Dear mr. presidents

Dear Mr. Presidents,
In regards to your standing united for Haiti, I was wondering if you would consider standing united for some other things.....
Mr. Presidents, as stated in an article about you, you 'send an unmistakable message to the people of Haiti and the world..' Since you hold such large influence over such a vast crowd of people, I was wondering if you would like to endorse some other good endeavors.
Mr. Presidents, I would love it if you could stand united for all those victims of the world-wide plague of sex trafficking. Maybe you could even just mention it a little more than how our economy is doing, or which country we need to invade next.... or, could you please just stick it a little higher on the priority list than 'payments made for weapons of war' ? That would be great. Thanks.
Oh, and Mr. Presidents, There's this other thing too, do you think you could stand united on children dying of starvation? That's kind of a big one. statistically, 18,277 people (not all children) have died of starvation TODAY. I'm no genius, but that's a lot.
There's another thing too, Mr. Presidents, could you convince all of us that we don't really need our cell phones that much, or our laptops, or our cd players and ipods, unless of course we want to speak up to the people who make them..... you see, Mr. Presidents, maybe you weren't aware, but there's an ore used for those things, and it mostly comes from the Congo. I don't know if you know much about the situation over there, but there's a lot of killing and rape and war going on over there, and I think they might be using some of the money they get from that ore for the war. You might want to look into that. If we all want to keep our laptops and cell phones, perhaps we should say something....
Mr. Presidents, I was also wondering if you wouldn't mind, could you also stand united for people sharing all their possessions freely among each other? see, it might help eradicate that thing termed 'poverty'. And I was wondering to, could you promote not gossiping or slandering others? You see, this in the end would lead to much less anger and hurt among us all... I was also wondering if you could stand united in being honest, and not pretentious....... People don't really get anywhere good by pretending to be perfect and nice. I was also wondering, I know this is a lot, but could you promote loving people the way Jesus loved us? ....oh, wait, that might come off as mixing religion with politics....that's not really acceptable, is it? But that's ok, as long as you say we really need to pray whenever these sorts of huge disasters happen.

But seriously, Mr. Presidents, do you think you could tell people to stop putting so much responsibility on you and the government? Could you tell them that if they just started learning to love and take care of each other, that you wouldn't have to work so hard to try and force people to have fake empathy for each other? I really think it would work a lot better than the system that is in place. Of course, Mr. Presidents that might make you only as important as everyone else, but it's a very worthy sacrifice.
I've made a short attachment, just incase you are unclear as to what I mean when I say 'love', in terms of this better system.

The Way of Love

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Love One Another

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

....we are just waiting for the blank pages to be filled in, that's all.

Love won. the end.

(or maybe that's really where everything begins.)

The whole earth is weeping, waiting for a name.

invisible chains

it's too late and I'm too tired to be anything but straight-forward. Tomorrow is 'black friday' and yesterday I was reading about the Israelites. And today I was thinking about them.
They were out in the wilderness, following God around- quite literally- they'd stay where he was as long as he was there, and move when he moved, stop when he stopped. They didn't go hungry or starve or anything because he gave them 'manna' to eat every day......
and, well, here's a piece :

" Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

"And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”
(it's all there in Numbers 11, you should read it)

Basically, they complained a lot, and honestly, it isn't all that surprising when I take a quick look around at others or myself.

Does anyone else find it ironic that the day after a holiday we term 'thanksgiving' (and I know people often leave words devoid of any true meaning after awhile, but really? 'thanksgiving' is a pretty simple concept) is the day when mass amounts of people run around like they have lost their minds, chasing after a few extra pennies and shiny things on shelves? We've given our twenty-four hours of sanctity to being thankful, now we must leave opportunity for our greed to run rampant. It's so easy to criticize the past, but we are just like them. Very few of us know what it means to not have had our basic needs met...... and yet we still join the disillusioned circus, still crave more, still claim we don't have enough, still make excuses to show our love by buying people off rather than actually taking the time to do something meaningful with them.
And I sometimes wonder how it all looks to God, is it like one giant repeat button being pressed over and over again?
how long has stuff superseded real relationships with people?
Forgive me, I'm not eloquent, especially not past midnight when my brain stops functioning and goes into sleep mode, all I can say is that my heart sinks.
I'm not sure who to feel worse for. I think it might be fair to say that america is one of the most impoverished places on earth. If we were full, why would we have the desire to keep stuffing things in this gaping black hole? and we do a pretty good job of stuffing.
If we knew what love was wouldn't we ever realize that our actions affect others?
And wouldn't we care?
And if we really knew what this whole thanksgiving thing was about, would we really be filling our bellies with greed a few hours later?
I dare you to look in their eyes and tell them that your family, your friends, they really do need this new ipod, this new computer, this new shiny toy, those shoes (when their closet is full of them). Look in their eyes and tell them "I'm sorry, but these people, my friends and family, they won't know I love them if I don't get them something, and then I'll feel bad."
I dare you.

Or better yet.
Go tell God.
Tell him why you need all this stuff, tell him why giving to others is so important when celebrating Jesus. Explain to him that you are under obligation to buy and give all these things on this date for these people, even when it costs the tears and sweat and lives of your brothers and sisters. Even when it causes greed to eat away at your soul, to numb the heart that is beating and slowly turn it to cement.
Go tell him.
I dare you.

We have become a sad culture indeed when people's love of others is based on buying large gifts for each other a couple times a year. But it's so much easier than really loving. And it's so much easier than really giving.

And it's so much easier than really looking in their eyes.
And it's so much easier than really dying for them.


We are the ones in chains running back to Egypt.
We are the ones who need to learn what love is to stop this mind-numbing game and shake us all awake.

the Jesus I know

Something written awhile back, that never got used. It was written in response to the question of who Jesus is, you know, with those many varieties floating around out there.




‘And who do you say that I am?’

This is the part where you attach your ‘personalized version of Jesus’ sticker, all sparkly and shiny ________. Don’t forget to double-check to make sure he is wearing the right name tag, and by all means make sure you have put him in the right group. You wouldn’t want him to end up over there with those people.
I have issues with labels: They don’t sum up a person. They categorize them and try to fit them in a box along with fifty-thousand other people, who are of course, exact replicas of each other. Since when do we refer to our friends and people we know dearly as a category and only that? They are defined by their character and their very being, they are defined by who they are.
I took a field trip to the library the other day and wandered about a bit aimlessly until I was sucked into the religion section. I stood there, gaping up at all the titles of books, Jesus’ name repeatedly staring back at me with any sort of attachment imaginable. And I got tired; it was the same kind of exhaustion that used to come after fifteen minutes of shopping with my crazed, bargain hunting sister when all I wanted was my hoodie. It reminded me of a clothing store, just pick the one that fits you:
“Jesus and the Revolutionaries”
“The Historical Jesus”
“Jesus was a feminist” (at which point I started chuckling….dismissing the fact that I was in a library)
“What Jesus Meant”
“The Mystical life of Jesus”
“A New Life of Jesus”

And I can’t help but wonder why we have this almost irresistible pull to morph Jesus into all these different varieties. It seems like we are always putting some sort of agenda on Jesus. “He is left,” “He is right,” “this means he is a revolutionary,” “and this part here means that he was for social justice.” But our versions of Jesus are just that: our versions. We assign him the characteristics we think are prettiest, or most flattering. We give him all the right leanings to squeeze into our ideologies. We mold him like clay on a spinning wheel until he looks just like us, or worse, some trendy form of what we think we should be. None of this draws us away from ourselves or from the comfort we have barricaded ourselves inside of. Everyone seems to enjoy their form of Jesus because he is always on their side, in their club. He is of course, pointing the finger along with us at all those other people over there who got it all wrong. We recycle and care about the earth, we stand for the innocent and defend those being wronged in the world. We don’t conform to the materialistic, greed-eating, consumer-driven lives of America. We promote tolerance and peace….. And oh how the arguments fly from all sides. How we hate to be compared in any way to those we try so hard to divorce ourselves from. Drugged by our own efforts to make ourselves good, we are disillusioned in thinking we can love so many in the world and not love the person standing in front of us. In the process, we have removed any need for Jesus to come and tell us we are all selfish sinners. Now we can achieve our own goodness. Funny how it all looks like the same fuzzy picture painted in ten different ways.
Until we are made extremely uncomfortable, until we are offended by the things that flew out of Jesus’ mouth because they are so backwards and contrary to what we think we should be living, until we are utterly humbled by the gaze of someone that can see right through every walled façade we have piled high to keep out others and ourselves, until Jesus disrupts who we are, shakes out everything we cling to for security….until this Jesus tells us to forsake everything for him, I will have a hard time buying the sales pitch that this is the real Jesus.
You can’t categorize him. You can’t tie a pretty bow around him and wrap him up like a Christmas present. He won’t be conformed to your agenda’s and your opinions, you can’t put him on like the latest trend. Jesus didn’t come to start some mass world-wide revolution in the sense that we think of it. He didn’t have global organization plans or political means to accomplish…..
None of that is what He is about.

He came for us to know him.

He came to look you in the eye, and to rip all the misconceptions you have ever held about yourself; about how good you are, how adequate you are, the things you value. He came to tell you that yes, you are broken, and you don’t know how to love. You cause pain to your brothers, sisters, and yourself daily because of it.
He came to turn everything around and proclaim a kingdom that is different. He came to embody the only person we have to base our definition of love on. He came to show us a father that refused to stop at anything to show us his love.

I don’t want a better version of me. The last thing I need is for someone to prop up my arrogance, my opinions, and my way of demanding that everything I think is right.

I say that he is Jesus who lived and died for me, and I will trade anything to really know him.

He is humble; I still cling to my rights.
He is loving; I seek my own good above others more often than I would ever admit.
He is unafraid of people’s regard of him; I would rather please than cause strife, even if it is what’s needed.
He is offensive; I value my reputation.
He has no pretense; I have questionable motives.
He had empty hands; I grasp tightly.
He loved freely; I am prejudiced.

The Jesus I know is not like me.
He demands that I be like Him.

Christmas is coming soon.......

I happened across this a few minutes ago, turns out advent conspiracy has partnered up with a fair trade organization as well. Anyway, this is the part that really made me grin:


"You're joining people all over the country who believe that when gifts are given, they should always speak of the sort of world that Jesus came to show us - one where the last is first, where the poor are included, the sick are healed, and the captive is set free."

thank you whoever decided in writing this, not to make any sort of separation between the things we do and the person we follow.

The Loveless

I woke up to the rain this morning. It’s been falling in slow and steady sheets through the fields. And I sat on my bed, dimmed daylight sneaking through my window, and strung a few notes out on my mandolin. Small, simple songs for a grey morning. Time has slowed down for me, I’m no longer in this frenzied rush or strain to make things happen or get things done. My life doesn’t consist of finding something to be busy about. And I am starting to realize that the more your life becomes about that sort of thing, the less it becomes about the right sort of thing.
Pause.
Stand still in time and look about you at the turning leaves and the rain puddles scattered through the fields. Sip your coffee in the morning and look at the person across from you until you see them. Look at them until you can find in their eyes the depth and thought and feeling and being of a life lived, pain felt, things experienced, and love learned. And keep looking until you can find residing there the very thing you know resides in yourself. Look until you are mystified by the wonder of it.
And walk the day with that pair of eyes, and with this new heart beating something beautiful, and with your empty-full hands holding out this glowing love to every person you meet.

We are none of us machines that walk the days and nights on this earth. Hard as we try to deceive ourselves into some sort of blind, unfeeling state where cold laws and analysis hold our fascination, it is not who we are. We ache. We have broken hearts, we have feeling hearts, we have eyes that grasp onto beauty, that despise the ugly…..
We have actions and movements formed by others’ actions and movements; we are none of us separate. We are none of us alone.
This life is not defined by a prescribed formula, not by small actions we can fit into a box and mail through the postal service. The reason we want things to look a certain way is so that we can perform our check-mark, achieve our supposed success in living the right way ….and never have to resort to a love that is dangerous and flows through our hearts and situations, a love that asks us to not ignore the stories and lives and plights of others. A love that does not simply acknowledge the suffering of others, but cries out with them, feels part of their pain and agony, and sees part of their world through their eyes. It is a love, that, instead of situation or label or cause, puts a name on a stranger.
We have been quietly converted to the lie of a loveless life where we are slowly strangled by the cords of our many conveniences; stuck in a room where the mass of things, situations, and manipulated circumstances turn from claustrophobic to suffocating.…..all the while hiding from the wonder lingering about us, trailing our paths, clinging to us like the mist on a mountain. Our eyes begin to grow dim in the haze that surrounds us.
So pause.

Someday this will all be ashes blown away. And I have no plans for a futile chase. Sit still for a moment. Let the smile creep and grow from your heart to your mouth to your eyes. And stand there, let go of it all, watch it float away like a thousand bubbles set free on the wind.

Let the story burn into your heart. Let it burn into your eyes until it clouds your view. And look into another pair of eyes; look until you see. Look until it changes you, until the ice thaws. Look until you are no longer a machine. Look until love becomes something more than a function and a prescribed action. Look until you see the blood falling from another pair of hands. Look until you see Jesus.


And walk the day with that pair of eyes, and with this new heart beating something beautiful, and with your empty-full hands holding out this glowing love to every person you meet.