This week I’ve been thinking about love, about faith, about fear.
I’ve been thinking of the Letter from a Birmingham Jail. I’ve been meditating on Titus 3. I still have a lot of questions. And I’ve come to the conclusion that a lot of words have already been spoken this week. What I need, what we all need, is not more words AT each other but WITH each other.
So here is my prayer. I’d love if you would join me in praying, or add a prayer of your own in the comments below!
Fascinating.
That’s the word I’ve been using to describe 90% of the books I’m reading lately. I read one book, and think, “this is the most fascinating book I’ve read all year! I have to share this with people!” But before I do, I begin another book and think the exact same thing.
So far, here is a list of the most fascinating books I’ve read this year: Continue reading
One of the things I’ve realized this year is how our society is growing more and more segregated. In our neighborhoods, work, schools, and churches it is common to have a single demographic disproportionately represented. We can easily spend 90% of our time with people who see the world very similarly.
And so we might talk about poor people or rich people without really knowing any. We might talk about refugees without having ever had a friendship with one. We might even discount the validity of race issues or privilege or global warming. Of course, this is a huge generalization, but I’ve seen it true all too often in my own life. Continue reading
I don’t know about you, but I grew up loving a good deal.
50% off? Awesome! Extra 10% off coupon? Even better!
Whether it’s groceries, clothing, or simply a pack of sticky notes, I navigated college and came into my twenties with one solid opinion: cheaper = better. To pay more than the lowest price out there was to get ripped off, to be foolish with my money. Continue reading
We may have never seen it more clearly than this week.
How fear, hate, and division can gather momentum, eat away like a cancer.
I don’t pretend to understand. I don’t have any answers, except for Christ. But today I pray for comfort, for healing, for justice, for safety, for peace.
“To you we lift up our eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
…our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, o Lord,
Have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.”
Psalm 123
During (and after) the Advent season, I felt the need to focus on the theme of desire and longing. Now, here we are beginning the season of Lent, and what better word to sum up the experience than desire? Isn’t this much of what Lent is about–to give up that which we desire, in order to more clearly recognize the emptiness of all but Christ? The chance to see how desperately we long for a Savior, since our small earthly attempts at meaningful spiritual discipline are wobbly and incomplete at best?
But maybe Lent could be about more than just restraining a particular desire, as helpful as that may be. This weekend our pastor preached out of Isaiah 58-59, and I couldn’t help but hear the echoes of these words as I sit here today. I’m taping this prayer on my mirror for the 40 days and would invite you to join me, if you’d like.
Lord,
We confess the many ways we have tried to please you, please others, and please ourselves through mere religious activity.
We confess the times we have thwarted or ignored justice out of ignorance, arrogance, or self interest.
We confess the times we’ve signed up or showed up with hearts without generosity or love.
We ask for you to give us new hearts and new desires.
Show us what it means to loose the bonds of wickedness, undo the yoke of oppression, and share our food with the hungry.
Let us be called the repairers of the ruins, the restorers of streets to dwell in. Help us see outside the narrow confines of our self-interest and seek the thriving of our city and community.
Instead of just trying harder, may we be forever ruined by your astounding love, eager to give the same love to others.
Teach us to pour ourselves out for the afflicted, knowing we will be fully satisfied in You.
Amen.
Downwind of Grace 