Hope in Egypt

These are the moments where hope is realized...

Watching

Sitting in America
the sense of disregard
rampant and alive
would that we thought
and wondered
or cared

Sitting in America
McDonald’s land my home
sipping modest coffee
observing modest life
sweet diversity
but broken

Sitting in America
the nation of your placement
of this life
whose country is displacement
there or here
sojourning

Sitting in America
land of the (I’m) right
and the (your) wrong
cynical fear masked in words
words of nothing
words of

Sitting in America
forlorn in my, our, its (the) state
of the soul
defeat in victory
laughter of one
whose name is lie.

Sitting in America
beauty in multiplicity of
faces—disfigurement in voices
sitting in the milieu
watching
exhausted.


Watching

RDM : March, 2010

An Undisturbed Life Equals God-Forsaken

Now, beloved, if the divine government is a disturbing element, to be undisturbed is to be God forsaken. If we know nothing of the voice calling us to alter plans and set aside arrangements and simply step out upon the divine word in faith as Abraham did, then we are God forsaken men and women. Beyond that, to be God forsaken is to settle to failure.

“Oh,” you say, “let me stay here; my home is so comfortable, I am so happy.”

God says: “Move from this place and go yonder.”

You say: “I cannot. Let me remain where I am.”

What are you asking? You are asking for your own breakdown and failure. God’s plan for you is progress, growth; and you are asking for arrested development and for failure.

“Oh no,” you say, “I am only asking not to be disturbed.”

They are the same things. When you and I pray, in our foolishness, that God will not disturb us, we ask Him to give us no more progress, but to let us settle where we are and pass down to failure.

—George Campbell Morgan, THE TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT, p. 69-70

Fresh Vision for the Muslim World

This is my friend Mike Kuhn's new blog, birthed out of his new book, Fresh Vision for the Muslim World. I believe that any and all would significantly benefit from reading this book...But I especially think any Christians out there need to read this book. Mike's key theme: Incarnation instead of Confrontation as the change in thinking and approach we MUST have as we think about "others" (see: neigbor)...All "others," but in particular our Muslim neighbors--in the U.S. and worldwide. Check out his blog...and then buy the book.

New Era? Let's Hope So...

Here was a thought from a friend on Facebook. It came a day after President Obama had his picture taken, shaking hands and smiling with Hugo Chavez. Aftermath, of course, was typical on the Rush Limbaugh side of the fence...But I agree with my friend Matt, who said, "I'm glad that our President is shaking hands with leaders with whom we disagree sharply...it gives me hope that our reputation in the world might improve, and it doesn't mean that we have to compromise our principles. It's called leadership, and I'm encouraged." Hopefully, that is yet another sign that we are leaving the era of hawkish foreign policy to actual diplomacy. Would be nice if the moniker Ugly American weren't so representative of our national identity and yet hard to refute based on our leadership.

What does this say about...?

Well, unfortunately, I think I know what it says about many of us who would call ourselves Christian-evangelical-conservative...Whatever. All titles that seem to have loaded connotations to them. Following Jesus...God's mercy...The radical nature of grace...Loving the enemy...Leaving room for God's justice...Where is any of that in the corporate confessional world of the church? Here you go...Sad, but (ugghh!) true...

"More than half of people who attend services at least once a week — 54 percent — said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is “often” or “sometimes” justified. Only 42 percent of people who “seldom or never” go to services agreed, according the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified — more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did..."

His Actions Lend Credibility

This is an excerpt from the book Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas and is about four years old, but it still speaks volumes. It is one of the reasons I like Bono...Not because he's a Christian, but because he speaks and acts in a way that legitimizes the hope, truth, and reality of Christ. I think being hands and feet and speaking as necessary needs to have a far greater place at the table of expressed orthodoxy than simply espousing orthodoxy. Here it is.

Bono: My understanding of the Scriptures has been made simple by the person of Christ. Christ teaches that God is love. What does that mean? What it means for me: a study of the life of Christ. Love here describes itself as a child born in straw poverty, the most vulnerable situation of all, without honor. I don't let my religious world get too complicated. I just kind of go: Well, I think I know what God is. God is love, and as much as I respond [sighs] in allowing myself to be transformed by that love and acting in that love, that's my religion. Where things get complicated for me, is when I try to live this love. Now that's not so easy.

What about the God of the Old Testament? He wasn't so "peace and love"?
Bono: There's nothing hippie about my picture of Christ. The Gospels paint a picture of a very demanding, sometimes divisive love, but love it is. I accept the Old Testament as more of an action movie: blood, car chases, evacuations, a lot of special effects, seas dividing, mass murder, adultery. The children of God are running amok, wayward. Maybe that's why they're so relatable. But the way we would see it, those of us who are trying to figure out our Christian conundrum, is that the God of the Old Testament is like the journey from stern father to friend. When you're a child, you need clear directions and some strict rules. But with Christ, we have access in a one-to-one relationship, for, as in the Old Testament, it was more one of worship and awe, a vertical relationship. The New Testament, on the other hand, we look across at a Jesus who looks familiar, horizontal. The combination is what makes the Cross.
Religion can be the enemy of God. It's often what happens when God, like Elvis, has left the building. [laughs] A list of instructions where there was once conviction; dogma where once people just did it; a congregation led by a man where once they were led by the Holy Spirit. Discipline replacing discipleship.
I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity.

The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that.

Bono: But I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there's a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let's face it, you're not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That's the point. It should keep us humbled… . It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.

That's a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it's close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has his rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that far fetched?

Bono: No, it's not far fetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says: No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: "I'm the Messiah." I'm saying: "I am God incarnate." And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You're a bit eccentric. We've had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don't mention the "M" word! Because, you know, we're gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no. I know you're expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he's gonna keep saying this. So what you're left with is: either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. I mean, we're talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson. This man was like some of the people we've been talking about earlier. This man was strapping himself to a bomb, and had "King of the Jews" on his head, and, as they were putting him up on the Cross, was going: OK, martyrdom, here we go. Bring on the pain! I can take it. I'm not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me, that's far fetched …

Enjoy...Taste of Heaven?

Sit back and smile...This is great.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Everything is Spiritual

Check it out...