Here are some things I know:
*Jesus knew how to love people and He did love people.
*Jesus said some stuff that is extremely hard to live.
*Jesus offended a lot of people with His actions and His words. In fact, He offended them so much that they killed Him.
*Jesus hung out with a lot of imperfect people. sinners, outcasts, rebels, the common, poor, hurting, people who sore our eyes, weirdos.
*Jesus didn't have a place to lay His head. At least not a permanent one.
*The people who were 'supposed' to know God, and supposed to know Him.....didn't.
*Jesus called people whitewashed tombs. He said the most loving thing possible to people, even if it required saying something not so nice to them.
*Jesus had no fear of man.
Some would say it's better if I don't attach myself to the label of 'Christian' because of some of the connotations it has now. But if they ask me who I am, how then do I explain it? If they want to know why I care about people, what will my answer be? If they are astonished by the way I view the world, what do I reply?
How do I remove something from an answer that is so entangled with who I am that in doing so I would lose myself?
I understand that the name of Jesus has been abused, has been used to justify things lightly, even to deceive........
But how dare we try to hide who He actually is because we are scared of people's reactions. And how dare we try to be deceptive salesmen- in the sense that we want people to help, but we need to be tactful in how we use Jesus' name so others aren't offended and will still want to help or be involved in whatever it is we are trying to do.
I also don't think we need to shove Jesus down people's throats until they choke on Him.
But in saying that, I refuse to hide my reason for doing this, I refuse to hide why I am who I am:
I am a Christian.
I am a follower of Jesus the Christ.
And He has changed everything I am, He has wrecked it all and continues to do so, makes new things and beauty where there was none previously.
I have never been happier to have my life wrecked.
That is what this is about. It's not my attempt to make justice fashionable, or to convince people to be 'good'. This isn't my plea to get people to help.
This is who I am. This is why my tears fall, this is why things shatter my world, this is the only reason why things matter, and why my heart rips and bleeds and compels me to say something, to do something, to live something.
Everything I have and am is found and made into reality only by knowing Jesus.
And if that sounds cheesy or offensive..... well, maybe it is, but it is also true.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Oh Santa, fill our shopping bags, Please!
"Under these circumstances, it's truly amazing when you think about all the news that led into the holiday season, it certainly appears that consumers are willing to spend more than most expected," said ShopperTrak co-founder Bill Martin. "Everybody wants value for their dollar, so we saw a tremendous response to the discounts."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081129/ap_on_bi_ge/holiday_shopping
"It felt a little freakish," customer Ellie Berhun, 48, told the Daily News. "Some man lost his life because a VCR was on sale? Please. It's just too sad for words."
Other workers were knocked to the ground as they tried to rescue Damour, and customers simply stepped over him and kept shopping even as the store announced it was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.
ह्त्त्प://अब्च्नेव्स.गो.कॉम/उस/विरेस्तोरी?ईद=६३५६८९५
I have to admit, I hid out at The Space on black Friday. I didn’t want to be within a mile of any store that had any chance of producing rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth shoppers who have lost their humanity. It no longer surprises me that people could care less that their clothing, carpets, furniture, car parts, etc…. could come from somewhere that might not exactly be……well, ethical. As long as they can get it for a cheap deal, and so long as nothing disrupts the flow of making museums out of our houses, anything is permissible. I am NOT lumping everyone into this group, I am, however, pointing out that when thousands of people are in a frenzied rush to accumulate more ‘things’, that they have to make room somewhere for those ‘things’. And it would seem that physical possessions actually take up more than just physical space. What are the things we sell for more stuff? Love, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, joy……does any of this sound familiar?? We sacrifice ourselves on an alter that demands everything good from us and in return? …..we get more stuff.
Does this sound absurd to anyone?
DOES THIS SOUND ABSURD?
…..if it doesn’t, you might want to consider the view you are looking from. And you might want to have your ears checked……or maybe your heart.
Does this sound like greed ?
Do we really need anymore stuff?
Sometimes I think that we hit a point, where every time we get something new, we essentially make a trade-off.
More stuff, less love.
And I have to wonder if we have walked so far away from what is good, that we aren’t even within distance to see what it looks like……….
I don’t want to sound like we have no hope. We do. I think there is little hope until we recognize how far away we are.
I’m only astonished at how long it has taken me to reach the point I am at…..and I still don’t know how to entirely remove myself from the situation. Or if it is possible.
But I do know, that no one can any longer justify our way of life in this country to me. You cannot justify consumerism. A man was killed because people wanted things on sale. Millions are enslaved because we need more things, and we don’t want to pay to much for them, or ask too many questions about where they came from. The biggest priority to people in the election was the economy.
We voted for ourselves, most of us, not others.
And here stands America, the great land of freedom. And also the great land of abused freedom. In the end it isn’t about America, or westernization, etc…., it’s about what humanity always tends to lean toward if left to ourselves. And it doesn’t usually look pretty.
Advent started on Sunday, and I’m starting to realize I don’t have to look very far to see the desperation for a savior….I don’t even have to look beyond myself.
The waiting has began.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081129/ap_on_bi_ge/holiday_shopping
"It felt a little freakish," customer Ellie Berhun, 48, told the Daily News. "Some man lost his life because a VCR was on sale? Please. It's just too sad for words."
Other workers were knocked to the ground as they tried to rescue Damour, and customers simply stepped over him and kept shopping even as the store announced it was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.
ह्त्त्प://अब्च्नेव्स.गो.कॉम/उस/विरेस्तोरी?ईद=६३५६८९५
I have to admit, I hid out at The Space on black Friday. I didn’t want to be within a mile of any store that had any chance of producing rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth shoppers who have lost their humanity. It no longer surprises me that people could care less that their clothing, carpets, furniture, car parts, etc…. could come from somewhere that might not exactly be……well, ethical. As long as they can get it for a cheap deal, and so long as nothing disrupts the flow of making museums out of our houses, anything is permissible. I am NOT lumping everyone into this group, I am, however, pointing out that when thousands of people are in a frenzied rush to accumulate more ‘things’, that they have to make room somewhere for those ‘things’. And it would seem that physical possessions actually take up more than just physical space. What are the things we sell for more stuff? Love, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, joy……does any of this sound familiar?? We sacrifice ourselves on an alter that demands everything good from us and in return? …..we get more stuff.
Does this sound absurd to anyone?
DOES THIS SOUND ABSURD?
…..if it doesn’t, you might want to consider the view you are looking from. And you might want to have your ears checked……or maybe your heart.
Does this sound like greed ?
Do we really need anymore stuff?
Sometimes I think that we hit a point, where every time we get something new, we essentially make a trade-off.
More stuff, less love.
And I have to wonder if we have walked so far away from what is good, that we aren’t even within distance to see what it looks like……….
I don’t want to sound like we have no hope. We do. I think there is little hope until we recognize how far away we are.
I’m only astonished at how long it has taken me to reach the point I am at…..and I still don’t know how to entirely remove myself from the situation. Or if it is possible.
But I do know, that no one can any longer justify our way of life in this country to me. You cannot justify consumerism. A man was killed because people wanted things on sale. Millions are enslaved because we need more things, and we don’t want to pay to much for them, or ask too many questions about where they came from. The biggest priority to people in the election was the economy.
We voted for ourselves, most of us, not others.
And here stands America, the great land of freedom. And also the great land of abused freedom. In the end it isn’t about America, or westernization, etc…., it’s about what humanity always tends to lean toward if left to ourselves. And it doesn’t usually look pretty.
Advent started on Sunday, and I’m starting to realize I don’t have to look very far to see the desperation for a savior….I don’t even have to look beyond myself.
The waiting has began.
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