Serious faith for misfits, lousy joiners, and other homesick souls
There are somethings we can mistakenly embrace about Easter that distract us from the real hope that can help shape our lives. These things are worth evaluating, not to deflate us, but to focus us on where the real hope lies.
The disciples are dolts. They have the hardest time learning the most obvious lessons. Jesus goes and feeds several thousand, gets on a boat with them, and suddenly they are afraid Jesus will be mad because the didn’t pack a lunch. Zheesh. In that same chapter Jesus heals this man in a most unusual way and he has to do it twice. Either Jesus is losing his touch or Mark is writing to try to be be obvious: We don’t see clearly yet. The first time Jesus touches the blind man he sees part way. ” I see people, like trees walking around.” I get that. That makes sense to me. If he is still half blind, then he is not wrong. But there is more to be seen and it will be a shocker. So don’t stop now…
Years ago I got caught in a pretty debilitating depression. I let things snowball to a point I felt I had little or no refuge left. Every part of life looked bleak including my own bedroom. On weekends I would lie in bed all day and look at piles of laundry, fast food wrappers, stacks of unopened bills and just junk. Blech. It literally made it hard to get out of bed in the morning (or sometimes in the afternoon). One could sprain an ankle
on the way to the bathroom. At one point it became difficult for me to imagine that the room would ever be clean. I would lie in bed and pray, “please, someone come and get this sadness out my house.” To my great surprise, one time, someone did.
Today I listened to even more stories hard to hear, Stories that were never meant to have to be told. I am reminded there are places where life is still taken from the young, children are unwanted or used, and innocence can be traded for cigarettes and bags of chips.
It is this very world into which every child is born. This life, with all of its risks and violence, is where every human body has to live. We like to think we do our best. Not everyone does. Some tearthrough the landscape of life like a wildfire out of control. This is the world into which every baby is born.
It is in this molested, abandoned, cockeyed world that Mary has her baby. God was born into all of our danger like every child and in fact even he didn’t make it out alive, …at least as far as we could see at that time. Perhaps that is as far was we can see now.
God knew the mess Jesus was getting into and Jesus came anyway. There is no darkness God refuses to touch, or to be touched by. There is no darkness into which the light is not willing to shine.
Let this be our last night of waiting.
related post:
Yeah, Actually, Mary Did Know.
Whew! So that was the longest night of the year. I am not at all unfamiliar with its is like to be stuck in a night that does not seem to want to end. Sometimes the darkness is a habit of thinking that is hard to break.
This far in to the holiday season there are always a few folks who want to be in the spirit of things but just haven’t got there yet.
Well the night is over. The sun returns and I think surprise is an important part of a complete breakfast. So here are a couple ideas to get the ball rolling.
1) Shock yourself: Some gifts you open, some gifts open you…
