excellent read

http://reknew.org/2014/09/doing-the-kingdom-not-voting-it-in/?utm_source=Website+Signup&utm_campaign=0d4a71a312-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0de6226b5c-0d4a71a312-48866665

living on borrowed time ..

living on borrowed time ..

i lean on you
   hard
all my weight
all my power
all my will
all my desire

help me to

i want to be in your vortex
i want to be overpowered by your love
i want to be single-eyed
i want to be ' fanatical '
i want to be dead
   only you moving me

help my unbelief

i am living on borrowed time  
time is not mine
the lot of us humans is dreaded death
but i don't know that i'm afraid
i dont know ..
i see it as getting to be with Jesus

redeem the time, then
make it expensive
each hour a costly purchase

balance
find rest
respite
sabbath ..
solely for the purpose of generating the energy to eat you, drink you
to be you
you
in me
me
in you
you

you

i lean on you
   hard

i want to be you
you to be me

i love you

broken world, broken body ..

during my survey of news on the internet today, i reposted several items of interest 

surveying the items i reposted left me somewhat distressed

is it just that i am drawn to the 'bad' stuff ?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bernardhenri-levy/the-big-chill-facing-fran_b_5849382.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/20/mediterranean-refugees_n_5843372.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/20/mentally-ill-inmates-solitary_n_5855164.html

there are 3 items

sick

we are all very very sick people in a badly broken world that lies well outside the intention of the person that created it

and we are lost

we don't know where we are or where we're going

a couple  things stand out too me

- we care little for the other humans that inhabit this planet and that will inhabit this planet; the main reason $$$$, in particular, US$; the other reason being religion; and far too often the two are connected at the navel

- we refuse to admit humans outside-the-box, treating the mentally ill, the refugee, the homeless, the poor, the disabled, the 'other' religious as inferior and deserving of punishment somehow

the violence against our fellowhuman and the creatures that populate our world is deplorable, and well beneath any claim to be 'human'

we are sick

.... . . 

once upon a time a god entered our world, became a human, lived here and suffered at the will and hands of the very ones he created, in the very world he created, while trying to show us what life should be

his was a broken end, his body broken for us, in an attempt to reboot our think, reset our worldview

that man sits today, waiting, watching, working along with those of us that choose to follow his lead, to undo some of the mess, bring healing and hope and rainbow to whatever town or city we live and move around in

looking to us to be the changeup

looking to us

awesome thought

staggering, really

Jesus looking to us to be the change Godward ?

how can that be ?

it is

he is

we are the hope

simply put, until and unless we get off our religious butts and live-out the religion we say we subscribe to, God will do little

for God has, for some reason, determined that he will work through us

he will use the weak, the despised, the rejects, the 'nothings' to change the world

i am weak despised reject nothing

i want to be used in whatever way he sees fit

i want to do it out of my nothingness for his glory

for the love he wants from me

the love he wants for this world

for my neighbourhood

for the least and the greatest in my purview

they are my fellowhuman friends, the ones i am to love

and until i open myself to that and do the love he asks of me

i am a nothing of a different sort, useless

i remember well the terminology used in the opening chapters of Genesis during the creation narrative

i remember God saying " let us make human in our image, like us " ..

do we get that ?

if we do, then we begin to see God in the faces and eyes of those we see

even the least of these

even the mentally ill

the addicted

the poor and homeless

the violent

the hateful

the murderer

.. .

mine is to be open to every person i meet, merciful and unjudging in my approach, loving always

loving always

if God could allow his human body to be broken, his blood spilled, out of love for us

who am i to think otherwise of my own life

peace

and love

single ..

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy [single] your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
   [ Matthew 6.22 ff ]

No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy [single] your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.
   [ Luke 11 33 ff ]

interesting bibical word, ' single ' ..
it has to do with 'whole', or 'sound', maybe a glint of 'mature', sorta like when a master of the wines approves a particular batch as 'ready' - it has arrived at its desired character.
Jesus' words here messed with my head, the way he put it.

i'm thinking 'shalom'
i'm trying to find the link between shalom and single ..

i admit i may be off on this: i see 'single' as a reference to focused, in your zone, following hard on the thing you've been called to
spiritually, it's a fixation on Jesus and his  leading, and being the follower i should be

out of that evolves singleness of lifeview - life becomes extremely simple and uncluttered

it's a consummation; we're consumed with it, as if hardly anything else matters
other things almost seem to be distractions
and some things become downright tedious and feel like a waste
sadly, some things load stress, amounting to anti what-you're-about
it becomes so that 'stress' earned in the pursuit of your calling seems ok, kind of, compared to the stress from the other life-things

we run from the concept of 'consumed', especially as it relates to relationships - the psych will tell you it's unhealthy
thing is, we're not talking about a lover here, but about Jesus, rabbi
and he taught singleness
he even went as far as to say that if we don't 'hate' mother and father we can't follow him !
that's tough
that is very hard to swallow
if you want to follow me, everything else must almost seem to be negotiable, disposable, discountable - distractions
Jesus wants all of us, everything, nothing excluded; we must be consumed by him

that could be a hard thing for some people in your circle to accept - they think you're a nut, going ( gone? ) crazy; they may even think you a fool

but you .. you have to do what your heart says
nothing else matters, or matters little
you're consumed
single

does that mean i hate my mother, or disrespect her ? absolutely not
Jesus is using hyperbole, common in his culture ..
but the point is well-made by him, " if you want to be my disciple, deny your self and pick up your cross every day, and then follow me "
what esle could that be but total immersion .. what else indeed
either all-in or not in at all
disciple
focused
telescoped
tunnelvisioned
single
it changes your entire life, like a lamp put on a lampstand to light the whole room so that anyone coming in can see
' when you eye is single your whole body is also full of light, like candlelight lights your space '

one of the prophets of old said God's word was like an unquenchable fire inside him, and he had to get it out before it consumed him in its hotness
it's like that, kinda
consumed
singleminded
in your zone
moving in that direction and nothing and noone is going to detract us from that
single
doing shalom

Jesus wants us to fix our eyes on what his call is for us, and to pursue that wholeheartedly

there is nothing left
so that when you sing 'all to jesus i surrender', it's not a lie, or a wish; it's the solid truth of who you now are

single, the core of you
cenetred

..

clarify
simplify
balance
center

crucified

" i am crucified with Christ, and yet I'm alive ..
but it's not me .. it's Christ that's alive in me
and the life I live now in this body I live through faith in Messiah Jesus, son of God, who loves me, and has given himself for me. "

" .. I rejoice in what I am suffering for you,
and I fill up in my body what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions,
for the sake of his Body, which is the church. "

the words of apostle paul

..  .  . 

we're reared and schooled to be successful in this world, success being defined as wealthy and secure, housed and mobile, tech-savvy, moving among the up-and-up, revering the movie stars and musicians and sportsters, aiming for comfortable retirement ..

there are some themes that recur in these blog posts, thoughts that will not go away,
among them, the upside-down philosophy of Jesus that looks to move us upwards, through the stratosphere, allowing us to look back at life on this Earth, maybe see things from God's view, through  faith ..
another persistent theme is the sobering role of suffering in this life ..
two seemingly opposing views
two horns of the same animal, a spiritual outlook in the midst of a suffering world ..
to be balanced somehow

. . . . . ....  -|-

as to the suffering ..
in this age of pump-up and prosperity ' gospel ', the concept of suffering simply seems morose almost
who wants to hang out there, dwell on that ?
why add to the depression and failure-mindedness, the sickness and distress and debilitating stress ?

...... ..

there came a day in the life of Israel when the promised Promise Land became a reality after decades of suffering want, and wandering and war ..
God brought them home
as that became a reality, God warned them - he told them to beware that when they settled and built their homes and raised their families in peace and planted their crops and dug their wells that they didn't forget him, their liberator from Egypt and sustainer in the wilderness
their security could well become a stumbling block to dependence on God, their creator

somehow we don't get it
still
for some reason we gravitate to the wealth and security thingy, the independent kings and queens of our own castles

and then .. we see Jesus, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame of it all, and is now set at the right hand of God, as our faithful advocate and defender ..

for the joy that was set before him ..
the cross

wealth/security/bigup
suffering and death
those are two vastly different mindsets - worlds apart
.... ..

we live in bodies, bodies that link our souls to this world, through which we experience life in the here-and-now..
sometimes - actually most of the time - our bodies lead
our senses drive our soul
our spirit follows

if there's anything Jesus preached/taught/lived it was complete, persistent, perpetual dependence on the Father, minute-by-minute
he lived that, Word that he was, humanized for the reconciliation of the cosmos, made in the likeness of sinful flesh ..
he lived that
spirit leading, body and soul in tow
with that as his foundation, Jesus healed, fed, overruled nature, and spoke the wisdom of the Ageless ..
and he promised something : if we mortals ( like he was { though he was not 'mere mortal } ) assimilate that, make it our own base-motivation, we could do greater things than he did .. we could move mountains ..
out of our own suffering, maybe ..
for the suffering

move mountains .. ??
feed starving people
clothe the naked
heal the sick
drive out demons
face the imperialistic powers-that-be
.. love our enemies

we could do that ..

we
could
do
that

i

.. . . .  .

there's something within us that says, when we're settled and secure, we are safe and don't need anyone or anything
" i got this "

Jesus disses that mindset in his own life
if he does, who on Earth am i to think i got anything ??

that's where suffering comes in
it disables us
sweeps the footings downriver
knocks the breath out
leaves us on our backs, gazing upward, staring long into the deep lightblue above
wondering
totally vulnerable
nothing inbetween us and eternity
remembering that we are but dirt, mere mortals in the face of a massive universe that will be there after we're gone from this world

there is where we do the real
there is precisely where we plumb the depths of who we are
and maybe see the face of God
maybe begin to see the face of God in our own reflection, albeit dimly

i have made nothing
i have created nothing
i have built nothing enduring
i am
simply

i am

my only recourse, if i were to be real with my self, is to strip naked before my maker, before whom all is stripped away anyway
bare my heart
relinquish my hold on me
disengage my own version of game-of-thrones
step down from my dais
and rely totally on my creator in the face of Jesus, my master ..

and sometimes suffering helps me get to that place

... .  .   .

when Apostle Paul said he was filling-up in his own body what was lacking in the afflictions on Christ's body, for the Body of Christ ..
what could that mean ?
bugs me

something was lacking in the suffering of Messiah Jesus ?
something left to suffer for ?
apparently
seems that in the very madness of suffering this world lives under every day, there is a call to suffer, and to die, every day

somehow mine is to bear in my body and my soul the marks of a life devoted to God, following rabbi Jesus ..
whatever the cost, the damage to me matters little in the cosmic scenario, in the eternal age ( as it did to him )
the kingdom of God is everything
following Jesus is simply all there is that's worth anything in this life
period
.

.. . .

recently some people diss'ed the work of mother teresa, claiming her motivation was to encourage suffering as some sort of penance, a roman catholic concept of ages past ( and maybe current in some circles ), not only in her personal life, but also in the lives of those around her, including the impoverished children of calcutta
regardless of the truth-content of that claim, i find it hard to dismiss a woman that gave her life for those children, for she followed the counsel of Jesus himself, the true gospel

most of the world suffers
we simply don't internalize that; we see it on the tele and walk away, past it, into our leveraged-to-the-hilt house
maybe a wince at the photo of the child dying from starvation, the woman sleeping on the snow-covered street, the slave children working long hours for nexttonothing, the girl selling her body for a fix, the people running en masse away from the violence, the murder, the war
maybe a wince ..

.. . . .. -|-

in my own understanding of the christian scriptures, Jesus internalized all the sins of humanity, bearing them in his body on that cross
becoming the sinner
paying off the debt humanity owed to the Usurper
delivering us all from our enslavement and bondage, and providing hope amidst our fear of death ..
that was suffering, such suffering that we could never ever understand,
 ... . .  .

we lose our home
   maybe become homeless
our marriage fails
we don't get that job we need so badly, and the children suffer
we become ill
we become depressed
a close one dies
or commits suicide
more and more the threat of poverty and homelessness threatens us all as the world sinks into a new divide between the rich and the poor, which may well catch up to me one day
or you ..

when we find ourselves on the floor, beating our fists into the wood, crying out to whatever god there is out there
is precisely when we approach the God who is out there
maybe like we've never done before
and although it's a horror to be in such condition, truth is God's been waiting for us to acknowledge him
if this madness, this deathly illness or accident, takes us past the $-signs and walks us out of our throne room, then God will take that, gladly
he loves us that much
he is not the cause of our suffering, but he welcomes the opportunity to see the colour of our eyes as we gaze upward in need

suffering becomes our opportunity to touch the divine as we never have before .. .

hopefully we learn that, experience that

as a wise person once said, those of us that have ears to hear should listen ..


' there is more in the new testament about the suffering of the church than any other single theme or issue of ecclesiology ' .. Douglas John Hall

' the Christian faith in its established form has been so conspicuously devoid not only of any sustained suffering but of the very contemplation of that biblical theme ' DJH

peace to you

quoted #6

moving mountains ..

Jesus once said " if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you'll be able to say to this mountain ' move from here to there ' , and it will move "

me, being the tend-to-be-literal bible reader, thinks a mountain you can climb, that stands above, from where you can see afar ..
but then i see other ' mountains ' , ones that stand far taller, that look unclimbable, out of reach ..
move that ?

move that addiction
remove that obstacle in this relationship
move my mind into a new space
   where i can see from up there rather than down here
move those granite roadblocks on my road towards the homeless hurt

move .. me ?

maybe Jesus, being the genuine human, seeing things from that perspective, Godview serving as the root of his worldview, was more pointing to the mountains that would loom large in my life as fallen human in fallen world

maybe the root of my mountainphobia is my lessthanmustardseed faith

i need those mountains to move

i need that faith

master, I believe
help my unbelief ..