light.
“our christian habit is to bewail the world’s deteriorating standards with an air of rather self-righteous dismay. we criticize its violence, dishonesty, immorality, disregard for human life, and materialistic greed. ‘the world is going down the drain,’ we say with a shrug. but whose fault is it? who is to blame? let me put it like this. if the house is dark when nightfall comes, there is no sense in blaming the house; that is what happens when the sun goes down. the question to ask is, ‘where is the light?’ similarly, if the meat goes bad and becomes inedible, there is no sense in blaming the meat; that is what happens when bacteria are left alone to breed. the question to ask is, ‘where is the salt?’ just so, if society deteriorates and its standards decline until it becomes like a dark night or a stinking fish, there is no sense in blaming society; that is what happens when fallen men and women are left to themselves, and human selfishness is unchecked. the question to ask is, ‘where is the church? why are the salt and light of Jesus Christ not permeating and changing our society?’ it is sheer hypocrisy on our part to raise our eyebrows, shrug our shoulders, or wring our hands. the Lord Jesus told us to be the world’s salt and light. if therefore darkness and rottenness abound, it is largely our fault and we must accept the blame.” – human rights and human wrongs, john stott
our deepest fear.
our deepest fear
is not that we are inadequate.
our deepest fear
is that we are powerful
beyond measure.
it is our light, not our darkness,
that most frightens us.
we ask ourselves,
“who am i to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented and fabulous?”
who are you not to be?
you are a child of the universe.
your playing small
does not serve the world.
there is nothing enlightened
about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel
insecure around you.
we were born to make manifest
the Glory of the universe
that is within us.
it’s not just in some of us;
it is in everyone.
as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
as we are liberated
from our own fear,
our presence automatically
liberates others.
- nelson mandela, 1994 inaugural speech
refuge.
“He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge …” psalm 91:4
i have been basking in this season of blessed life, all the more so because i know that, just as every cycle in life has a passing, these easier days will end and the difficult ones will come into clear view, designed to weed out what doesn’t thrive in me and refine what remains in my soul. for now, i’ve arrived at this refuge God has breathed over me, the place of security and peace that comes with knowing you’re where you ought to be, because you obeyed the bigger plan constructed by Someone bigger than you. and that is something to be recognized when we come across it, because nearly every aspect of our lives will try to pull us away from there.
yet, reality still grounds me. i’m not under some illusion that all is well with the world. in fact, i’m more aware of our world’s heartbreak than ever as i read “the hole in our gospel” by world vision president richard stearns, which examines humankind’s (particularly the church’s) reaction (or lack thereof) to our globe’s imbalanced distribution of wealth and resources. he devotes many pages to just drinking water – how many people don’t have it and are in desperate need for it, how long and far they will travel to get to it, how many children cannot properly develop without it and how, without some sort of massive intervention on a global scale, these people will continue to die without it, or even with it, depending on their water’s quality.
“i can imagine my own life without many of the so-called necessities that i have. you can take away my car and i would find a way to compensate by using public transportation or carpooling with a friend. you could take away my computer and my internet access, my television, stereo, and radio, and i could still have a full and prosperous life. you could reduce the size of my house and my income by half, and even take away my education and i could survive and perhaps even thrive. but if you take away water and sanitation, you take away my health and that of my children. if you take away my health, you have taken away my energy and industry. if you take away my energy and ability to support my family, you have taken away my dignity; and if you take away my dignity, you have taken away hope – for the future, for my children, for a better life. this is the harsh reality for more than one billion people in the world who live without access to clean, safe water.
“in africa they don’t say that water is important to their lives; they say that water is life. it is absolutely the foundation upon which civilization and human life is built, and the best news is that we have the knowledge and the technology to provide it. all we lack is the will.”
many of these families are forced to leave their homes, their towns, their lives and completely relocate in the pursuit of water – something accessible to us with just the pull of a handle, in whatever temperature we prefer. they become refugees to survive. their reality is one we’ve never had to face, and quite honestly, will probably never experience.
but we can still relate. in our own between times of prosperity and desolation, aren’t we all refugees, forfeiting our comfort in search of safety, in search of what will sustain us abundantly? isn’t that something we all hold in common? and if so, shouldn’t our understanding go beyond head and pierce the heart to take action?
i was on a women’s retreat last weekend and we recited this invocation:
“will you come and follow Me if I but call your name?
will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
will you let My love be shown, will you let My name be known
will you let My life be grown in you and you in Me?
“will you love the “you” you hide if I but call your name?
will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around
through My sight and touch and sound in you and you in Me?”
i thank God for opening my eyes a little wider to the vast suffering undergone by many. i thank Him for making me so that by reading this book i will never be the same. i can’t be the same. knowledge opens windows and doors, and to stand idle would be lazy and foolish, a slap in the face.
thank you, Christ, for extending your wing to my protection. now make Your wing cover us all, so that we are no longer refugees, but citizens, family, under You and You only.
dwell and blik.
my all time fave duvet that we couldn’t pass up on about a year and a half ago. we happened to find it on sale in seattle at velocity, and to take further advantage of the reasonable prices we also decided to decorate our big, blank bedroom wall with a blik decal.
engaged.
i always like getting back to the definition of a common word.
engaged – adjective
1. busy or occupied; involved
2. pledged to be married; betrothed
3. under engagement; pledged
4. entered into conflict with
5. mechanics
a. interlocked
b. (of wheels) in gear with each other
6. architecture. built so as to be truly or seemingly attached in part to the structure before which it stands
my older brother, once pronouncing bachelorhood for life, popped the question to his girlfriend of eight years earlier this month, less than 24 hours before she headed to a 17 day european vacation with her girlfriends. and while there she probably saw some old, sturdy buildings that have stood for years, she was more than likely thinking about the solid relationship backing her and giving her life, the attachment to her person that makes her stand taller than any piece of architecture.
love you two and can’t wait to celebrate your life ahead.
psalm 18:19, 46.
he brought me forth into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
the Lord lives; and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation.
© 2012 love wins. Powered by bec.