cairns

There is another reason I decided against another term for a person of all people.  We already have the word disciple used by Jesus.  Or in the book of Genesis we are told that God originally called both the man and the woman Adam as they were given the command to be and to spread throughout the Earth.  Then the story is repeated in the family of Noah remembered by God and rescued from the chaos (represented by water again) and then sent forth with the animals to spread life throughout the Earth.  And again in the story of Babel we hear God demanding that mankind spread out and become all the peoples of the Earth for God’s glory rather than their own.  Man is to be everywhere on the planet in communion with the Creator and Creation (including each other).

When the covenant is made with Abraham, (even tough often applied to one half or the other of his descendants to the exclusion of all others), the narrative indicates that the blessing was already intended to be for all people.  The slaves in Egypt (the first of many Empires condemned for exploiting the other) cry out and are heard by God, rescued, blessed, and told again to welcome and bless all people.  Solomon built a great temple and dedicated it to the purpose of blessing all people with the knowledge of God.  Having reverted to Empire themselves, they fall and are carried of into exile where the new prophets, and recorders of much of what we call the Bible, emerge.  This time the prophecies are so obviously intended for all creation that gentile (non-Jewish, pagan, “other”) Christians have never doubted these beautiful passages apply to themselves.

(Sadly many chose a broken logic which said the promises no longer belonged to Israel, to whom they were spoken, or the rest of the world as is obvious in the passages.)

Jesus came and declared that God was in our midst, that we would now worship not in one place or another but everywhere in Spirit and in Truth.  And he directed his followers to take the news to the ends of the Earth.  Then John wrote a letter of amazing symbols, images, and poetry to some of the early churches (which many again stole and found a broken logic to apply only to themselves on some magic future day) declaring that after the times of suffering would come a world predicted by the prophets where all the people of the earth worship God in song completing the order intended since creation…

The term for a person who belongs to all people is Adam, human, Jesus.  The term for a person learning to follow this Way from Jesus is disciple.  It has always been intended as the Way for all — to walk humbly upon the Earth loving justice and helping the helpless.  It is what “human” should mean.

But we have twisted the narrative, cut and pasted the passages, stolen the heritage of others and applied them as solely our own.  In my own country we still cling to our pride of Empire claiming like the Romans that we bring peace to the world by conquest.  At times each street corner church seems to believe the descriptions of man in right relationship with God will come true in a special way for only those exactly like themselves.

And, my own country led the way in developing the capacity to destroy the world at one unspeakable command.  Now, we see that our excessive consumption and overuse of the ancient substances from deep within the Earth threatens to bring about nearly the same result more slowly and painfully.  And we, with hubris beyond any the world has yet seen, declare that we do not care as long as we can defend our borders, take other’s resources, and live our lifestyle as long as possible.  We choose ignorance of the facts as our claim of innocence while continuing to make war when and where we choose through both our military and our dollars.  But the fruit was eaten long ago and we are neither ignorant nor innocent.  We have placed all creation in peril by intentional acts of the will.

And still!!  There is a Spirit moving upon the face of the deep!  The voice of the oppressed is always heard and the time for revelation of Truth draws near.  People across the globe, many of them young, are waking up to the joy of each other, to a Spirit larger than their family, houses of worship, cultures or nations.  They are spreading the hope, truth, and love like fire.

Many of us have experienced the joy sung by the prophets in worship with those of other places, colors, and languages.  Join together with global friends in worship of the One beyond all the mind can comprehend and realize that difference makes no difference as voices raise in orchestral harmony, and you are forever changed.

We are outnumbered.

But, we are aligned with the power that holds the universe together.  It is time to unify with each other to pray, to hope, to sing, to dance until the walls again tremble and fall and people are free to be

HUMAN.

peace

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To be honest, in many ways I simply gave up on them.  But, most of this will be about where my hope rests.

Mathew 6:25-34 says I do not have to worry about man.  It is God who provides, and man cannot add anything by worrying about things he does not control.

Romans 8:37-39 says we are already the conquerors because nothing is capable of removing us from the love of  God.

The entire Bible confirms that God is profoundly interested in the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the helpless — all those who know they have no other hope but God.

So, I am firmly convinced that the gifts God gives are secure; and no man, government, circumstance, or terrorist can remove them.  I am also firmly convinced that what God chooses to withhold cannot be given by man.

And yet, the Word clearly calls on us to care for the widow and orphan, to love justice, and to provide for those in need.  Because the mystery of our resurrection in Christ through baptism places us as the current body of Christ on Earth, we are called to do those things that God does.  And, this brings me up short of over concern with government on another front.

When the conservatives are in power and want government to serve the interests of war and industry, I am tempted to complain that they do not do what the Biblical texts call on governments to do.  Then, I am brought up short.  It says that I am animated by the very Spirit of God and called to do those things.  I find no mention of the government as an entity experiencing the same grace or call.

When the liberals are in power and want government to step up and do the work of caring for those in need, I am tempted as much as my most conservative friends to grouse about everything the government does costing me more money while providing little to those who work for a living like my family.  Then, I am brought up short.  If I, if the Christian community — (Both Jews and Muslims also claim to believe in the same Old Testament God who compels justice for the powerless.  Native American practiced it most of the original cultures of this continent with no claim to the Gospel mandate. The list goes on.  But, my faith and hope are within the context of Christianity.) — again, if we who claim to know, love, and serve the God of mercy had taken care of the infirm and the destitute [to the measure of their need rather than the salving of our consciences] there would be no issue for the government to try to solve.  I have worked with families in these situations for most of my career, and I know they are real.  I have tried to give their children hope through education and exposure to Truth.  But, I know the issue is real.  I know my God calls us to minister to the need.  So, when my government tries its feeble best to do human engineered solutions the limit to my anger is conviction.  We were supposed to care for our neighbors and enemies as children of the same God.

I am a political cynic.  Whatever the government does will most likely cost me money and solve very few problems.  But, I am an optimist in faith that life does not come from governments.  It is by the ongoing gifts of God that we have our being, our meaning, our sustenance, and our hope.

The king is dead, long live the King.

peace

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The Solstice has come again, the western New Year has arrived. So, I would like to hear; how has the light come to you in new ways? Or, how have you become a light in new ways — big or small. Remember in the darkest times, a very small light changes everything!
peace

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OK, I have a combination of pain and exhaustion plus no idea what we are supposed to do for Mom already playing in my head when R posts about whether today is the beginning of the rest of his life.

How weird is it to think that maybe death is the rest at the beginning of our life?

peace

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Made it through.  Glad today’s Saturday class was with a solid group.  Sad to hear another person with a gut punched life interruption asking for prayer, but honored to join her in seeking real grace and power.  I guess my mother went back to her house today, but I was working and did not check or hear from anyone.

All in all one of those weeks that takes me back to memories of my old 40cc Austrian motorbike, riding it as fast as it would go (40mph max downhill or about 5 straight up a tree) and jumping dirt ramps and tree roots.  Crashing, tumbling, going again as fast as before.  That was on purpose, fun for a kid.  This week wasn’t, and I feel old.

But, I noticed a strange thing this week.  After several weeks away from our old mega-church home, I no longer tear up at the slightest provocation.  Old and tired, but not defeated, stretched and bruised, but not distraught, more and more aware of pain all around, and more and more determined to keep others lifted up with and to love and grace for the glory of God.

peace

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A good friend going through hell caused by one of the very people a person is always supposed to be able to trust, opened a chat with me this evening.

Had to ask me if it was safe to express strong negative feelings about the other person.  Apologized if my wife and I have been let down in any way by the other person’s life not following the perfect path everyone imagines.  The pain is so tangible you can feel it coming through short chat window conversation bites.  And yet the questions and apologies seemed necessary to them.  On my end, I was deeply honored and touched to be trusted and allowed to be a friend when friends are all one has.

But Lord!  May God forgive me for every time I have been, or in the future will slip and be, a person that needs to be asked those questions or given that apology!  If we cannot accept each other when life is raw and the need for friends is real, then we have never really accepted each other at all.

If God only loved us when we deserved it, we’d all be toast.  He loves us even while we are running off with the family fortune with the prodigal, when we are the self-righteous self-pitying older brother, and when we are the pigs!  Granted that we express imperfectly all of the virtues, can our standard for caring about each other be any less than unconditional after the love we have been given?  I begin again to understand just how damaging the theologies of God only loving the correct few really are.  They leave even the best of us wondering if we are really good enough when the chips are down.  If we are willing to believe that God rejects “them,” whoever “they” are, then it becomes so easy to believe that we can follow suit.  Then we live in fear that anyone who truly knows us will decide we are “them.”  The only alternative for a truly caring human being is to love, period.  May the Truth break through in fresh and amazing ways that God does exactly that for all of us, leaving no “them.”

This is the Church I love! I love the Church (in a cathedral, a forest, or a prison) when she is a place for wounded ragamuffins to come together brave enough to share the truth (especially when Truth seems far away) and say, “Hold on for me while I am too weak to sustain myself.”  When our cries to each other become heart cries to God, not fodder for gossip filled “prayer chains;”  when we are willing to laugh and sing, but also weep and bleed in unity; when we are willing to “be there” regardless; when we are willing to put aside anything that damages our ability to love as we are loved — That’s Church.  That’s Incarnation.  That’s Communion.  That is when the Kingdom shines through the darkness.

God bless everyone of you who has been and continues to be that kind of friend to, for, and with me (whether you express it in these words or not), you are the Church.  Keep making little moves against the darkness.  You may be the last lifeline.  If you need me, know that my loyalty has no riders or qualifications.  I count on the same from you.

Be blessed.  You are treasured more than prosperity, fame, or mortal life.  You are the visible expression of the invisible God.  Together we will find ourselves a home.

peace

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As Robert McAfee Brown once said about the meaning of life, it is “our task to create foretastes of [the Kingdom of God] on this planet — living glimpses of what life is meant to be, which include art and music and poetry and shared laughter and picnics and politics and moral outrage and special privileges for children only and wonder and humor and endless love.” (Frost & Hirsch. ReJesus. p. 29)

What I find interesting today as I finish one book and begin this one, is that the folks who see the Gospel in this liberating participatory way are the least likely to take things literally.

Fully aware of the dangers of literalism, I wonder still what would happen if we took Jesus teaching on these areas literally.  If we have become walking, talking, laughing, loving vessels of God, why should our creativity be limited to mere “glimpses?”  Is God’s?  Are we doing our work or participating in God’s?  What if we took it seriously that we are living in and contributing to the very present Kingdom of God?  Looking backwards it could bring me to tears, looking forward it gives me goosebumps!

peace

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They both left the hospital today; my friend Roger to come home for more tests and to spend more time with us, my little friend Eric to finally walk, run, laugh, talk, hug, and sing praise.  I believe it.  I know it.  I cherish the hope that he now can experience all that has shown these ten years through only his face on an immobile body.  But, all I feel is the leaving.  I hear my wife crying and know I am too.

“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done ON EARTH as it is in Heaven.”  We aren’t big enough to heal each other, save each other, restore each other.  We need the Kingdom here.  We need the King here.  We need the King with healing in His hands.

peace

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Truth is
Tao is
Life is
Accept is

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I was in a conversation this week where several education professors were discussing raising their own children.  The younger the child in the home, the more people were sure they knew as usual, lol.  But, then somebody started talking about when kids get married and have a conflict with the new spouse.  There was a comment about the wisdom of telling the girl who runs home, “Honey, you don’t live here anymore, go work things out with your husband.”  Then another person started talking about telling their child, “Do not assume that I will take your side.”  That got my attention and my funny bone.

Odd how your own child can tell you for years that they disagree with everything you think, do and believe; then expect you to automatically agree with them if they argue with their spouse.  I’m lucky.  My daughters have so far kept their bumps and adjustments where they belong, between the couple.  But, it made me think.

Odd how we can argue with God, ignore so much of what we are told to do and be, then expect “Daddy” to automatically take our side when life gets rough and we disagree with other people, the events of life, or the nature of the universe.  Maybe it isn’t strange after all that “Daddy” so often seems to tell us, “I expect you to go work that out!”

peace

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