hope

"hope nurtures the soul like a cupped hand protects a flame."

-unknown

God with Us

What does God feel as He sees these calamities, this flood of human suffering that washes our globe in an ocean of pain? Even those of us, His children, that have not felt the depths of horror, pain, and despair that so many of His other children daily do, have had our hearts rent to some extent. We hope and dream; we despair and cry. Our propensity to chose our own path, often at the expense of others, is a tragedy of cosmic proportions. In all of our broken homes, all of our wars, all of our starvation and death, where is God?

It's easy to feel God is far removed, somehow remotely indifferent to the suffering we mortals have brought upon ourselves. I think this might be one of the biggest reasons God came to earth in a human body... Jesus... To identify with us in our suffering and show us how he really feels about our pain. Look at how Jesus responded to the suffering people He encountered. Far from ignoring or avoiding them, He touched the ones who the rest of us would rather not. One of the pictures I've come to cherish is that of Jesus outside Lazarus's tomb. Surrounded by people mourning the death that we still aren't used to, even after centuries of it affecting our lives almost daily in some form or another, Jesus cried. These people He created and... loves... had messed things up so badly, come so far from the beautiful life He had intended for them, and His heart broke for them. He lowered Himself to speak in their language of pain, their language of tears. Doesn't His doing so bring dignity and redemption to suffering?

The God of the universe cries over our mangled hearts.

we

we big
we tough
we doin big stuff
we sho' we can make it
we goin out to take it
we crash
we burn
we empty an lost
we needin You, Jesus
we need You to hold us
we not sho' what street to take
we not sho' what's left to break
we here
we scared
we homeless an' cold
we need You to be our fire
we need Your voice singin in dis choir

Plea to a Fairy in Danger

Clip your wings
And you'll be a wood mouse
Ground-tied
Timid
Scurrying
What will you offer your world
As you nibble on acorns?

Fly, fly!
Transparent beauty
Candle in the storm
Glass castle on the rocks
Leave fairy-dust in your wake
Flitting, elusive
Touch briefly the mundane
So it, remembering, glows in after-light

Overheard...

...in the FB cafeteria.

Person A: (inspecting book just received in mail) makes comment on chapter on the non-violence of Jesus

Person B: "Jesus was non-violent? I thought He was a radical freak."

Person C: "It was His non-violence that MADE Him a radical freak."

Containing Sand, Music, and Change

Sometimes it's easier to live with your head under the sand. It's nice and cool down there. You can't see anything that disturbs you. You don't have to think any thoughts except the ones that please and comfort your head. In any situation, however positive, there are bound to be disadvantages. Would you consider the lower concentration of oxygen, or the darkness to which your eyes will finally adjust and loathe the sun (or "Yellow Face", to quote poor Gollum)? Besides, (but this might be peculiar to me) the position is highly un-flattering.

If your head is above the level of the ground, you don't have to look far to see some disturbing stuff. There are well-covered stories like the "conflict", as we so neatly dub it, in Gaza. The pictures we hardly want to look at because they make us sick to our stomachs are not merely pictures for so many people. There are nearly-ignored stories like the LRA's abduction of Uganda's and Sudan's children and the horror and terror of what it means to be a kid soldier and be forced to hack your friends to death and drink their blood. There are stories of neglect, pain, and despair all around you, no matter where on God's earth you live. And still we push our grocery carts past each other without even meeting the eyes of people two feet from us. It doesn't take a thorough analysis to concede that things simply can't go on like this. Humanity is desperate for change.

Someone says "change", and all eyes swivel toward the American Mecca: Capitol Hill. We beg the powerful to wreak more havoc on one group of people to vindicate and emancipate another. After writing our friendly local Congressmen, we wait for salvation to descend. Sometimes we are successful; a new law is passed to remove offenders that mess up our complacent personal landscapes. Then we complain that we pay so many tax dollars to feed and clothe those in jail... and therefore conclude that it would be benefit the general populace if more inmates got death to alleviate the situation. And the choking chaos continues.

Change that lasts... change that breathes welcome, refreshing hope and peace into neighborhoods around the global country without borders, doesn't rely on power and laws. It happens slowly, one person at a time, growing higher and stronger as its green tendrils caress the cracks of one broken home after another. The brokenness may look too devastating, too permanent, for redemption, but here's something I've come to deeply believe: every act counts. Even the big events of life are comprised of small happenings. Brothers and sisters, let's mobilize! Look around you; things need to change. With every friend you make, every smile you give, every mouth you feed, evil is untwisted; love changes lives. We, the Church of Jesus Christ need to become His hands and feet. We've resorted to shoving papers into the faces of the people who need us, rather than knowing them. For this mess to change, we have to change our lethargic indifference.

Tree 63's invigorating "Becoming" from their "Sunday!" album says it well:

Does anybody feel a change coming?
Does anybody feel like up and
running?
Does anybody here want to volunteer
To break through into a new
atmosphere?

CHORUS
Here we go, here we go -
We're becoming
the One we know
Here we go, here we go -
Heaven is becoming our
home

Did anybody see the sun setting?
Does anybody want to spend
time regretting?
Is anybody tired of owing yesterday?
Does anybody know
that someone else paid?

CHORUS

Does anybody know
what's really missing?
Does anybody here feel heaven insisting?
Does
anybody here long to disappear?
Does anybody anybody?
Here we
go!

CHORUS

(WARNING! Commercial ahead!) If you at all appreciate the contemporary genre, you'll love Tree 63. Originally based in South Africa, they are one of the best things that has happened to me, musically and spiritually. Thoughtful, challenging lyrics, diverse song line-ups, excellent sound, and impressive vocals by lead singer/songwriter John Ellis... delectable! :)

Pretending that our world is OK will only put us in the same category as the oppressor. Let's get finished being the priest and Levite already. Don't let your limits keep you from being a Good Samaritan. Dream big; start small. Let's be the change God weeps for as He looks at the mess we've made.

With these thoughts in mind, ponder this quote:

We cannot rebuild the world by ourselves,
but we can have a small part in it
by beginning where we are.
It may only be taking care of a neighbor's child
or inviting someone to dinner,
but it is important.

-Donna L. Glazier