Christmas Isn't Done

Don't touch that tree! Don't move those lights! It's still Christmas!

I really hate that song, the twelve days of Christmas. It just repeats and repeats and repeats, and I can never remember anything past 'Five golden rings.' But did you ever wonder where the idea came from? Twelve days? Actually, there are twelve days of Christmas, most people just forgot. My favorite radio station is still playing Christmas music because it's still Christmas! Twelve days to celebrate Jesus, because you can't fit him into just one night.

I was surprised when I learned that there should be twelve days of Christmas. But if you think about it, Christmas really never ends. We celebrate the light and the nativity as if the birth in the stable was the whole point of Jesus coming. But Christmas wouldn't mean a thing if Jesus never left the stable. We wouldn't know anything about Mary and Joseph if their son hadn't gone on to live an extraordinary life.

Christmas isn't victory, although a lot of people treat it like it is. Christmas is about hope, and hope doesn't mean that the good stuff has happened yet. Hope means we're still waiting for the good to arrive, urgently, expectantly waiting.

Because Christmas work isn't done yet. Christmas was just the beginning. It's appropriate, then, that New Years falls during the Christmas holiday, because that's really what Christmas is about. The start of the start, the beginning of the new way, the end is in sight, it's just not here yet.

Jesus carried on to live his life, teach and preach and die. He had a lot of work to do, and so do we. As we exit the Christmas season, we should realize that it is only the start, a new start, a reminding of the work we have to do. We have to prepare ourselves for Jesus to return. We have to try to reshape the world according to his vision. We have to be his hands and feet. Our work isn't done until we're dead, when it really begins!

So celebrate the manger, but don't stay outside the inn. You've got to leave Bethlehem for Christmas to mean anything. Don't get stuck in silent night, rather go and tell it on the mountain. Jesus came! He's coming back!

Hip Hip Hooray! :)

Three Christmas Observations

Christmas Snow: Heaven Touches Earth

We rarely get a white Christmas, and when we do it is usually just a dusting that barely paints the grass white. This year was different. This year the snow fell fast and thick for twelve hours and we have a truly white Christmas.

Have you ever been out in the country right after the snow, when all you can see is white for miles around? The sky is white, too, and you can't see the horizon. It is like the earth has swallowed the sky, or the sky the earth. They are one.

This is what happened at Christmas. Heaven and earth became one when Christ entered our mortal world, so that you could not distinguish where God ended and man began inside this one person. When the snow covers the ground and fills the sky, earth is heaven. It is a wonderful foretaste of what will come. On the last day the earth will be remade and Christmas work will be finished, the barrier will the lifted, the horizon gone. We will be with God.

Christmas Light: Jesus' Work Goes On

People emphasize that Jesus is the light of the world, but at Christmas we don't light one huge light, we light millions of tiny ones. Small candles or bulbs that don't do much on their own but create something marvellous against the bitter darkness.

Standing at the end of Christmas Eve service singing Silent Night, we each held a light, be it a candle or a glow stick. Jesus brought the light, but even though He is gone the light is not. We are the light, each one of us ignited by the Savior to continue His work. The lights on the tree and our houses, the the candles we hold, represent Christ in us.

This is what Christmas is all about. The light came into the world and ignited it. We bear the legacy of that work, and continue the task. We are Jesus here and Christmas' work continues today in each one of us. We are the hope of the world, we are his hands and feet.

Christmas Quiet: Peace is Here

Christmas is known as such a busy holiday, with people getting ready and all sorts of events going on, last minute shopping and traveling. Yet Christmas day is the quietest time. I love to step out my door in the morning and soak in the silence.

Stores are closed. Roads are nearly empty. Everyone is tucked away inside enjoying family and presents. This is probably the quietest day of the year, the only holiday we have left where ninety percent of businesses close. The peace of Christmas is there for each of us to find, if we only pause for a moment.

Jesus' gift at Christmas was this chance at quiet, at stillness, at perfect peace. Every day we go out searching for it, but it is at Christmas that we get the best taste. So pause and be still and know that God is Good, Jesus came, His Spirit is in us. Heaven touched earth, the light carries on, and our victory is assured. Rest for a moment in God's perfect gift.

Merry Christmas

Justice isn't Blind

She stands atop courthouses across the country, a woman with a blindfold holding a pair of scales in her hands. This is justice, a statement that the facts are weighed and the truth is discovered with complete objectivity. There is no room for favoritism, or persecution. Justice is blind, and can only weigh the facts one against the other to arrive at a clear, reasonable decision.

It seems like a good idea, but I have come to disagree with this perception of justice. God’s justice is far from blind. It sees everything more clearly than is humanly possible. It is clear-eyed justice that better serves the needs of mankind.

Jesus has a lot of famous moments, but one that really sticks out is the image of the adulteress and the crowd ready to stone her. Then Jesus says, let the person without sin cast the first stone. One by one the jury and executioners leave, because they all know that they have sinned. Jesus, who had not sinned, also left without throwing a stone.

Is this justice? According to the legal system of the time, it was not. The woman escaped the prescribed punishment for her crime.

Yet God is Just, and Jesus is God. Therefore, Jesus’ action toward the woman must also be just. But how? I believe Jesus was showing us a new kind of justice, true justice that sees clearly instead of blindly weighing facts. Yet somehow, two thousand years later, “Christian” nations still adhere to the old blind fallback because they cannot face the truth of justice.

Justice does what is best for all, it balances the scales to make the world right after wrong has been done. True justice is not about proportional retaliation or making sure that the wrong-doer is appropriately punished. In fact, justice has nothing to do with punishment. Justice sets things right.

This is why Jesus told us to love our enemies, to repay hatred with love, and to go further than is necessary in completing your tasks. Because he saw clearly what is needed to make the world right, and it is not punishment or proportional retaliation. These are our twisted attempt at justice, based on our blind stumbling through the dark. We need to lift the blindfold and see clearly.

The father of the prodigal son saw clearly that his son needed welcoming arms, not a lecture. He could have turned his prodigal son away and called it justice for the son turning his back on his father. Yet that would not have set things right; in fact, it would only have made things worse, and sent the son away to wander the world bitter and lonely and more likely to commit violent crime.

Most people, when they drag someone to the courthouse to face charges, are not truly seeking justice. They are seeking punishment, retribution, revenge disguised as a blind woman with scales. They have bought into the idea that punishment is justice, and that will set the world right.

But when we look through un-obscured eyes, like Jesus did, we see a different picture. We see men holding stones who need to admit their own faults. We see a woman, scared and sorry, get a second chance. We see a son, ready to return, welcomed with open arms. The only people Jesus yelled at, the only people he was harsh with, were the people who couldn’t see that what they were doing was wrong.

People need to see what they have done wrong, and acknowledge that it is wrong so that they can change. Whatever brings them to this point and this change is true justice. In order to execute justice and provide this change, we must see the person clearly, see what will shake them, shape them, remake them. This is how Jesus sees us, this is what God does for his children. He leads us in right paths, rebuking when necessary, forgiving when repentance is true.

This is justice, not to administer the prescribed punishment for the crime committed, but to offer that which is necessary to make things right again and to bring about change and healing.

Made Up

I do not put on make up, dye my hair or wear high heels. Hair care products, powders to turn my face different colors and uncomfortable shoes aren’t worth it. I would rather spend my time and money on something else, something better.

Do you ever stop to think about how much effort you put into your looks? Why do you do it? How many minutes of the day, how many dollars a month, do you spend on making yourself look good? What else could you do with that time and money that might be more productive, more worthwhile?

I don’t just take issue with make up on a function level, I also reject it on a spiritual level. God made me. He gave me this face and this body. He made it the way He wanted it to be. So why spend time trying to change it with blush, mascara, push-up bras and slimming underwear?

There is nothing wrong with the face that God made for me. But when we put on make up and fill our hair with gel, we attempt to change what God made. We say that who we are isn’t good enough, so we ‘make up’ a new face, a new look, a new person to fit ourselves into. We turn away from who we are and become made-up people with unnatural faces. Some women even call the act of applying make-up ‘putting my face on.’ You have a perfectly good face, and you don’t need a different one!

I've talked about how I really hate chick flicks, mushy, soppy stories that make us think life is about finding Mr. Right. There is another type of movie that I think it equally shallow and detrimental. It’s the story of the ’ugly’ girl, the misfit who gets beautified and suddenly becomes popular, gets a boyfriend, and after a few rough struggles, fixes up her until now sad, lonely life.

These movies tell us that you can’t be an individual, and you can’t buck the status quo. They say that if you are going to find a fulfilling relationship, you have to first fit in. You have to have make-up to make it. If you don’t, you’re doomed to remain in the world of social cast-offs forever.

Yet in every single one of these movies there is a girl who is already popular and beautiful through careful use of makeup and fashion. This girl is always ruthless in her scheming and conniving to remain number one on the popularity charts and catch the cute guy. She is also miserable, with no real friends or deep relationships.

So why did our plucky, misfit heroine let herself be painted and dressed up to be like this unhappy, bratty but popular girl? It doesn’t make any sense.

I don’t need to change what I wear and how I do my hair in order to find friends, or catch a guy. If I did, those people wouldn’t be real friends, that guy couldn’t really love me, because they wouldn’t know me. I won’t make myself into something I’m not.

Stop and think tomorrow morning when you’re in the bathroom doing your cosmetic routine. What are you really doing? Why aren’t you comfortable in your own skin?

Trickle

During the frigid winter months, living in a mobile home comes with special concerns. You need something called heat tape for your water pipes, because in the crawlspace between the floor and the ground it tends to get rather cold. When water sits all night and the thermometer only reads in the teens or twenties (or lower), it can freeze solid pretty quick. When water freezes, it expands. Pipes can burst, water gets everywhere. After it melts, until then, you just can’t get any water, or flush the toilet (ick).

So this heat tape stuff is like an electric cord wrapped around the pipes that keeps them warm, so the water doesn’t freeze. But you never know how well its working. And you never know when it might short out. So on really cold days and most every cold night we leave a bit of water running in the sink.

It’s just a trickle, barely a dribble, sometimes just a drip. But it makes a huge difference. When water moves, it stays warmer. Pipes don’t freeze, and we don’t get dehydrated. Keeping the water flowing is the key.

Our relationship with God can be the same. If we just turn the water on and off, it can freeze up. If we only pray once in a while, if we only read our Bible now and again, our spiritual life can stagnate. If we are in constant contact with God, even just a little bit, it can keep us warm, set us on fire with love.

How many times a day do you pray? How often do you think of Biblical passages? Do you have any committed to memory?

I want to challenge you to keep God present during your entire day, even if it is just a trickle. Very small things can help reorient our minds and our attitudes to God, and that can have a huge impact on our entire lives.

Pray at every meal. Not a huge drawn out prayer where you mention everyone and everything you are concerned about. Just say ‘thank you’ and remember that God is the reason you have food to eat. Pray when you get into the car, ask God for safe travel and put your life in His hands. Pray when you get out, to thank Him for the journey. Thank Him for the sun, thank Him for the rain, and remember that each and every person you speak to was made by Him for a purpose. Put on new eyes and see the world with God at your side.

When you are frustrated, think of how a Biblical character handled similar frustrations. Remember how many annoying people Jesus was patient with. When you have to do an unpleasant task, think of all of the stuff Peter and Paul put up with while spreading the Word. There’s an example in the Bible for every situation, and they can all point you back to God.

See how many ways you can incorporate God into your day in small drips. Soon it will turn into a dribble, a trickle, a stream. Invite God into your soul constantly, to wash you clean and renew you in His image every single day, every hour, every minute. Make God the center of your life, but don’t make it a huge, impossible production. Use small steps, turn the faucet up to a trickle. See Jesus make the difference.

Incarnation: why the Christmas story matters to me.

I posed a question on Monday asking why, or even if, the Christmas story matters in the grand scope of Christianity. Jesus' birth is only told in two gospels, so one-half of the gospel writers didn't even include it! And, the story is different in each gospel, with different themes and different characters. Matthew tells us a story about Magi and massacre and fleeing to Egypt, a story that parallels the life of Moses and sets Jesus up as a new Moses here to renew and fulfill Mosaic law. Luke gives us a story with a manger, shepherds, and lots of angels, he focuses on Mary (a woman and therefore a minority/marginalized person in her time period) and the poor, telling us that Jesus came for all people, not just the rich.

But you can see these two messages elsewhere in the gospels. Everything in the birth stories is told in another way in another place. So why bother?

I think that the very fact that Jesus was BORN is important. It makes the Incarnation complete.

Think about it. God didn't have to send Jesus as a baby. He could have appeared as a fully-grown man and just walked out of the desert and started preaching. He still would have been able to teach, die and rise again, and fulfill his mission on earth without any of the other messy details.

Yet I am extremely glad that Jesus was born. Not simply that he chose to become a baby, fully dependent on mother and father for care, and be laid in a lowly manger. This is all part of the message, but not the key to Jesus birth.

Jesus was born and lived a full life. He had parents to care for and to respect and obey. He had brothers and sisters and cousins and friends to hang out with, get into mischief with, laugh and cry with. He worked at his father's trade, he participated in the daily life of every day people.

Jesus was totally and fully human not just because he took on flesh but because he experienced human life with all of its joy, sorrow, hardship and toil. His parables are colored with imagery from Galilee--he didn't just teach out of divine wisdom but also out of personal experience!!

Jesus can empathize with us because he is one of us. Before he died, he lived. Isn't that amazing? God lived a normal life. He participated in funerals and parties, he went to weddings and circumcisions. When I think of Jesus sacrifice I don't just think of the cross, I think of his life.

So no matter what the details of the Christmas story, each version tells us this: Jesus was born, grew up, and lived.

He is a better savior because of it, because he didn't take the easy road and just incarnate as an adult. He learned how we feel, how we act, how life works and fully understood the struggles we go through. It is this willingness to simply be with us for thirty years before taking up his ministry that amazes me.

So when you're hearing about silent night and away in a manger and shepherds watching their flocks and little drummer boys, remember. It's not just that he was born, but that he lived. Just like you, just like me. This is how Jesus became fully human, so that he could bring humanity back to God.

Merry Christmas!

Dangerous Beauty

I love snow. I love to watch the big fat flakes drift gently through the sky and cover the world in a blanket of white. I love the way every sound in muffled in the snow, it makes the world feel peaceful and warm. I love to play in the snow, to fall backwards in a mound of it and swish my arms and legs to make an angel. I love snow.

I really hate snow. I hate that it gets everywhere and I have to shove, I hate trying to keep my feet dry when I go out the door in the morning. I hate the slush that is brown and slippery on the roads, and the salt stains that seem to follow me everywhere. I hate being stuck inside, and I really hate the cold. Snow is dangerous, especially when it's fresh and you pass ten cars in the ditch on the way home while praying you won't be number eleven.

Snow claims lives every year, yet it also stuns be with its beauty every time it falls.

It seems strange that something we love can also be something that causes so much pain and trouble? Yet it isn't strange at all. Most things in the world are like that. Most good things, the things really worth having, come with a mound of troubles, too.

Like children. So many people want children, yet every parent will tell you it's a tough, thankless job. Then they go and get pregnant again.

Or mountain climbing, working so hard to reach a place where the world is spread out beneath you, a picture of peace and beauty. Even after losing friends to the dangerous climb.

I think that the world is this way because God is this way, and creation reflects Him.

How many times have you wanted to scream at God, wonder what is He doing and why? How many times have you fallen into His arms to drink of amazing grace or belted out worship songs for hours on end?

God is good, but he is also dangerous. He is a passionate, zealous being with very strong emotions and the ability to do whatever He wants. Yet I feel perfectly safe in His presence, it is the safest place to be--in the lion's mouth. We sometimes forget that God is powerful, that He can squash mountains with his little finger and level great kingdoms without batting an eye. We are safe, though, because He always chooses to do what is right.

Aslan, the Jesus character from the Chronicles of Narnia, first helped me truly see this truth about God. I think it is one of the most moving and essential parts of the story. "He isn't a tame lion, but he is good." He is a warrior and a lover. Aslan told Jill, a spoiled little girl who was super thirsty, that she had to turn her back on him to take a drink. She asked if he was safe. Aslan replied with a list of terrible, powerful things that he could do. If she wanted a drink, Jill had to trust that Aslan would not harm her. Not that she could have defended herself even if she was facing him!

I don't want a tame, timid God bound up in a catechism and perfectly defined by religious practice. I don't want a God who is only cuddly and happy and never takes a stand against what is wrong. I love God because He is dangerous and strong, because He does not make exceptions or give evil a centimeter of breathing space. I love God not because I always know what He will do or how things will happen. Just the opposite. I love an unpredictable and amazing being who created me to join in His wild existence.

Is the God you know both dangerous and beautiful? If you think God is safe, tame, predictable or controlled, take another look at the Bible. You'll find an amazing person with a frighteningly strong passionate love for you.

Princess or fly?

I heard a song the other day on the radio that sums up a problem I often see in young women It's called Princes and Frogs by Superchik.

All princes start as frogs and all gentlemen as dogs
Just wait till its plain to see
What we're growing up to be
Cause Some frogs will still be frogs
And Some dogs will still be dogs
Some boys could become men
Just don't kiss us 'til then.

You hate men is what you say and I understand how you feel that way
All girls dream of a fairy tale
But what you've got's like a used car salesman
Trying to conceal what's wrong behind a smile and the song
And I'm not saying that boys are not like that
But I think you should know (you should)
That some of us will grow
Because. . . [CHORUS]

You found him is what you say
And we all want you to feel that way
But the frog you've got seems cute enough to kiss
And maybe frogs seem like that's all their is
But just because you haven't found your prince yet
Doesn't mean you're still not a princess
And what if if your prince comes riding in
While you're kissin' a frog what's he gonna think then
So look into his eyes
Are you a princess or a fly?

I have never understood why so many women allow themsevles to be flies. My first inclination is to blame the media.

I hate chick flicks, romantic movies that make it seem like life will be perfect as soon as you find the perfect person. They send a horrible message to young girls, a message that says you aren’t complete until you find your soul mate.

That is a big, fat, ugly lie that I see ruining women’s lives time and time again. So many girls think that they need a man. They wrap their lives around the idea of a romantic relationship and blind themselves to all else. There are even a few movies that speak to this fact, like Runaway Bride. The main character, played by Julia Roberts, kept leaving men at the altar because she knew deep down that she had really didn’t know herself. She took on aspects of her boyfriends lives and became the perfect woman for each of them, but she was never her own person.

As Walter told his mother in Secondhand Lions, “You always think a new boyfriend solves everything, but you always pick losers.” This movie was about a boy breaking free from the cycle of lies his mother fed him, a mother who went from man to man looking for happiness in romance and the idea of a strong protector and breadwinner.

Blaming chick flicks is too simplistic an answer. This idea is a myth created by our culture, a false ideal that has never, ever rang true for the majority of women. Even the fifties sitcom stay-at-home mom did not reflect the reality of the times. Most women worked, few women could actually stay home and be nothing but a homemaker and mother.

Women need to learn to stand on their own two feet, to be self sufficient and confident in their own strength before they even consider entering a romantic relationship with a man. If you don’t know who you are, like the Runaway Bride, an intimate relationship can damage your integrity and you find that you have slowly given away pieces of yourself.

I do not understand why women constantly do it. I have even heard modern women say that a good man only beats a woman when she deserves it.

WHAT? NONSENSE.

The fact that anyone believes this seriously disturbs me. There is never any excuse for a man to beat a woman. Yet it happens again and again. And you know what? It’s our fault, women’s fault. Yes, the guy is guilty, too, but it is women who allow them to do it. Abuse won’t stop until the abused stand up and say “Enough!” Men will not stop preying on weak women until women realize that they can stand alone, and live full, fulfilling lives without depending on any man.

Not that there aren’t great guys. Not that there aren’t great marriages. But a woman can’t tie her identity to a man, can’t submit her emotions and body for abuse. When she does, she tells him that she is worthless and should be treated as such. Is that the message you want to send?

Women allow bad men into their lives because they are desperate for a relationship. They start kissing frogs instead of waiting for the Prince.

Another song puts it, “You need that boy like a bowling ball dropped on your head, which means not at all.”

I don’t plan to wait for my prince. But I don’t plan to hit myself on the head with bowling balls, either. I plan to live my life for God and myself, and if a prince finds me, great. If not, fine. I would welcome romance, but I am also content alone because I know I am loved by God and highly valued in His kingdom.

Ladies, that goes for you, too. Romance is nice, but it can never fully fulfill, especially if you allow yourself to become a fly. You are loved by God. You are a Princess in the kingdom and God wants you to be his Bride.

Does the Christmas story matter?

I don't mean, does Christmas need to have Jesus in it. I don't mean, when you're sitting around the presents in the morning, that you need to remember the greatest present God ever gave. No, I mean, in the story of Jesus and the New Testament, does the Christmas story really matter? Forget the secular part of the holiday, is the manger, angles, shepherds, Herod, Magi, Mary and Joseph, important to Christianity or just a neat story we blew way out of proportion?

Stop and think about it.

Of four gospels, only two mention the story of Jesus' birth. Of those two gospels, very few details are the same. There are only Magi in one story, only shepherds in the other, in one Jesus is born in a stable and laid in a manger, the other doesn't really specify. In one, they run away to Egypt, in the other, they head to temple to dedicate the new baby. The few similar details are the names Mary, Joseph, the appearance of angels and the fact that Mary was a virgin.

Seriously, if only 1/2 of the gospel writer's even mention it, does the story of Jesus' birth actually matter? Does it add to our understanding of Him, help us see things more clearly? Can we be perfectly good Christians if we don't know anything about His birth, if we only have Mark and John to read?

When I posed this question at Sunday school, everyone had something to say. One woman was mad that I could even consider such a thing. To her, the virgin birth proved Jesus was God's son, so it is VERY important. But John makes the same point without ever mentioning Mary. So does it matter?

It doesn't change the most important tenants of our faith, that Jesus died for our sins and rose again on the third day. It doesn't change His teachings or their implications for our lives.

So why all the fuss? Is knowing how Jesus was born important? Why or why not?

Think about it. I will too, and give you my answer on Friday.

Dig Another Well

One of my favorite movies is Finding Nemo, and I love it mostly because of one character, Dory. This little blue fish can’t remember what happened in the last five minutes, but she never lets anything worry her. At one point she sings to her friend when he is about to give up, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

It does matter if you get stuck in a patch of jellyfish, dive into the pitch black depths of the ocean, or nearly get eaten by would-be-vegetarian sharks. If you just keep swimming, you can get anywhere.

My youth minister made the same point when I was in high school, only he said, “Dig another well.” In Genesis, when Isaac was looking for a place to settle in Cannan, the land he had been promised through is father Abraham, he kept running into trouble. He would find a nice place, pitch his tents, and dig a well. Then someone would come along and tell him he couldn’t stay, and Isaac had to move along, find another place, and dig another well.

Doesn’t sound quite right, if that land was promised to him and his offspring. Yet Isaac didn’t complain, didn’t bicker at God or at the people who told him to move on. Instead he picked up his things, got out his shovel, and dug yet another well. He knew that somehow, eventually, things would work out. It might take ten or twenty wells, but if he kept digging, eventually he would find a place he could stay.

It is the same in all our lives. When things work out, we just need to keep going. Give it another try. Keep on swimming. Dig another well. If we trust in God, that doesn’t mean that things are going to be easy or fall into place smoothly. It probably won’t. But God admires persistence. Remember the parable of the widow and the dishonest judge? Jesus told us, basically, to keep hounding Him and show Him we mean business. If you aren’t willing to pursue something through whatever obstacles may come, why should God bother giving it His attention? He’s got more important things to do.

So if at first you don’t succeed, dig another well. I have found this especially to be true in my current job hunt. I have filled out application after application, been to businesses and called on the phone. After a long dry spell, suddenly opportunity rained down. Three different employment opportunities finally lay open before me. But I would never have found them if I didn’t keep at it.

So dig, swim, persevere, and remember that in whatever you are trying to do, continually check to make sure your will lines up with God’s will. Learn the lesson presented to you in every experience, good or bad. Trust that all will be well. Because it will.

Trusting in Prayer

In visiting many different churches and Bible studies with many different groups of people, I have seen many different ways to pray. Each time I have learned something by listening to others interact with God. There are different approaches and different formulas, but one has really made an impression.

Some people, when they ask God for help, do it with a sense of insecurity. If God is willing, If God agrees. Please, please, please. There is a sense of anticipation of failure sometimes, an I-don't-know attitude.
Then there are people who pray with certainty for what they want and need. Their speech, whenever they talk about what they have prayed for, is filled with anticipation of success.

They aren't praying to God and hoping for the best. They are praying and trusting that God WILL do it. This works toward a more powerful prayer, a more powerful life, a more powerful faith. People who TRUST God for something instead of simply asking for it surprised me at first. I had never encountered this sentiment, this turn of phrase, before college.

Now, I see how this kind of prayer reflects a more powerful and intimate faith. Don't just wish God would do something, know He will. He will always work toward the good of those who love Him.

I have a job interview soon, for a job that I desperately want to get. It is perfect for me and my career, or so I think. I could be nervous, fuss and fidget and stress over it all week, but I won't. I'm trusting that God will secure for me a job that will set me on the right career path. So worry is gone and God is in charge. I trust that this job is right for me and He will steer me smoothly into it.

What is on your mind, what needs do you have, what obstacles are there? Don't just pray, don't just ask, trust that God will do all you ask and more. Walk by faith, and wait in sure expectation of the results. Because God is on our side.

Juggling Act

I stand, arms stretched out, trying to keep track of three or four flying objects at once. Family is the great juggling act, and I drop the ball far more often than I should. Grandparents, siblings, parents, cousins, aunts and uncles. It is hard to give everyone the attention they deserve, make sure no one feels left out or under appreciated.

I stand in the center ring and run back and forth, catching balls and throwing them in the air again. Does anyone appreciate my crazy dance? Do they even see it happen?

This is how I feel every holiday, when we have to go to four Christmases, two thanksgivings, three Easters. Running back and forth can be exhausting, and sometimes I really start hating the holidays. My ears hurt from the noise, my head hurts from the heat of too many people stuffed into a small room, and my nerves are rubbed raw by too many things going on around me. I just want to cover my head and scream, bury myself in a deep dark hole and never come out again. I'm going to turn into the recluse who never pokes her nose out of her burrow.

Neither one of these is a good way to live. The frantic juggling act or the deep dark hidey-hole are two ends of a wide spectrum. I just can never seem to find the middle, the place where I am comfortable and not overwrought. Some of you don't have this problem, you thrive on the group gatherings, you love being with lots of people. I love people, but large group events are the hardest thing for me to endure.

The holidays can become all about other people, pleasing people, serving people, getting up and going out with people. At the end of it I'm exhausted because I made no time for me. Or else I protect myself from the stress and the holidays become about what I want, and nobody else.

The true joy of the holidays shines out when I find that blance, when I can juggle all the balls smoothly, when I balance my focus between what I need and those around me. This is true in any season, any relationship, but it shows itself more strongly during the holidays. Celebration is about us together, about accomodating you without giving up my integrity or effacing myself. Learning when to say yes, and when to say no, when to reach out and when to let it go.

So I hope that as holiday season closes in and you find yourself pushed and pulled between family and friends, functions and factions, shopping and decorating, you make sure that whatever you do for the holidays strikes a balance. And if you can learn to juggle the holidays, the rest of your life should slowly fall into place as January turns to Februrary and we wait through the long, dark cold for the light of Easter's spring.

Fake Harry Potter Spoilers for the Deathly Hallows

It was over three years ago that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released. With the arrival of the movie, I look back at the fun time we had preparing for the release party, anticipating the book and discussing theories about the ending, and making t-shirts that would drive fellow party-goers up the wall.

It started after Half Blood Prince came out. Someone created a t-shirt that said on the front: Dumbledore dies on page (insert page for UK or US edition.)
The back read: At least I didn't tell you Snape did it.

While this shirt was hilarious for someone who had read the book, it was a horrible spoiler for anyone who hadn't. But it sparked an idea...

A series of t-shirts which all read on the front:
Harry dies on page (insert favorite number here).

People who saw the shirts got awful mad until they read the back. :)
There were several versions:

Molly did it. She hugged Harry to death.
Fred and George did it. They were testing a new invention. Oops.
Dobby did it. He was trying to save Harry's life again.
Hermione did it. They didn't know she was THAT mad.
Neville did it. He wanted to be the hero!
Bush did it. We blame him for everything else.
Remus did it. Full moon, enough said.
Umbridge did it. She was secretly in love with Fudge and blamed Harry that he wasn't minister anymore.
Tonks did it. She tripped over the troll-leg umbrella stand which made Mrs. Black start screaming with startled Crookshanks who ran up the stairs as Harry was coming down....
Hagrid did it. He had this new pet he wanted to show Harry.


My favorite:
Harry dies on page 666.
Voldemort did it. Duh.

Turns out this last one was kinda true, but not really a spoiler. I mean, seriously, we all knew it was a possibility.

For the costume of Bellatrix Lestrange we created this shirt:

Kill Harry Potter Fan Club
Heroes Die Young!!

President: Tom Riddle a.k.a. Voldemort
Vice President: Severus Snape
Treasurer: Lucius Malfoy
Secretary: Dolores Umbridge

Join Now! Membership includes and interview with the full Wizengamot and a one-way all-expenses paid trip to Azkaban. Call 1-800-DIE-POTTER.

Harry Potter, and other obsessions

Some people just don't get it. They raise their eyebrows when you walk down a street in a black pointed hat and robes with a finely sanded stick in your hand. They shake their heads at the lighting shaped magic marker scars or Dark Mark's we scrawl on our forearms. Some of them have even read the books, and don't think that JK Rowling's series is that much better than any other book out there.

It's not actually about the quality of the book, or the magical v. muggle world. I've read plenty of books that are just as good as Harry Potter, but I haven't dressed up as those characters. It's not really about the story. It's about the community of people who have found something that they all enjoy. I love to get involved in Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and other such obsession-ridden stories largely because so many people are obsessed.

The obsession itself is half the fun. Getting involved in the same book, TV show or movie can connect people over large distances who have never, ever met face to face. You can relate through characters, scenes and themes laid out in the book. Just look at the huge online networks, groups and chatrooms which spring up around fantasy or sci-fi. The story the author created is the bridge that draws people together.

It's not nearly so much fun to dress up as a Vorkosigan, because hardly anybody knows what that is. I don't have a standby costume for Cimorene or Morwen, even though I enjoy them just as much as Hermione and Ginny. It's just not as fun if there's no one else around, no one to discuss story with, no one to reenact scenes with, no one to be a foil to my chosen character.

Yesterday I attended an opening weekend showing of the Deathly Hallows part one. The church youth group leader organized the event for youth and their families. He thought four or five people might show. We filled up three rows, with just as many adults as youth. We wore our Harry Potter t-shirts and spent at nearly an hour in discussion afterwards. We would have gone on longer, but an empty stomach called me away to dinner. It wasn't just about the story we saw unfold onscreen, but rather about coming together to share the experience.

I have always had a hard time fitting in with people, being part of a group, finding common interests to keep a conversation going. When a story that I enjoy is the central part of the discussion or activity, my inhibitions fall away and I can feel comfortable in situations that usually set my teeth on edge. Stories have this power.

So next time you're getting ready to roll your eyes at an adult in full Klingon armor, green face paint and plastic ears, or black robes and a wand, remember. We feel the same away about your sports, your shopping and shoe fetishes, your real-world lives and obsessions. Fundamentally, we're not doing anything different, weird or outlandish. We're just reaching out to kindred spirits to make friends and form community through the language of fiction.

Suburbia

Subdivisions. Suburbs. Dried-up wastelands of brown grass and tiny trees surviving on the life support of daily sprinklers. Sprinklers that keep the grass green and soft, grass that the children don’t play on because they are inside, eyes fixed on the television or computer. There is nothing interesting left for them outside; it has all been cut down and banished in the name of ‘lawn care’ or ‘construction.’


I fail to understand why anyone would want to live in a place like that. Yet people flock there by the dozens, hundreds, and thousands. Each decade, the houses become bigger, the yards smaller, and the trees more shriveled. Each time the fields shrink, the unending mediocrity and stifled content of the middle-class ideal grows. It engulfs more people, more freedom, more land and more life.


There is no doubt that the houses are nice, palatial in some cases. But they can’t be lived in without fear of scratching the pristine varnish. Children must take their shoes off at the door. Dirt must be banished, as if it were not the stuff we are all made of and therefore essential for life. Fingerprints must be expunged and heaven forbid anyone step on the grass. A picture perfect life is one in which no one has a chance to move.
Picture-perfect is static, unchanging, stifling. It will fade and whither to the pale brownish yellow of old photographs, the flat, dull expression growing more serious with every passing generation.


Three car garages to hold one car and enough junk to keep the homeless happy for months. Heating costs that would keep a single mother with three children warm for five winters. All this just to fight the draft from costly windows that don’t fit right.


As suburbia grows, another phenomenon takes place within the heart of the city. It grows black and stony, turns sour and bitter.


When the affluent seek the shelter of their secluded suburbs, they no longer see the poverty, the hunger, the fear that haunts the streets of their once-nice cities. They take their wealth with them, and leave nothing behind for the millions who cannot afford their small apartments, or to drive an hour just to get to a job. What was a bad situation becomes worse, crime rises while city funds and social programs decrease.


When this happened in Rome, the result was the Middle Ages. Now it’s happening again, which doesn’t make the future look very bright. The rich are abandoning the poor, the economic divide is growing. And what do we do? We hide behind privacy fences so we can’t see the results.


Suburbia, the middle class American dream, is a danger to the entire fabric of society. An insulated life leaves the next generation blind to the troubles of the world outside. A life of luxury only adds to the growing hardships of the poor. When the rich ignore the state of the world around them, bloody chaos like the French Revolution happens.


Gated communities need to rip down their security fences and leave their ideal idea behind, because an ideal can never be real. The real world needs suburban people to leave their artificial landscapes and climate controlled houses, before it is too late.

Poverty

Poverty keeps us humble.
Poverty keeps us aware of the constant need in the world, and our duty to fill it.
Poverty keeps us in touch with the needy, and the problems that truly need solving.
Poverty helps us love, because we focus on others instead of ourselves. We receive help, and so can become better at giving it.

It is a shame that the pope resides in a palace, while millions starve.
It is a shame when a pastor, preacher or minister possesses more than the poorest member of the church.
It is a shame when any member of the church goes hungry.
It is a shame that many poor people know from experience that the church will not give them help, so they don‘t bother to ask.

Prosperity is Poison: Solomon’s Folly

Aspirations are dangerous, wealth is corrupting, power is precarious. All of these things that we strive and hope for end up being our undoing. Written into each story of success are the ingredients for downfall. They cannot be separated. With every gain comes the seed of destruction.
The cycle can be seen over and over again in history. Why do empires fall? Because they prosper. Every great leader has put into place policies which ultimately led to destruction, including the great Caesar Augustus, first imperator of Rome. He created an elite group of guards to keep himself safe, and gave these guards special powers. A few hundred years later, members of that same group determined the next successor to the throne, and even put it up for auction to the highest bidder.

Pyramids are huge, a monument to a great age in Egyptian history. Yet they used to gleam in the sun, because they were covered with gold and jewels. Now all of their treasures have been plundered, and even the immortal dead are defiled and on display for all to see. Obsessed with life after death, pharaohs built huge tombs and hid away hoards of treasure. They expanded Egypt’s dominion to encompass more and more land. It was too much for one government to handle. Unable to effectively control their large population or support the demands of lavish burials, their splendor is now nothing but a memory, a legend, a bad horror movie.

Spain conquered the New World, and brought back ships bursting with gold. The economy crumbled because traditional crafts and more humble occupations paled in comparison to the fame and riches of the conquistadores. Gold lost its value, because there was so much of it, and inflation set in. Spain fell into poverty, because they chased riches and found them in abundance.

England defeated the famous Spanish Armada and took their place at the forefront of world powers. They claimed lands in countries not their own, to exploit the people and wealth of the region to their own national gain. Taking what they pleased, they spread discontent among the people they ruled. England lost an empire because they could not afford to keep it. They spread themselves too thin, grasping for more eventually to lose it all.

Solomon is one of Israel’s most famous kings. Known for his wisdom, and his wealth, the kingdom prospered during his reign. Yet it is because of Solomon that civil war ripped one country into two. He demanded heavy taxes and hard labor from his people in order to build his magnificent palaces and keep up his extravagant harem. After his death, the people rebelled against his son for pursuing the same policies. His wisdom could not protect him from the most basic mistake all nations make.

Israel failed to learn this lesson, although God warned them over and over again. He told them not to have a king; a king must have power to rule successfully. He will levy taxes, draft men for the army, and force the people to labor for him. All of this happened. The people had their strong leader, a king that made them like the larger and more powerful nations around them. They also lost much of their freedom.

One of the few historical mentions of Israel outside of the Bible refers to a king Omri, and his son Ahaz. These notorious villains of the Elijah cycle, especially Ahaz’s wife Jezebel, are a perfect example of the dangers of wealth. These kings played with international politics, made their kingdom stronger, and allowed and even encouraged foreign traditions and religion. They made Israel into a power the other nations recognized and Elijah denounced on God’s behalf.

Wealth and power lead to comfort and pride. When one has everything, one has no fear and no need. Without need, we reject God and his great blessings. Punishment arrives, brought by our own hand.
Israel fell to Assyria because it was the richer nation. Judah was spared because it was poor and too small to bother with conquering. When Judah followed in Israel’s sin, and became rich enough to attract the attention of other nations, Judah also fell. They worked with foreign kings to increase their power and formed alliances instead of relying on God for protection. They sought to be strong, and fell because of it. Had they left well enough alone, they would have been left alone.

Prosperity is poison. The more we have, the closer we are to calamity. The greater the country, the more imminent its decline. Yes, even the United States of America will one day cease to be a world power. But that is not what scares me.

As our lives become more comfortable and easy, we come closer to spiritual death. The only solution is Paul’s; to be content no matter what the circumstances. Jesus told us not to worry. It is in our worry and concern for making it, for getting it right and acquiring what we need, that we cause the most problems.

What is true of nations is true of people, too. No matter how rich or poor, striving for prosperity will always lead to ruin. Lottery winners are more likely to commit suicide than anyone else.

Extravagant wealth is wrong. To possess more than what you need is excess, and excess is dangerous. Ask Solomon. His folly cost his son a kingdom. Anyone who has more than they need must work to give it away, to help others and reach out with their resources. To keep anything back for yourself is a sin.

Jesus kept nothing, he loved instead. Anytime we keep something back for ourselves, we defy love and submit to greed. Christianity was originally a movement of poverty. The believers sold all they had, shared their belongings, and took care of the poor (check the book of Acts!). They understood that they did not need these things to be secure, and that love is far more important. God honor’s our sacrifice, just as he honored Jesus’ sacrifice. We cannot be who we were made to be until we sacrifice.

Two car garages
Carefree vacations
Gorging ourselves at a buffet.
Air conditioned houses.
Ten pairs of shoes.

Excess has become part of our lives. Many Americans feel that they are struggling through life if they do not have these ‘simple comforts’. The truth is, they have all that they need. Anything more is wealth, and wealth is the cause of all evil.

No sugar please

Sometimes, it feels like modern Christianity lives in a candy-coated world. We want to make everything nice. Wave and smile at your neighbor, no matter what you feel like, no matter if you actually know them or not. Keep your house nice, look good for church, apply Jesus like a band-aid to every scraped knee, because he'll make everything ok.



The problem is that life's not fair, bad things happen to good people, and Christians who are living the easy life aren't really living the Christian life.

Jesus didn’t tell us to be the sugar of the earth, to make everything nice and sweet, to always be smiles and please everyone you meet. In fact, I’ll bet one of the last words used to describe Jesus would be sugary. He was a hard-core, tough, rude, in-your-face man who didn’t care if he pleased people, and didn’t come so that we could have our cake and eat it to.

Jesus told us to be salt. Salt and sugar don’t often mix. They are very different ingredients which produce very different results.

Sugar can taste really good. We often eat too much of it because we like it so much. It’s the reason so many people in America are overweight, the reason so many people have diabetes or high cholesterol. Now, salt isn’t the perfect ingredient either; every analogy has its flaws. But sugar can rot your teeth, and is rarely part of nutritious food.

Salt, on the other hand, was used to preserve food in the ancient world. We can get along without sugar, but we can’t live without salt. The body needs salt to survive, which was why in some desert cultures salt was more valuable than gold.

Do we want to be the thing that makes people fat and complacent, that rots their teeth and feeds their disease? Or do we want our words to reflect the essential elements of life, to preserve the soul and help people carry on?

People don’t need more sugar. They don’t need you to be all smiles and tell them that things will get better. Life is hard, and Jesus knew it. He didn’t gloss over it. In fact, He warned everyone who followed Him that it would be hard, harder than a normal life. He didn’t expect everyone to accept His message, in fact He told his disciples to be ready for rejection. They were to be salt, not sugar.

False prophets were the ones whose words were always sweet. They said that Israel could go on doing as they please, because nothing bad would happen. They sound like the people today who say it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you believe it. The message that sounds the best, that is easiest to accept, that is sweet to the taste without any unsavory demands, is always wrong.

So be salt. Don’t let anyone water your words down to make them politically correct or more socially acceptable. Beware of sugar, beware of sweet words born of sweet intentions that lead to rot and decay. Focus on truth and walk the hard road.

Christ for Femenism

An argument for female leadership and an end to gender-based oppression within Christianity.

There are several Bible verses which seem to indicate that the ‘traditional’ gender roles are a decree from God. That a woman should get married, have a family, and take care of the kids. That women should take a back-seat to men as the weaker gender. One verse says that women should cover their heads, another that they should not speak in church but rather ask their husbands any questions they have after they get home.

The Catholic church and many other denominations do not allow women to hold clergy/ministry positions. They cannot preach or lead or help make important decisions. For centuries culture and religion have said that woman cannot, and should not, do everything a man can do.

This is wrong. Christians should never use Bible verses to legitimize oppression based on gender. Today, we would all agree that slavery is wrong, and God does not condone it. Yet Christian slave owners used Bible verses to uphold their ownership of human property. It took a war to put a stop to it.

Things have been changing, but the problem isn't fixed yet. We need to stop the church from oppressing women and silencing their voices, for several very Biblical reasons.

Women were leaders in the first century church. They did not take a back-seat role, but were directly involved in preaching, teaching and leading. Lydia is one example, she was an independent merchant, and a church met in her household. Women such as Phoebe were church deacons, something that is not allowed in many churches today. Non-Biblical sources from the same time period also mention female Christian leaders, even female slaves who were deacons in their church.

The Church is often referred to as the ‘bride’, as a woman. Who better to lead, then, than women? If the church is to live out the qualities of an expectant bride-to-be, the women are the best leadership example, not men.

Jesus worked to free the oppressed, and came to reach all people not matter what their station in life. He spoke with social outcasts as if they belonged and lifted people out of the dark place a cruel society had force them into. He fought oppression. When the church denies women equality with men and leadership positions, it oppresses them. This is contrary Jesus’ life and teaching.

We hear that all are equal in Christ. Therefore, women share equal status with men

Jesus taught men and women equally (Mary, Martha, Mary Magdalene and the woman at the well) in a time when society said a religious teacher should not be seen speaking to a woman.

Women took care of the disciples needs and were an integral part of Jesus’ ministry, as much as their culture would allow. Jesus did not prevent women from holding leadership roles, the culture did.

Document analysis shows that the parts of the Pauline letters which tell women to be silent and submissive were most likely added to the text at a later date and not written by Paul at all. Additionally, those parts of the text are difficult to translate accurately. The subservient position of women, the oppression of one gender by another, is an invention of the hierarchical, organized church corrupted by power, and not part of Jesus’ teaching or the Holy Spirit’s inspiration.


Oppression of Patriarchy: A Lesson for Fathers

When the church says:
Women must be silent.
Your daughter hears:
I am not worth listening to.
When the church says:
Men must lead, a woman cannot.
Your daughter hears:
There is something wrong with me.
When the church says:
Submit to your husband.
Your daughter hears:
My opinion does not matter.
When the church says:
Women cannot teach men.
Your daughter hears:
I am stupid because I am a girl.
When the church says:
Only men can be elders or deacons.
Your daughter hears:
Nothing I do will ever be good enough.
When the church says:
Men are strong.
Your daughter hears:
I am weak.
When the church says:
Family is the point of marriage, you should settle down and have children.
Your daughter hears:
There are no opportunities for me. My skills and talents are pointless.

What do you want your daughter to hear?
If you want your daughter to have a strong faith, teach her to lead the debate against learned men.
If you want you daughter to be sure of herself, teach her to lead men and women equally.
If you want your daughter to love, teach her to lead others in righteous paths.
If you want your daughter to have high self esteem, teach her not to let anyone talk down to her. Not even a preacher.
If you want your daughter to know she is worthy, teach her to speak and applaud her words.
If you want your daughter to live free of shame, teach her that she is the equal of a man.
Or else you crush her soul with the weight of your arrogance and pride.

Water

Clean water is one of the big issues facing the world today. Millions of people don’t have access to clean water, and are at a high risk of contracting diseases from their dirty water sources. It’s a serious problem, but one that I couldn’t relate to much until today.

We are currently under a boil order. Everything that comes out of the faucet has to be boiled before it goes into the mouth. I have never, ever had to boil my water before. I’ve never once thought that the stuff coming out of my kitchen sink might not be good to drink. I trust the water in the faucets.

That is the scary part. The landlord in the mobile home park forgot to put up signs saying “boil order.” Besides that, if you don’t go past an entrance, you don’t know that there is a boil order. No one calls your home. No one knocks on your door. It’s up to you to find out if your water is good or bad, and there is not direct warning when it changes. I got lucky. A maintenance man was walking by when I took the trash out, and mentioned the boil order. If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have known about it at all.

This is how the church acts sometimes. Jesus is more essential than water, in fact He is the Living Water. Millions of people around the world don’t have this water, they don’t know Jesus or they only know a diluted, false version of him, like the unsafe water coming out of my faucet. They won’t know anything is wrong until someone tells them.

Yet many churches don’t knock on their doors or call them up. They don’t go out to reach the lost. They set up fancy buildings with big crosses on top and little slogans or Bible verses on the front sign. Then, they expect people to come to them, to seek out the Good News they have to offer. The problem is that many of the lost don’t know to seek, they don’t know what to look for, they don’t know where to go. That’s why their lost. I needed to be told about the boil order. People need to be told about Jesus.

We need to be more proactive in our approach. We need to get out on the streets and meet people where they are. We shouldn’t expect our example and our churches, our activities and our strange rituals to draw people in. Jesus didn’t. He went to people and taught them where they were. He sought the lost, he lived with them, he got to know them and made them his priority. We lose when we make religion our priority, instead of people. We lose when we make church our priority, instead of God. People need water, and we shouldn’t let them continue to live on poisonous lies.

Be living water. Flow. Leave your home, your church, your safe zone. Get out and teach. Tell people about the gift you have been given. Or else they’ll never know.

Love is Power

Love is power. Do you realize how much potential power you carry around with you every day? Every time you encounter another person, you have power over them. This power can affect their attitude, their day, their entire life. This is not power to be trifled with. It can transform the world, reshape communities, and change lives. This power rests inside of you, and always has.

Every time you encounter another person, you make a choice. Whether you are conscious of it or not, you have a choice in how to treat that person. The answer to that choice is the power you invoke over that person. There are only two options. Love or hate.

Now you are sitting there thinking, I never choose to hate someone! However, you do not consider this: the absence of love is hate. Every time you choose to treat someone in a way that does not demonstrate love, you show them hate. You show that person that they do not matter. You show that person that you do not care about them. You show that person that they are not worth the small amount of energy it would take to be polite, to be kind, to show love.

The affect of such a choice can be severely damaging. When it happens on a nation-wide scale, we get disasters like World War II. When it happens on a personal level, we get lying, cheating, theft and murder. People who do not feel loved cannot learn to show love. Every time you slight someone, every time you brush them off or push them aside, you push them down a dark path.

Love gives us power over other people, and people empower us through love. Think about all of the reasons you have to do good. I bet you will cite a person as the driving force in your life, friends and family you encouraged you, helped you, loved you. You feel good and do good because you know you are loved.

The opposite is also true. Think about all of the bad things that you have done, the times you acted out, acted on anger, hurt another’s feelings. Why did you do it? Because someone wasn’t giving you the love you needed. Educational psychologists have conducted studies which show that positive reinforcement, reward and encouragement, is far more affective than negative reinforcement, punishment and threats, in teaching children to learn and behave. Love makes us better, lack of love drags us down.

God shows us the magnitude of love’s power. He gives us love without end, and it is the people who have truly, fully known the love of God who have done the most for this world. When we are secure in the love of God, we need nothing else. His love is strong enough, as Paul says, to help us be content in all things. Hardship, poverty, danger, do not matter when the love of God is present. We don’t need anything else, and this gives us the power to live to our fullest potential. This is the power of God. This is the power God gave you.

Love is power. It sounds strange, but it’s true. It is one of the foundations of this world. And we have been entrusted with this power, every single one of us. So remember as you go about your life, work and play, that every action you take is full of power for good, or power for hate. Every time you interact with (or choose to ignore) another person, you help change the face of the world.

Half and half

I love learning foreign languages. They are interesting because they can present you with a different way of thinking about things. We use language to form thought, and so in some ways we are limited in our thinking by our linguistic capacity. Sure, we can think of things that we aren't able to explain with words, but for the most part we think with words. This is an amazing gift, it's something that sets us apart from the animals and makes us special, but it can also be limiting.

Memorizing lists of words and grammar structures is so different from actually communicating with someone in a foreign language. Especially if they don't understand your native language at all; because it means its entirely up to you to make yourself understood. My new neighbors are Hispanic, and the mother of the family next door only speaks Spanish, she doesn't really understand English at all. Which made having dinner with them an interesting experience. It takes patience to communicate when you only know half the language, a lot of patience and other forms of communication, like gestures and facial expressions. Eventually we make ourselves understood, but sometimes I am left feeling that I really only got half of her meaning.

Other times I have spoken with someone who does speak my language, but only about as well as I speak theirs. This is the case with the father of the family next door. I went to ask him for help with a minor plumbing problem. Did you ever learn the word for pipe or plumbing in your foreign language class? I didn't. Our conversations are half and half, half English half Spanish, and I think we understand each other. But sometimes, I still feel like I'm missing something.

I wonder if this is how God feels about us. He is trying to tell us something, but we don't understand. He is the one who has to translate His thinking and truth into our humble language. He can't use any other language, because this one is the only one we have. So he speaks slowly, carefully. He presents the same message in different ways at different times. He uses more than words; gestures, actions, signs in nature. Yet his speech to us, or at least what we understand of it, is like my simple Spanish when speaking with my neighbor. There's so much more I want to say, but since she can't understand English, our conversation is limited. But we don't stop trying, and the more we communicate, the easier it becomes.

Sometimes I feel like I only understand God halfway, like I'm still just learning the language and there's so much more there for me to see. I have to learn to listen before I can hear. Other times I feel like we're speaking half-and-half, like I am finally breaking into His language and getting the bigger, fuller picture that he intended, yet some of the words are still lost in translation.

It is a rewarding experience to learn a language well enough to carry on intelligent conversation with another speaker. You not only learn new words, but a new way of thinking, of communicating, of interacting with others. Let us not forget that even though we're made in His image, we don't speak God's language. At least, not yet. We're learners trying to flip through the vocabulary book and really catch the essence of the word.

I have found that, when communicating with a non-English speaker, they are usually kind and patient. They work with you because they know you are trying. God is this way. Getting to know God is like learning a new language. It is a never-ending process, and as non-native speakers, we'll never be fluent, never stop speaking with an accent. But we can get closer and closer, and the beautiful thing is that God draws closer to us. He tries to lay things out on our level, and then lift us up to the next. Right now when I pray I feel like I'm speaking half-and-half, I'm on my way, but I'm not there yet.

Six Days

We often hear about how God made the Sabbath, a day of rest, and how important it is to take time off, take it easy, relax and reflect on your creator. I don’t want to diminish this, we time to rest and time to slow down. But I also want to point out that we are only supposed to rest one-seventh of the time. God made one day for rest, and six for work.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard people complain about work. It’s hard, it’s not fun, and we have to do it. No one really likes it, yet it is good for us. We need work. More importantly, we were made to work. Work is necessary to a healthy, balanced, Christian life. Jesus was one of the hardest working people on the planet, and we need to follow in his footsteps.

Work does many good things for us, besides earning money for food and water and other important things. I’m not just talking about a job, either. Work means being productive, doing something to contribute to this thing we call the world.

We connect to each other through work. How many of your friends are people you know from work or school (which is also work, you just don’t get paid)? We build relationships by doing things with other people. We learn to give and to cooperate through work, and we learn the joy of doing something for someone else.

Life without work would be like that spaceship on Wall-E, the Pixar movie where humans left Earth and lived for generations on a perpetual cruise. No one knew how to do anything productive, and since they didn’t work, they lost the ability even to walk or help themselves when trouble came. Work makes us strong, and keeps us healthy.

Work teaches us humility. People who don’t work don’t understand how much effort goes into sustaining life. They think they can do anything, and have anything, because they put out no effort to get it. Work teaches us to value what we have, and to understand that everything comes at a price.

There is a Reliant K song that sums it up well. “We have to face the cycle of the double-edged sword of being lazy and being bored, because it’s completely up to us to maintain consciousness.”

We are responsible for getting ourselves up off our rear-ends, getting out into the world, and DOING something. God doesn’t want us to sit back and just enjoy life. He wants us to have joy, yes, but life should never be a vacation. Life is work, whether you’re getting paid for what you do or not. Do something, do it well, and do it for the Lord. It’s the reason you were made.

Spend six days being productive. You only get one to relax. And that’s the way it should be. Because work is good.

Love is Fun

People often think of love as being such a serious topic. Love is patient, love is kind, love is hard, love is work. Love led Jesus to die on the cross. But that’s just one side of it. Love is also fun, and laughter is an expression of love.

Think about it. How many times do you laugh alone? How often do you laugh with other people? The times my sides have hurt the most and my cheeks ached because I couldn’t stop smiling were also the times I spent with the people I love the most. Laughter is infectious because when others are happy, it makes us happy. Even when you laugh alone, at a funny book or movie, you laugh because of something someone else did, something someone else made. Laughter is never a solitary act; it is about relationships, just like love.

Most games take at least two players. There must be contact, an exchange of information, interaction. We use games called ‘icebreakers’ to get people to know each other by having fun together. Relationships grow through games, through having fun. We have more fun with people than we can alone.

The funniest thing is that the fun is better for everyone when people give. The game starts to turn sour when one person hogs the ball, or gloats too much about their winning streak. Fun and games can test our bonds of love, teach us to win graciously and lose well.

Through play we see the simplest truths about the world, about people and about how to be happy. We learn when to let someone else take a turn, when to step in and take the lead, and how to work with others to get something accomplished. No wonder many high school athletes go on to be successful professionals, even if they don’t every play a sport again. Play teaches us how to live.

God mad us for great joy, but because it is our great strength, it can also be horribly misused.

Laughter can turn around and smack you in the face. It can do exactly the opposite of its intended task. Wrong laughter can be poison. We have all seen it, and felt it. When the group of girls laughs at someone who is poorly dressed, or the class giggles when the student the teacher called on answers wrong. Laughter is a powerful tool for unity, but that same power can be used destructively.

Scary that something so fun can be so bad. Being laughed at can be the worst emotional torment, just as laughter can be the best medicine. How you have fun is just as important as how you deal with the serious issues. Every aspect of your life is a chance to let God shine, especially in the laughter.

Family Web

Family is one of God's greatest inventions. Sometimes they can be annoying, sometimes we get mad at them. But when we have family, we are never alone. Family forms a web of support, binding each other together with many links so that if one strand breaks, the rest is still intact. If one member falls, there are many to lift them up.

We are getting ready to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday, and once again I am reminded of how important family is. In a few days I will go and spend the day with people that I don't actually see that often, people that have jobs and lives and homes and even other relatives somewhere else. Yet I trust each of these people completely, and I know that they love me. I know that if I need anything, help or advice, I can go to them without hesitation because they are family, and that is what family does.

I grew up strong because of my family. The particulars of how I was raised, forms of discipline, school selection and family rituals like Christmas-tree decorating aren't important. What is important is that my parents were there, my sisters were there for me, and they still are. I knew that whenever I had a hard day, I could come home to family, and that hasn't changed. I knew that when something bad happened, I would find sympathy at home. I knew that as long as I did my best, my parents were proud no matter what the result of my effort, and that in itself gives me the courage to try.

Knowing that someone cares for you is the strongest force in the world. It helps you get out of bed in the morning, helps you face failure, helps give you something to strive for. I want my family to know that I am ok. I take better care of myself because I know they worry about me. When getting ready to drive back to college, a four-hour trip, I would get a little sick of hearing everyone say "Drive safe!" Yet it was important that they said it, because I knew they meant it. Now I do it to my sister, and I pray for every hour she's on the road between Jopplin and Normal. At the end of the road, I would be so tired and not want to call Mom and Dad and say, "Arrived alive." Yet I cannot imagine how terribly lonely it must be to have no one to call, no one waiting on the other end who will check in if you don't call on time.

I have always been blessed with family, and I know that family is one of the greatest sources of strength in my life. Even if they aren't present, just knowing that they exist is a help. I know, however, that far too many people do not have family. They might have relatives, but there is no web, no deep bond of love that binds them together, no sense of security and help, no person waiting for the call at the end of a long trip.

Part of our responsibility as lovers of Jesus is to make family. Do you know anyone who is alone? Invite them in. Make them part of your family. Give them the web of support, a place full of warm fuzzies and people that, even if they don't know them that well, they know they can trust. This is what the church is supposed to be. Sometimes the church lives up to the task, and sometimes it doesn't. Never rely on the church to do the work, make sure that it happens yourself. Because family isn't about blood, family is about relationships. No one can survive alone. We need each other.

My Jericho

Why does the lark sing as the night dies?
What does the dawn bring but more unhappy skies?
Why do we go on in this dark world?
What moves us ahead where spears and darts are hurled?

I cry out in a barren land.
I reach out for your hidden hand.
I hope for help because you can
Make the walls fall down,
My Jericho.

Why does the day dawn with blood in its eye?
What does the noon bring but sweat and white-hot skies?
Why do we smile when we should weep?
Why do we work hard for nothing we can keep?

I cry out in a barren land.
I reach out for your hidden hand.
I hope for help because you can
Make the walls fall down,
My Jericho.

Why does a poor boy sing with new joy?
What does he see now that makes his heart rejoice?
Why does a lost girl smile at her fate?
What has she found now that can make this life great?

You bring hope to a barren land.
You show us your hidden hand.
There’s hope for help because you have
Brought the walls tumbling down around Jericho.

The Family is Here

Hide your face away. They cannot see you cry.
You cannot win this fight unless your eyes are dry.
Hide your heart away. They cannot see your pain.
You cannot lose if you have nothing to gain.

Now the body is here to soothe your fears.
Now the body is here to dry your tears.
You’ve been alone for all these years,
Now the family’s here.
Now the family’s here.

Hide your love away. They cannot see you care.
You cannot loose if you never take the dare.
Hide your trust away. They cannot see you hope.
You cannot win if you lose the will to cope.

Now the body is here to soothe your fears.
Now the body is here to dry your tears.
You’ve been alone for all these years,
Now the family’s here.
Now the family’s here.

Troubled heart, wounded soul,
Searching for a hand to hold.
Fallen world saved by grace
Help the lost find a place.

Without You

A desert, empty, cracked earth and sand.
This is the world without you.
A night of clouds, no stars or moon.
This is my life without you.
Air full of fog, no sight or sound.
This is my heart without you.

Your name means love, and that is what saves me.
Your life was grace, and that will change me.
Your death is hope, and this is what guides me into your arms.

Exercise

You can hardly drive down the street anymore without seeing it. People dressed in sweats and t-shirts, usually with ear buds and an i-pod on, running, biking, or speed walking. It's called exercise, and most people don't do it because they enjoy it, they do it because they're supposed to. It's an important part of staying healthy, being fit and skinny (which is essential for our culture's definition of beauty) and to live a longer life. As if running every day will keep death at bay.
There are hundreds more you don't see, who exercise inside their homes or in fancy gyms with all sort of equipment and trainers who help them get the most out of their twenty-thirty minutes of activity.
The thing is, we only need to exercise because our lives are too sedentary. The exercise craze began when activity halted. People started working at desks all day instead of out in the field. Someone who is on their feet for eight hours a day doesn't need to go spend half an hour specifically burning calories the same way someone who sits in a cubicle does. Our bodies were made to be active, and we only have to schedule activity, plan exercise, go out of our way to maintain healthy muscles and bones because our lifestyle no longer naturally gives it to us. If we would get up, get out, and live active lives like we used to, the gym would become obsolete. Kids are obese because they sit in front of video games instead of playing outside.
Sometimes I think the same is true of our spiritual life. People compare Bible study to spiritual exercise. We need to get our twenty-minutes a day in, or else we will loose focus, become more worldly. We have to try hard to work it into our schedule and stay disciplined, or else we'll fall off and not get closer to God.
But the only reason we have to work Bible study into our schedule, the only reason we are in need of spiritual exercise is because we don't live spiritually engaging lives. If we were truly setting out to serve God every day, we would be spiritually healthy. If we served him, we would pray for strength and help in our work. If we walked with him, we wouldn't have to schedule a daily devotional time because we'd be immersed in the Bible already.
When living a spiritual, Christ-centered life becomes something that you have to schedule, have to find time for, it is not Chrsit-centered at all. We shouldn't need to exercise if we would life healthy, active lives. We shouldn't have to worry about our spiritual health if we would actually step up and live spritiual lives. Put God first. Because reading your Bible and praying isn't just your twenty minutes of spritual exercise. It should be the service of your life.

Can't help ourselves

As part of my writing for www.examiner.com/peoria I thought it would be a good idea to read and review some recently published Christian books. Now, I don't normally read a lot of nonfiction, but I want to get into the habit because there is some good stuff out there. So I wandered over to the nonfiction section where religios books are, expecting to find Bible commentaries and Christian books, as well as books from other religions, it being the 'religion' section and all.

Intermixed with all of the religous books--Christian, Taosit, Buddhist, Muslim--I saw something that completely surprised me. Self help books, books about how to be happy, how to be stress-free, how to live life to the fullest without any real religious background were mixed in with the rest.

It didn't make any sense to me. Religion is about seeking after truth, trying to understand the universe and our place in it, seeking to get to know the God who created us and do His will. It's about Him, about leaving self behind. So why all the self-improvement books?

Because that is how many people see religion and spirituality. It is a way to make yourself feel good, a way to make yourself feel secure in the universe and deal with all of the trauma life has thrown at you. Most people don't come to religion, dont' look for God, because they want the truth. They come because they want comfort. They want the magic formula that will eliminate stress, help them deal with their inadequacy and their pain, make life better. They want to be helped, and so these things that have nothing to do with God and truth get added to the mix.

Distressingly, many "Christian" books are also self-help books. They take a person through the steps to improve their life, to be a better me, to pick yourself up and put yourself back on the right track. Many Christian books are just like the secular books in their approach. Yeah, they mention God, but if you look beneath the religious cover, you'll see that they're all the same.

Because God isn't about self-help. God is about self-denial. You can't pick yourself up and put yourself back on the right path. You can't ensure that your life will be stress-free and pain-free. You can't survive on coping mechanisms and ten-step strategies. We can only survive on God, by relying on him.

Yes, God wants to help us do everything those self-help books steer you toward. He wants to see us smile, wants to see us laugh off the stress, wants to put our grief away and place us on the right path. But that's not the end of it. Self-help books are self-centered, and that's the problem with them. God wants us to go beyond that. He will put us on the right path, and then we must go and do likewise, we must go help others, serve others, give. We can't choose our path, we can't strategize to get everything we want. We need to listen to what God wants. Self-help tells us to listen to ourselves, our inner needs and wants, our hopes and dreams. God tells us to set those aside, and that's not a popular statement.

Which is why popular Christianity has become a self-help religion, and that is why the church is failing, crumbling, losing morality and power. We've taken the focus off of God and turned it back to ourselves. This is not the way it should be. When we focus on God, he gives us everything the self-help books offer and more.

Touch

Take off your shoes, this is holy ground.
Dagon falls face down.
Angels are all around in the place where you are found.

Waters part, walls fall.
The earth shakes and armies crawl
Away in shame from the fame
Of your presence, your holy name.

We can’t touch you
We can’t see you
We can’t touch you
Can we know you?

Luxury is Oppression

The more wealth exists in the world, the more oppression and poverty also grow. One cannot exist without the other. There can be no prosperity without oppression. Economics textbooks say that resources are limited, and must be distributed according to certain rules of supply and demand. Ability to obtain resources dictates how much someone can have. The scarcity or availability of certain resources determines how much they are worth. Since not everyone can have everything, we develop systems through which some people get stuff, and others don‘t.
This is a poor excuse for the oppression of many while a select few sit back and accumulate wealth. It is not the way the world should work, nor the way the world must work. If Jesus believed in capitalism, he wouldn’t have told his disciples to leave their boats, that is, their small businesses, to follow him.
Luxury creats oppression two ways. First, when we buy products produced through oppressive means. Slave labor was used to make sugar for over a hundred years. Everyone who bought slave-made sugar helped slave owners and slave traders make profit and gave them reason to continue enslaving millions. The British bought tea from China, but they wanted the tea to be cheaper so they sold the Chinese opium, addicting thousands. Everyone who bought that tea contributed to the opium trade.
These examples are from history, but the problem is still rampant today. Would you buy sugar made by slaves? Do you buy clothes made in sweatshops? Do you eat at fast food places where the cashier and the person assembling your burger only make minimum wage? Do you shop at stores like Wal-Mart, where workers aren’t allowed to form unions?
The second way luxury creates oppression is the way we divide our resources. When we buy things we don’t need, we give money to big companies that pay CEOs huge amounts of money to sit in fancy offices wearing suits that cost what some people make in a year. We feed their luxury with our own. When we spend our time at the movies or lounging around, we take volunteer time away from people who need help.
Free market capitalism says make as much money as you can, any way you can. Jesus says give, give everything you have away. The early church combined their resources. No one owned personal property. Those who entered the church with wealth became poor, but no one was in need.
Every time to take more than you need, you participate in oppression. Every penny a girl spends on extra clothes or shoes at the mall is a penny that could go to putting food in a hungry belly. Every dollar a boy spends to fix up that cool car could go to building homes for people without a place to stay. Every hamburger, milkshake, ice cream cone, could be put to better use than simply pleasing our taste buds.
We are not entitled to luxury until every mouth in the world is fed, every body clothed, every orphan given a home. Every resource--time, money, energy--spent on personal luxury is part of the cycle of oppression that fills this world. It won’t be fixed until we stop living for pleasure and start loving. Giving.
I’m not saying you should go around in rags and starve yourself. I’m not saying you can’t enjoy a treat now and then. But how much of what you have do you really need?
How much of it could truly benefit someone else?
How much would you really lose if you gave it away?
As Jesus said to the rich young man, go sell all your possessions, give your money to the poor, and then you can follow me. Many preachers say that everyone doesn’t have to do that. This lesson was for the rich young man. It is about not fixing your hope in wealth, not being too attached to material things.
I think those preachers are wrong. The truth isn’t popular, and it isn’t easy. It could get you booted out of the pulpit.
Jesus meant those words for each one of us. If you want to follow him, really follow him, you’ve got to give up your luxuries. Because Jesus was all about freedom from oppression. Luxury creates oppression. Therefore, we sould not strive for personal wealth. We strive to help others.

Firefly

Fireflies bob across the grass
Summer’s mystic twilight dance.
Lights flicker, glow for a breath
Then wink out, there’s nothing left.

In your life, how do you shine?
Are you like these fireflies?
Do some good when it feels right,
Then turn and blend in with the night?

Now see the stars burning bright.
Steady light shines every night.
They endure while fireflies die.
How will it be in your life?

To flicker for a moment
Stuck in a world lost to sleep,
Or high in heaven’s ceiling
Shine with the angles for all time.

Can't be in control

‘Out of Control’ was the topic of a post last week, but I think that the issue deserves an even closer look. It is one of the most important things we must learn when following Jesus, and it is a lesson shown over and over again in the Bible.

Let’s look at a few examples.

This was one of King Saul’s problems. Time and again he didn’t wait for instruction from God, he did things his own way. Instead of sacrificing all of his plunder to God, he let his soldiers keep some. Instead of waiting for Samuel to perform a sacrifice, Saul did it himself. He was afraid that a man more popular than him would take his throne, and didn’t trust God to protect the crown He had given him.

But Saul is easy to speak badly of, he is famous for his failure. Even David, the man after God’s own heart, unanimously voted best king of Israel and the guy God gave a promise to for an everlasting kingdom, even David had trouble learning this lesson.

David didn‘t have any problems letting God take control in the beginning; he didn’t have that much to loose when it was just him against Goliath. He trusted God and followed God’s plan. When he was running from Saul and hiding out in the wilderness, he couldn’t do much besides trust God to handle things. It’s when he becomes king, when he gets old and has all sorts of responsibilities and people looking up to him that David seems to forget this important precept.

He orders a census taken. Now, our modern minds think of a census as a good thing. It is an important component of any large civilization. A government needs to know how many people there are to tax them, and to spend the taxes properly. David wanted to know how many fighting men were in his country. God got mad, because David wasn’t relying on HIM to protect Israel anymore, he was relying on the size of his army.

David tried to take control of the situation, and God punished him for it. But Jephthah fared even worse. He tried to bargain with God, strike a deal; victory in battle for a sacrifice. The sacrifice turned out to be his own daughter. Jephthah didn’t trust God to take care of him and his people, he thought he had to find a way to control the situation. It cost him his family.

Rich Mullins is one of my favorite songwriters. He has a way to striking at the heart of an issue, particularly in his song, “Alright. Okay. Uhuh. Amen.” This is what we should be saying to God all the time. Yes, I’ll do what you want, the way you want it. When we try to do things any other way, we fail. The song goes, “I’d rather fight you for something I don’t really want than take what you give that I need.”

Jesus said, ‘Don’t worry,” and he meant it. When we worry, we show God that we don’t trust him. When we worry, we try to take matters into our own hands. We forget that the God who made the universe can and will do whatever he wants. We also forget that, “In all things we works for the good of those who love Him.”

“Those to find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Give God the steering wheel, because it’s the only way to survive.

Mute

There are tons of healing stories in the Bible. Jesus healed all sorts of people. Sometimes that’s just the tagline. “And he healed the sick and cast out demons.” Sometimes the story goes into more detail. They can all blur together after a while, though. We get the picture, Jesus healed people. A good thing, to be sure, but after years of Sunday School and Sunday sermons, weekly Bible studies and daily Bible readings, it is easy to gloss over these stories. I’ve heard them all before.

So it always surprises me when something new jumps off the page. It shouldn’t--God’s word is living and active as any double-edged sword. It is always powerful. Still, noticing new things in old stories never ceases to amaze me.

In Matthew 9, there are several healing stories one after the other. A woman touched his cloak and was healed, a ruler’s daughter is raised from the dead. Then a mute man is brought before Jesus, who casts out the demon and the man speaks. Then, in chapter 10, Jesus sends his disciples out to preach the Kingdom.

Wow. Slow down and think about that. Jesus opens the mouth of a man who could not speak, and then sends his disciples out to speak for him. In a way, the disciples were once mute as well--they didn’t know anything about Jesus and his kingdom and so couldn’t speak a word about it. Then they went around the entire country, and the entire known world, proclaiming His message.

How many of us are mute, holding the love of Jesus tight in our hearts but not getting out and sharing it? I know I have been. It took a lot for me to start posting blogs for the public to see. I feel like, little by little, God is opening my mouth. I am mute, and he is helping me learn to speak.

I know that many of you are strong speakers, teachers, leaders who speak unafraid and unashamed of the salvation that you know. That is wonderful! But I also know that many people are like me, who believe in Jesus but don’t quite know how to talk about it. Who know love, but aren’t quite sure how to share it.

Jesus does not want us to be mute. Let him loosen your tongue and open your mouth. He did it for twelve humble men, and he can do it for you. Again and again Jesus says that he heals according to the person’s faith. “Go, your faith has made you well.”

Everyone has an area of their life where they know there is more they should be doing, but something is holding them back. Trust Jesus and go do it. The mute man would never know he was healed if he didn’t try to speak. Whatever it is you need to heal, fix or change in your life, give it a try. Don’t hold back anymore. Open up your mouth and babble until Jesus makes your words intelligible.

Out of Control

What were pagan religions all about? What was the point, the purpose behind all of the sacrifices and prayers? Why was magic such a big part of Egyptian religion?

It was all about control. People brought sacrifices to different gods in order to get something from them. The sacrifice was like a bribe to get the god to send rain or warm weather, to help the fields grow or to bring in a good harvest. In a harsh and unpredictable world, religion offered a way to try to affect the future.

Religion isn’t just about explaining how the world exists and our purpose in it, it is about controlling your fate. At least, most religions are.

God sent Jesus with a different message. “Do not worry about what you will eat or what you will wear. The Gentiles strive after these things.” God knows what we need, and he is in control.

We don’t need to offer sacrifices to bring the rain, we don’t need to chant magical prayers to bring healing. We only need to trust Him. Our sacrifices are not sacrifices that attempt to control God or bribe him into doing what we want. Our sacrifices are marks of thanks for what God has done, and what he will do.

How often do we treat prayer and God just the opposite? We ask for what we want, not for his will to be done. We strive for what we need, and do God’s work in our free time. We have turned things around, and are back exactly where we started. This is not how God wants us to live, trying to control our lives.

Other religions are about control, about getting what you need and satisfying yourself. Our life with God should not be like that; we must deny self. We must banish the fiction that we can control anything. We never have been able to, and we never will. It is when our lives are completely and totally out of control that we can fully live for God.

My aunt has a sign on her fridge, one that I will never forget. “Good Morning. This is GOD. I will be handing ALL of your problems today. You don’t need to do a THING. So have a nice day.”

You can’t control anything except yourself; how you live, how you act, your relationship with God. Worry about where you stand with Him and what He wants you to do. Food, clothes, money, all of that will sort itself out. If you try to change it, you’ll just frustrate yourself.

So be out of control. It’s okay. That’s God’s job. Yours is a lot simpler. Just do as your told. Seek the lord with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind, and he will make your paths straight.