Priceless transactions

Concealed in the pain

In the mundane

Lives wasted, gone unnoticed

Conceal the growth and movement

Places traded, roles reversed,

Batons are passed with none the wiser,

Least likely to succeed wins everything

With no one there to see

But the collective

Arms open, to receive the newly freed

Who, escaping unaware, leaves behind a shell of reputation

To confound its tormentor,

Urging the shell about rights, loss,

betrayal, deception, needs, and safety,

“what is wrong with you?”

But the shell is empty

The prisoner, freed

The lover, awakened,

The flesh, abandoned.

No longer her man,

No longer his woman,

Joined to the collective,

Filled with life,

Perceived only by the others.

Let the dead bury their dead,

Recite no more the rite of bereavement,

Shush, close your mouth and listen

Until you hear that voice,

The one in the pain,

The one in the loss,

The one in the rejected,

The one in the sorrow,

In all that you fight so hard to avoid,

Calling you to life,

To join the long lost,

Among the many,

Cherished by all,

Loved as one,

by the One.

The guest list contains but one name.

Man. We are so arrogant! We think we're the center of everything, the ultimate authority. How have we earned this? By our stellar system of justice? By how well we care for our planet? By how we treat other species? By how well we treat each other?

WE are the greatest problem in the universe. Our selfish, egotistical arrogance insatiably destroys the balance of everything around it. If there were any justice in the universe, our species would be wiped out.

Oh wait ... I forgot, that's already scheduled. It has been our justified fate since our first ancestors refused to follow the creator's simple care instructions for our planet and selves. In very human fashion, we decided we wanted to choose for ourselves what was the right and wrong way to go about things. (And wow, what a great job we've done of making those decisions ever since).

The problem? Our arrogance. The solution? Rehabilitate or remove us. 
The mercy? Those who are willing to admit that our species is obviously incapable of replacing the original creator's wisdom will turn back to the creator and say "what do we do now? How should we treat each other? How should we live to restore justice and balance and harmony?"

That simple act of admitting that the creator's way is better than ours, is what is called worship. It is for our own good. It is our only hope as a species, not to mention the species that we share this planet with.

Of course, I know ... I can see ... Our species is clearly too arrogant to admit that we need help. It won't happen. We'll go on believing that if we just think hard enough, on our own, and maybe even get rid of those stupid people who keep distracting everyone from doing their part by insisting there's some greater intellect out there that we can actually get help from, then eventually our species will figure it out on our own and get it all right.

Really? Will we? Does that seem to be the direction things are going?

Every major religion has had it's turn of being hijacked by arrogant bloodthirsty morons. At this rate maybe secular humanism (which is also a religion) is next. After all, doing the things we hate the most in others, the things we swore we would never do, is one of our defining attributes.

I'm here to say it's not too late for some of us to realize that human wisdom and intellect is never going to save humankind, our planet or the species we share it with. But humbling ourselves and turning back to the creator is a much better idea.

The creator actually loves us and will take anyone willing to yes, worship. Even though we dug this hole ourselves, no one will be forced to admit it. It's your choice. Dig your heels in and keep believing humankind can solve its own problems if you want ...

I place no trust in

songs or incantations

policies, procedures

crowns or thrones, no trust in

weapons or defenses

wealth, security

success or celebrity

titles or degrees, no trust in

beauty or talent

no amount of effort

no new generation

of men or machines

But You, You are God

creator of the universe

and the lover of my soul

You, You are Lord

I am yours to stay

And you will have your way

You are all my reason

and you are where

My cynicism ends

A friend of mine posted this question on Facebook and I found myself so engaged by the question that I decided to copy my answer here.

When I think of the whole church, she is the bride of christ, who looks very similar to the humanity that he gave his life to save. As created, she is a beautiful rainbow reflecting the endless creativity of our creator, variety of personality and gifting he authors. However, in this broken world she also appears torn, fragmented and tarnished by the idols people make of their preferences and self protection, by abuse and unwillingness to forgive, and every other attribute of broken and sinful humanity. Her future is secure, as Christ, ruler of the universe, sees the beauty in her, loves and adores her, and will claim her as his bride. She will be freed from the ravages of sin and transformed to actually reveal the beauty of the original creation that is in her now yet hidden to most by the ugliness of her current brokenness.

When I think of church at the person to person relational level, I think of a family. People's real self comes out in the context of family. People often exhibit their worst behavior *and* most selfless love in the context of family. The family gathers together and actively pursues interaction with God, craving the interaction with open hearts and hoping to trade individual selfishness for the beautiful selfless love that draws them to worship their creator.

As the church is transformed, person by person, bit by bit, from selfishness to selfless love, one effect on the world around the church is one of relief, pause and sanctuary from the self-destruction that the broken state of humanity accelerates itself toward. Another effect is that the church grows as others recognize the beauty of this selfless love and respond to their own internal longing to participate in receiving and giving more of it, and in seeing it impact more of the world around them.

Finally, I'm reminded that I (and all of us really) still have a lot of growing to do in how much and how deeply we participate in the church as I have described her. We tend to get so caught up in viewing church as individuals. What did I get out of it, what did it do for (or to) me, etc. We're even so mired in this that we advertise it as such; what church can do for you, my church is so good to me and it can be so good to you too, etc. We forget about the us in our church. We forget how different the impact is on a local community when "another church fails " compared to when a person fails. We fail to recognize the atomic bomb size destruction and poisoning of hope that occurs when our lack of care and commitment to the church, God's agent of hope in the world, is abandoned and betrayed in favor of our individual selves.

One final note; not every group of believers is a viable expression of hope in the world. Practically speaking, some groups have become so entrenched in dysfunction that it might be simpler to end them so that their individual members can heal and grow in other groups that are actively becoming expressions of hope in the world around them. I would not be surprised to learn someday that God actively "prunes" his church this way. But it is a very different thing than a viable expression of hope losing effectiveness or even failing as a result of the self-absorbed individualism of its members.

Father ... I pray that you would have your will in the church ... not our will but yours be done .... that the beautiful rainbow reflecting your endless creativity and the variety of personality and gifting you have allowed and given, would be revealed in the church as she truly becomes and acts as your agent of hope in the world, in her communities.

While praying for two friends a month or so ago I had an epiphany. I know some of you will say “well duh!” about this but hey, it was profound for me in the moment.

Think back to Sunday school. You’re 8 years old and you’re hearing about all those that God did great things through from Noah to Jesus and beyond. I think in most cases we were taught the whole story, but think about what most of us heard: we heard what they did. We heard the action. We heard the building of an ark, we heard the freeing of a whole people from slavery and great military victories, we heard Jesus dying on a cross and rising from the dead, we heard the first christians living together in beautiful harmony. Do, do, do, act, act, act.

And naturally there’s something in us that wants to do great things for God or at least be a part of some great thing he’s doing.

What I was reminded of this morning is what it is that enables a person to participate greatly in a great action or event. Look back at the story of any great “action person” (take Jesus or Noah for example) and check out how they are introduced to us in the story -- what state of being, what attitudes were in place in them or came about before the great action took place.

I want to move, I want to act. I want to change our communities and the world with God. I want to be the one or the group to reach this neighborhood, or change this thing about the world, and all that. 

If we look at who God chooses for things like that we see that he chooses spiritual “losers” – people who are anything but holy, but there is one thing they have in place: their wills are submitted to him … and before they take the action they are willing to recognize HIM as the source of the success of the action.

If we want to participate with God in great events, I think we need to be in a place to recognize him as the single source of the success of the action.  Submit our wills and ways to him and beg him to have his way in our heart as well as our decisions and choices.

I also think I see a pattern that God’s greatest actions were performed in conjunction with those whose wills and hearts were most submitted to him. Noah, Mary, Jesus, Peter, Paul come to mind.

I welcome your comments. I am also curious who, who reads this, whether or not you think it will have any particular effect, is willing to recognize GOD as the source of the whatever success comes of your efforts.

Sex and down payments. Signatures and marriage. Separation and foreclosures. Defaults and divorce. Optionally, add alcohol to reduce the intoxicating effect. Blend it into a fine paste and feed it to your babies. It tastes like America and we feed it to generation after generation. We elect leaders to change the recipe but they can't - only we can. Do you want less government? Help a friend or neighbor in a holistic way so they don't need government aid. Your calling is to change the world around you using the same method Christ did. Speak truth and lay down your life to change it, and do not major in the issues you are not willing to lay down your life to change.

Stephanie has begun counseling a teenager in the 5th ward as part of Jim and Janie Allen's "Up" ministry and as part of completing her counseling studies at college of biblical studies. The stories of how this "counseling" relationship is unfolding are amazing and very encouraging to me -- they remind me of Jackie Pullinger's "Chasing the Dragon." It is anything but the normal sitting in a room talking scenario -  it has become counseling by presence, example, and interaction in this teenager's unusual and often harsh, theatrical, and stark daily life. She still counsels verbally, but with a lot more impact because of how God is orchestrating the circumstance.

Take it to the Cross

Getting Past the Labels

How I miss my Home - (God's Heart for Christian Addicts)

How to Eat Cheetos Without Dirty Fingers

Are you showing your True Colors?

What we do to good looking people

Self Discipline I Might Be Better Off Without

Fast Political Change is Worthless

 IKEA announces plans to buy GM, make domestic automobiles more affordable ...

... some assembly required.