of thinking about seasons in my mind. He talked about how we have seasons in our lives and in them all God’s love, faithfulness, and grace is still complete and full for each of us, even if we find ourselves in a “season of sin.” This phrase was interesting to me because I at first wondered when any of us are not in a season of sin. Or put another way, really free from the “deceptive state of being” – regardless of how we choose to think about the sin question it does not suspend God’s love through a
sin season nor any other season.Perhaps, “a season of sin” could be described as an intense season of sin (what the prodigal son experienced) – like the monsoon season? Intense rain for a brief time and then a break, a reprieve, a change and spark of transformation that moves us from a one season to another with new possibilities and a rainbow of hope (again what the prodigal son experienced). Brennan Manning speaks of how there is nothing we can do or not do that will make God love us more or less. God is not fickle in his relationship with us as we are in our relationships with others or him.
Seasons, times, moments of our lives, our stories, in the many scenes of it all, “… hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us…” (Romans 5:5 NIV) and Paul continues, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly….But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6, 8). This is true for everyone, everywhere, all of us, all of us; his love is full of compassion. We all have the imprint of God – the Imago Dei.
Can we, could we ever know the depths of grace other than being in the depths of sin? I am reminded of something Anne Lamott wrote about this very question, “I realized just then that sin and grace are not opposites, but partners…” or as Paul wrote, “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more…” (Romans 5:20). Sin can never out run grace – a season of sin cannot outrun grace for we are always in a season of grace. Grace is what looms large over all our stories – is the expression of the heart of God. The umbrella over all of our lives – it is not possible to love more than God, hence Calvary.
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