the carnival in my head…

i have been on a bit of a rampage these past few weeks, so i am going to get on my soapbox for a moment (surprise, surprise). you see, in the last couple of months i have been an advocate for a few different friends connected to the refuge who have needed a little help navigating social services & standing up for themselves in various ways.  i wholeheartedly believe in the art of advocacy, a little extra support & strength, someone to help give voice to the voiceless & ensure that the powerless don’t get stomped on.  when it comes to social services, i honestly think that no person should ever, ever, ever have to go do that alone.  it’s just too hard and humiliating and beyond confusing to navigate.  i have a graduate degree & consider myself sorta, kinda, halfway smart, and the whole process, language, letters in the mail, automatic denials, hoops you have to jump through, have made me more and more angry as the weeks have gone by.  

and i think where i go with some of my anger is:  where in the #&~)*!@#? is “the church” in this process?  most everyone sitting in the social services waiting room is already in a tough & brutal spot, otherwise they wouldn’t be there.  and they’re there trying to figure out the system on their own with basically no one to stand alongside.   the last time i was there i saw a veteran get so frustrated on the check-in process that he threw up his hands & stormed out the door. i was so sad, i wanted to run him down and say “come back, i’ll do this with you!” but i was tied up holding another single mommy’s hand as she was having an anxiety attack at the thought of losing some of her benefits.   i thought to myself “everyone here should have someone else with them to be a support & strength, an in-the-flesh advocate.”

psalm 82:3-4 includes this cry: 

“defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.  rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”  

although the psalmist is crying out to God, because we are called to be a reflection of God’s image, i believe this verse is a call to advocacy.

and i’ve been wondering, more than ever, what would it look like if christians continually cultivated the art of advocacy so that our “neighbors” would have voice, support, and encouragement when they needed it most?  (ps: i need to add that i am very mad that anyone who is part of our faith community even has to access social services because we, as christian brothers & sisters, should be helping meet those needs together. but the harsh reality is that a lot of people with money & resource seem to be looking for programs for their kids & inspiring sermons & just don’t see themselves as equals with honest vulnerable strugglers so the resource ends up staying in systems that self-perpetuate instead of directly to care for the hurting. i always want to cry out: “i have a single mommy who needs that money so she can change her life, but instead you’re going to let it pay for printing costs & building overhead & salaries to keep your cool church’s worlds spinning ’round!“).  i really believe the resources are out there, they are just allocated in the wrong places.  sorry, i digress.  

but i’m not afraid to say, i think churches should be cultivating advocates instead of building buildings.

so what would that look like?

it always, always, always starts with relationship.  friends don’t let their friends do hard things alone.  period.  without relationship, advocacy just can’t happen.  this is why i am so passionate about incarnational relationships–in the flesh, face to face, heart to heart.  this means we have to invest deeply in the lives of each other so that we know when someone actually needs help, someone to stick up for them a little extra for a season.

a willingness to step into the mess even when we don’t have any answers. - advocates don’t have to have answers (this is what we always think). we don’t have to know the ins and outs of the system or what programs or resources are available.  the only thing we need to be willing to do is say “i’ll figure this out with you, you will not have to do it alone. you need to try to use your voice but if you can’t, i will be there to help you.” 

we need to get mad on others’ behalfs.  we must get in touch with injustice, what it looks like, smells like, tastes.  there’s nothing more healing for another person than to have someone say “this is not right!”  social justice advocate john perkins says, “when a person stands on the side of the oppressed, he decides to trade comfort for concern, apathy for action, violence for nonviolence, hate for love.” 

we can’t keep “leaving it to the professionals.” - we make assumptions all the time–”oh, i am not a professional, they need to figure it out with their caseworker, therapist, doctor, lawyer, you name it.” okay, that’s my point:  sometimes people need help navigating things with the “professionals”!   this crosses all socioeconomics.  “voiceless” takes many forms & has nothing to do with education or pay.  sometimes, because of shame & abuse & insecurities, people lose their voice and a 50 minute session once a week isn’t going to get it back.  we need people to help us practice standing up for ourselves, to be good coaches.

commitment to the long haul - if every person with margin was a tangible life-long advocate for a person without margin, i believe the world would be a radically different place. i know that’s overwhelming for some people, that thought, but i do believe that we need to take a much longer view of relationship.  we are called to be people’s mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters for different seasons & our adopted “family” means we are in it for the long haul no matter what.  one of the reasons it is so hard for hurting people to trust other people is that they continually get ditched & it becomes so difficult to trust.

the truth is, we probably all need an advocate now and then. when i was going through an extra hard time a few years ago exiting an unhealthy church staff, jose stuck up for me in a powerful way i will never forget it.   i had become voiceless, beaten down, and he stepped in and said a few things that needed to be said on my behalf.  in that moment, i got a picture of God’s heart for me. 

whether we are young or old, educated or uneducated, shy or loud, there’s always someone out there who needs us to stick up for them now and then, to be a voice when they have none, to restore a little dignity & offer a little hope for the journey.  that’s advocacy.

well, some of you already know i am on a summer movie marathon. it is all a little wacky and so out of character because i am seriously a person who does not have extra time to be watching movies!  if i hadn’t said i’d do it, i probably would have only watched 2 movies by now. plus, we have a friend living in our basement & she is a movie-lover like me so she keeps me on task, hahaha. there really is something so great about intentionally escaping now and then. anyway, i slowed down a bit after my two weeks out of the chute on memorial day but i am trying to find time here and there to chill for a couple of hours & soak in some good ones.  i thought i’d catch you up on what i’ve been watching; i always say that the carnival is sometimes like drinking water from a firehose, just a little too intense all the time! (i am not so good at little posts here and there) so here’s to a little refreshment break.   this is what i have watched since the last time i posted, kind of a funky mix:

becoming jane- it took me a while but then it really grew on me. i was so mad at the end, though. i won’t give it away but i couldn’t believe what a dumb move that was…

27 dresses - just good sweet fun.  a romantic comedy now and then is always worth it.

the sentinel - i like political thrillers and the twists & turns.  plus, kiefer sutherland is always good. 

the guardian - we all really liked it! jose was able to pull off that one & we all got into it.  a little on the perfect storm & abyss side of things.  it is fun because right after we saw it we found out the son of an old friend just joined the navy to be an air rescue swimmer. 

mad money - we all thought this was so funny, the kids could watch it too & it was just sweet and funny.  our favorite line was from katie holmes husband in the movie, a kind but not so smart guy:  “i want a lawyer–L-A-Y-E-R.”  for some dumb reason we all think that is so funny.

firewall - just another good suspenseful rental.   harrison ford’s always good.

the namesake - everyone got mad at me on my choice for this one.  they tried to hang with it but i had to agree, it just didn’t cut it.  it was a bummer because the previews looked so good & i read the book and love indian culture. it wasn’t quite sure of what it should be–artsy or mainstream–and so it missed the mark.  my older two kids watched it and they kept joking that his name was “google” and the sister’s name was “yahoo.”

grace is gone - sad and simple and it really lingers.  i love john cusack and he is in a totally different role here.  sundance film festival something or other. i liked it but don’t look for happy or neat & tidy.

the savages - my movie partners get a little annoyed with me, all my downer movies (i get teased all the time about this!) but i really like realistic & this one hit it in terms of awkward & tricky family dynamics. laura linney and phillip seymour hoffman were great as brother & sister and all of the issues surrounding taking care of their sick father.  painful to watch but well done. 

charlie wilson’s war - i am glad i saw it but it was so painful to see the back story of how these things go down politically, and we kept saying “yep, this really happens.”  the washington insider sex stuff bugged me, too.  ick.

waitress - i had seen this in the theater way back when it first came out & loved it.  so simple & sweet & powerful.   i watched it with julia, she’s 14. there are a few things of course that aren’t for kids theme-wise but she is wise enough to handle it and the redemption is so there.  the fun part was afterward she looked up the pie recipes online and made us the “falling in love chocolate mousse pie” for after our house of refuge.  it was amazing, like really really good! 

the italian job - i’ve seen this a few times before but we watched it again. such a great heist movie, so well done. i am a mark wahlberg fan for sure.

charlie bartlett - oh i liked this one. we saw the preview when we saw “once” and it made me want to see it.  sort of like an updated ferris bueller’s day off.  the prescription drug scene with the kids, of course not to be made glamorous by any means, but that so wasn’t the big idea. just another reminder that everyone needs someone to talk to & listen to them.  

michael - probably funnier 12 years ago when it first came out but there is something so charming about the messed up smoking angel…

definitely, maybe - well i could have done without this romantic comedy.  it was okay, not terrible or anything but just didn’t go anywhere.  i liked isla fisher, though.

made of honor - julia and i went with our basement roommate to our $2.00 theater to see this.  we laughed, just your basic romantic comedy with some funny moments.  the glow-in-the-dark-thunder-beads on grandma really was the highlight.   

the final season - good sappy family baseball movie based on a true story of an iowa high school baseball team.  i love samwise gamgee from lord of the rings (sean astin) and he was the lead in a simple, not stellar movie that made us all cry at the end.  we watched it together on july 5th, the day after the kiddos watched the sandlot (our fav!), and i am glad we stuck with (at first we were like, is this going to be dumb, but it wasn’t).  remember, we have 4 boys in our house who fight over the sports page every morning (well, make that 5 with jose) so we like these kinds of stories.  jose was able to catch this one with us, too, so that always makes me happy.

rendition - good drama, and i always like it when someone takes it for the team to make an injustice right.  it had some good twists & turns and had me on the edge of my seat going “i wonder how this is going to really go down?”

hancock - i went with a few friends & julia to see this in the theater july 4th weekend. love will smith & of course a horribly flawed superhero is my favorite.  there were some things that i was like “why did it have to be like that?” but i am glad we saw it. we laughed and escaped and that’s why i go to the movies!

whew, that is a lot (kind of embarrassing?)  29 movies since memorial day. this week i have a lot going on so it’ll be a light week, maybe just 1 or 2.  i have city of God & gandhi (but that one is 3 hours & of course no one wants to watch it with me!). and the visitor & get smart are my next theater ones. well, thanks for all the recommendations last time, too.  my “to see” list is long!  thanks for sharing in the fun…

the old saying “money is the root of all evil” isn’t really that accurate.  we all know there’s something underneath money that is far more insidious–power.  i think about power a lot for all kinds of reasons. my free-fall out of the power-laden mega church i was part of probably was the icing on the cake, but i had been wrestling with issues of power long before then. my husband is hispanic and i have seen first-hand what white privilege looks like & how it affects his family & their friends. i have unfortunately also seen up-close-and-personal the dominance of men not only in the church but in abusive relationships where women “have their place” and lack value & voice & dignity. i have seen who gets promoted & who doesn’t.  my mom was a struggling single mom for many years & i experienced what it was like to claw and fight to pay the bills and keep the lights turned on while other people never thought twice about it.  i have seen what perpetrators can do to victims by abusing their power in all kinds of wicked ways.  and i have nursed many a wound of those hurt by the church & am continually disgusted by the things people do and say and get away with in the name of God.  basically, i am angry at how much misused power hurts.

power & control is in our DNA from genesis 3, and it continues to wreak havoc in our churches, homes, and world.  i honestly think we’re addicted to it, more than we think. like a moth to the flame, we are drawn to power. we tend to want more of it ourselves and are all-too-willing to bestow it on other people in all kinds of weird and bizarre ways that rob us of our God-given value, voice & influence.

i think power in the real world is a given. even though i am an idealist and wish they weren’t, i expect corporations to be power-hungry. they don’t exist to save the world, they exist to make money. i get that. the problem i have is how as christians we have unfortunately & probably inadvertently adopted the world’s ways of power into our church culture, our homes, the fabric of our lives. the upside down message of Jesus in the sermon on the mount is radically lost & basically we are sucked into the same old b.s. that the world thrives on.  last night i went to the jesus for president tour that came through denver. it was a good night, always fun to see people from around denver with belief-that-the-beatitudes-really-are-the-way-blood in their veins. i love the message that shane claiborne always carries because it reeks of Jesus’ love & hope & peace & a crazy diffusion of power.   every bit of power we get we are supposed to offer to others & use for good.  it’s that simple (and of course, easier said than done). when jim henderson came to denver last year with matt casper to promote jim & casper go to church he said something like this: “i can’t imagine God would want me to do anything else with the power that i have except give it away.”

i think what really impacted me last night is the reminder that throughout history, everyone was always looking for a king, someone to rule over them & sort of make everything right in the world. even when the israelites left egypt, it is always so interesting to me (and unfortunately terribly familiar in my own story) that they couldn’t accept their freedom & longed to go back to egypt. even though they were slaves there, they knew what to expect and it was somehow safer. for generations the israelites waited for their messiah. and did they ever get what they never expected–the long awaited king of all kings was an average guy with a crazy message that the first would be last and the last would be first and that power and religion and knowledge meant nothing in contrast to the simple & radical ways of love and generosity.  instead of powering up, he powered down to the lowest of places.  last night chris hawes, co-author of the book, said “it took 3 days for the israelites to get out of egypt, but it took a lifetime to get egypt out of them.”  the structure, the subservience, the predictability of power got into their skin. i think it got into ours, too.  we bestow so much power onto christian leaders, celebrity figures, the talented & strong, you name it, and basically keep them on a pedestal, perpetuating weird power structures because we think that is how things are supposed to work.  and we clamor for power in ways that we might not even recognize because success & importance in the world’s eyes (and for many, the “church’s” eyes) is so engrained in us as important to get. 

for real change to happen in the church, our communities, the world, i believe wholeheartedly we need to rethink power.  at off the map live in seattle last year, i think it was richard twiss (don’t quote me on that) who said, “those with power never think about it & those without it think about it all the time.”  so how do we re-think power?  oh i can’t begin to touch on all the possibilities but here are a few on the tip of my tongue:

we must notice our power when we’ve got it. in the world i used to run in, i don’t think i even realized how much natural privilege i had because of my education, income, put-togetherness.  i came from a pretty poor broken family so i was determined to do whatever i could to shift that cycle (and boy did i try to do a good job of it!). now, after radical shifts in the way i live out my faith, i am struck with how many don’t have power & how much i automatically have.  socioeconomics, race, mental illness, education, gender, weird life circumstances that have kept people paralyzed all contribute to a lack of power.  please know that i don’t mean to pick on the boys intentionally (i have the utmost respect for the many humble men i am connected to & those who participate in this blog because i know the ways you are using your power to serve & honor others, it is beautiful) but i will have to say that i think a huge shift will take place in the world, in christianity, when men who have automatically held power for generations upon generations start to radically give it away in noticeable, tangible, crazily weird ways to those who have basically never ever had it before because of their race or gender or socioeconomic position.  i really believe there’s room for everyone.

we need to be careful of how much power we give to other people.  this is why i am anti-christian-hero’ish.  i am so not into the lead pastor thing where there’s a king and he uses his God-given authority and “spiritual gift of leadership” to put themselves above the masses.  i actually don’t think it’s all their fault (although i think some are pretty good at perpetuating it).   i think it’s people’s fault.  we do this to people–we give them far too much power. we make assumptions about them & fan into flame things that aren’t good for people’s souls.  i think we do a disservice to them, ourselves, by giving them (or taking for ourselves) too much authority & power.  sometimes people try to do this to me here and there, and i beg them “whatever you do, do not do not do not put me on a pedestal.  that would be a dangerous mistake, bad for your soul and mine, too.”

recognize how we perpetuate systems of power.  i also think we need to ask ourselves:  “how am i helping perpetuate systems of power where the underdog, the undervalued, the least and the last aren’t ever treated as equals in terms of leadership, value or voice?”  it is so natural to us to be part of systems where women & minorities & those with no resources are kept underneath, where the “recovery people” are in their own ministry set apart from the neat & tidies, where leaders never hang out with anyone except themselves & people like them, where lack of diversity is never questioned, where racial, sexual & gender inuendos and jokes are commonplace.  i think we’re so desensitized to it,  we don’t even notice how screwed up it really is. this isn’t just in churches, this is in the places we work, the places we give our money to. 

let’s do everything we can to give it away.  as i said before, this is easier said than done. we are all hoarders at heart.  it’s so hard to let go of power and all the things that go along with it, but i think that is where the greatest spiritual transformation might take place–when instead of taking power, we give it away.  we serve instead of be served.  we offer space & voice to the typically unheard.  we bend our knee instead of expecting others to bend theirs.  we give instead of take.

if we don’t have it in the world, we have it in the kingdom.  Jesus makes this so clear.  those with nothing have the most.  our dignity and value has nothing to do with what the world says, what weird measuring stick people are measured with.  yes, it sucks to see the system work so deeply against some people but remember that in Jesus’ economy power means nothing.

reflect on how we might have hurt others with our power.  i am sure i have hurt people unintentionally, and for that i am so sorry.  i hope we can be people who are continually soft and reflective about ways we may use or have used power to damage others.  there’s so much healing that can happen when someone in power actually apologizes (if you have been hurt by power you know what a gift it would be it would be if those who did the damage actually acknowledged it. unfortunately many of us will have to live with that never happening this side of heaven).

oh i know this is way too long but actually only scratches the surface.  there’s so much that could be fleshed out in so many other ways, but i had this on my mind and thought i’d dump it out.  i know what satan intends for evil, God can use for good.  and i fully believe that as christ-followers, as human beings, we can use the power we have to influence, help, love, and serve those without it.   the world is watching.  it’s time to re-think power.

as you all know by now, i have a lot of issues with “church.”  i love love love people gathered together in all kinds of ways to learn and practice loving God, our neighbors, ourselves.  it’s the programs, the inauthenticity,  the power b.s., the unnaturalness of it all that i can do without.   i believe wholeheartedly, in every fabric of my being, that without community and deep connection with other people (whatever that may look like) we will never be able to live out the ways of Jesus and experience the fullness of relationship with God. i am fairly convinced typical church systems that feed inspiration addiction provide a false sense of spiritual maturity where learning “about” certain things becomes enough and we are never forced to actually be in meaningful intimate connection with the people we sit next to week after week.  lives need to be rubbed up against other lives.  that’s where the real action happens and we learn what it means to really love & be loved.  

after spending last weekend at the 3rd annual refuge camping trip at jackson lake i walked away with this thought: church should probably be a lot more like camping!  really, it has all of the elements that i love & value about “church” the way i dreamed it could be:

all the cover-ups are stripped away - camping is a great equalizer.  a tent’s a tent.  no one cares about what you wear or what you look like.  every person trying to pull themselves up on a tube in the middle of the lake looks awkward, no matter how much money they make or what job they have.  in a good way, camping (especially when there’s water because that means bathing suits!) exposes us in a safe container because everyone else is equally exposed, too.  

everyone shares - that is one of my favorite things, when we are camping there’s an incredible sharing of “stuff” with each other.  we had 14 sites all to ourselves and there was zigzagging all over the place… ”need an extra tent? want some eggs? i’ve got some bacon! come over to our place and we’ll cook up the food.”  needs get met.  openhandedness abounds. 

conversations flow - fire, time and space creates a container for relaxed & meaningful conversation. no one’s rushed, hurried, has an agenda, or always has the floor.

playing & more playing - little kids playing with big kids, big kids making new friends, games around the picnic table, balls getting tossed, splashing in the water, silly songs around the campfire, people trying things they don’t normally try, laughter everywhere.   that’s worship.

the little ones are a part - kids & grownups together is really important to me.  we’re supposed to know each other’s kids & look after them & help them & love them instead of keeping them safely put away while we “do our thing”.  when we’re camping, we’re all together, eyes and hearts and hands all over the place making sure everyone’s known & taken care of. 

relaxed instead of rushed - hurriedness is what messes with community. rushing in, rushing out, going from one thing to the next and never being able to be present in the moment.  the stress of time and responsibilities and pressures really rob us of peace & connection.  when we’re camping, we’re chill.  we’re present.  we’re unwound instead of wound up.  we’re glad to be here instead of thinking where else we have to go next.

i could go on and on about all the cool parallels and i am sure i missed some other big ones, but you get the point.  yeah, to me, camping really is “church” at its finest. 

ps: below is a photo collage from my camera only.  i missed a bunch because i was on the boat most of the time & so i didn’t get any pix from karl & april’s.  yeah, we are a water family & our boat is called ohana! which means family in hawaiian (if you watched lilo and stitch “ohana means family & family means no one gets left behind”. that sort of sums up what i think the church should be).  the only bummer from this year’s camping trip is i didn’t have jose there. he had to coach jamison’s (that’s my 12 year old) basketball team for a tournament.  i did have an amazing ohana crew (all girls, yeah!) who helped pull tubers, run ropes, and manage tons of kids & grownups in and out and all around.  we saved a few lives here and there (not really but it felt like it) and really had a blast!

pps:  happy july 4th! i am thankful for our freedom. let us never forget that many many others have none and keep fighting for theirs, too, with the same passion we fought for ours.  

“we all blossom in the presence of one who sees the good in us and who can coax the best out of us”

–desmond tutu

 * * * * *

yes, there’s no doubt in my mind, we live in a genesis 3 world.   created in God’s image in genesis 1, things went awry for adam & eve, and here we are, God’s children, generation upon generation later, struggling to make sense of our humanness, God’s God-ness, with shame & pride & control & doubt & hiding & all kinds of wacky things messing with our heads, our lives.   the reason why this is so clearly on my heart today is that the past 4 days or so have been filled with people and more people.  and where there’s people, there’s a glorious mess and yet another reminder that the human struggle to believe we are good, that God is good, feels pretty universal. 

we had our 3rd annual refuge camping trip this past weekend (more on that in a few days, whoa, it was lovely & fun & filled with the typical and wonderful refuge riff-raff). we came home to two days with a friend from australia, sheena ryan, who has the gift of prophesy and offered some words of encouragement for our community.   she is connected to some dear friends on the refuge team who are constantly reminding us that God is big, like really big, and to not let our weird spiritual baggage & american christian experiences limit God’s spirit.  one of the things i love about the refuge is the diversity of christian theology & past spiritual experiences & ways of living out our faith all under one roof.  when sheena visited us at the end of 2006 i was being my typical skeptical self and felt very protective of my friends who had experienced God woundedness over the years and didn’t want anyone messing with their journey.  of course, i was utterly wrong and the time she spent with us was healing and beautiful and God truly spoke not only to me but to many others, too.  now, almost 2 years later, she was back in the states to share and encourage.  i admit that, again, i got a little worried.  safety at the refuge is a really high value and i know how fragile some of my friends are in their faith but i drew on the reality of last time–this was a kind and gentle and simple woman with no agenda, no power to gain, absolutely no benefit that i can think of other than knowing that she made herself available to people in need of God’s touch (i am always faced with what a jerk i can be about God stuff that i am not as comfortable with or used to. yes, God, i get it. i so easily forget how big you really are!).

we’ve been talking this month about the beauty & mystery of the trinity (you can read more about it at the refuge blog here and here) and the timing couldn’t have been better since this was the week focused on the holy spirit.  so out on the patio this past sunday evening, the breeze blowing through, we laughed & sang together and listened to sheena speak for a short time about prayer.  then in a humble & gentle way she prayed publicly for those that came forward. the most lovely part was that as a community, we got to hear out loud what God was saying through her to each other.  because i know pieces of almost every person’s story at the refuge, i was a tad bit overwhelmed at just how accurate & specific these words of encouragement were for each person.  friend after friend after friend receiving kernels of truth & hope into their lives.  when she got to me, well, the tears sprang forth & i tried to just receive (i’m not the best at that).  i can’t recreate the moment but i will just say that i was reminded that this crazy battle i am in, fighting for a theology of brokenness & equality to pervade the church, is worth it despite my insecurities & fears. 

we spent a little more time with sheena yesterday and it was good for my soul, the place i am at on the journey.  i am at a point in my life where i am no longer addicted to spiritual highs or caught up in demanding something from God the way i need it, the way i want it.  but i was reminded that God is always trying to speak to us as his babies, his children, so that we will know the truth about who we really are.  that he hasn’t forgotten us.  that he wants to reveal himself in weird and mysterious ways to help us on the journey.  i think the big bottom line is that God wants to clear some of the rubble that’s been created over the years so that the essence of who we are, the image of God in us, will be more clearly reflected and others can then see the image of God in themselves, too. i believe wholeheartedly that he doesn’t want us to stay stuck, to let the rubble keep us paralyzed from living. 

i get so angry at the rocks and obstacles and weights and barriers that have been placed into our way.  things we’ve done, things done to us, spiritual & emotional damage, messages and lies we’ve taken into the deepest places of our heart and we can’t seem to shake, a core belief that we’re really unlovable & unworthy of good things.  as a parent, it is the absolute last thing i would want my kids to be stuck with.  these rocks cut across money & education & geography & race & spiritual experiences and tend to be part of every person’s human experience to some degree or another.  the sick, the marginalized, the outcasts, the desperate were drawn to Jesus. in weird and bizarre ways, he called out the good that was buried underneath.  and as Christ-followers we are told to follow his example. 

there’s no doubt in my mind, we can’t clear the rocks by ourselves.  they are just too damn heavy.  sometimes we need two or three of us on our hands and knees pushing with all our strength, not giving up, even though it feels like any minute the rock will just roll right back to where it was before.  sometimes we need a random person to speak some words of encouragement & hope into us from out of the blue.  sometimes we just need someone to listen to the carnival in our head and remind us that it’s time to get off the ride, if even for a few minutes. sometimes we need prayer. sometimes we need laughter. sometimes we need a kick in the tail from a faithful friend.  any clearing we can get, we must take.  a pebble at a time, a rock at a time, a boulder at a time.  clearing the rubble so that the beauty and dignity and value of people can be discovered, our goodness-because-we-are-made-in-God’s-image revealed.   

that’s really what happened here the past few days.  a little bit of rubble got cleared so good could be exposed & what was already there can be released, even if in just a small and simple way.  i love what karl, my friend & teammate at the refuge, said at the end of our evening together:  “this is not extraordinary. it feels extraordinary because we are not used to it in such a powerful dose, but this kind of calling out the good in each other’s lives should be an ordinary part of our life in community together.” 

i have a feeling we just need a little reminder now and then that we are more equipped than we think to heal, to gently love, to clear some rubble, to call out the good.  and i believe our families, our neighborhoods, our cities, the world, are crying out for people willing to look beyond the rubble, see the good, the beauty buried down deep, and stay in relationship with them to coax it out…