Church.

The past few Sundays at Church have been simply marvelous, and there are a few special gems I wanted to share!  As Christians we are called to be in God's story, but what does that really mean to be a part of His story and to live into it?

Our Pastor shared this beautiful article a few Sundays ago, and I wanted to share the whole thing with you.  The article was written by a woman who had recently moved into a housing project with her husband, small child, and cat, and she was pondering what it really means to live in God's story.

"Here is my problem - from my own church I am told to just say a prayer or two or maybe read another book or just become aware of the problems in the world, but just stop bringing up the awful and the uncomfortable will you.  There is a strong pull in the church to mirror the rest of the culture.  Gone are the dog days of hell fire and brimstone.  Today you are likely to drink a cup of fair trade coffee while someone plays artful songs about justice, and we think that's enough because we want to be liked, admired and successful. As a result we sometimes build churches that cater to making very specific demographics feel supremely comfortable and although this warrants no airtime or conversation in the media the tragedy is this is where the majority of us are living our Christian life.  This is the middle ground of evangelical Christianity - aware, educated, comfortable, but too often disobedient.  The place where Jesus is sold as the KEY to a good life.  And it feels great, but it's not the gospel is the problem.

So when confronted with the truth about the world - the inequality, the brutality, the injustice, the sin - what are we called to do?  And this is what I'm hearing, well you know surround yourself with people who want to talk about justice. write another song about justice, put on a benefit for a hip cause, but give all your money away? adopt a child from foster care? volunteer your free time to teach English or citizenship classes or driver's ed, live with poor people, invite someone into your home that you don't know, cross a social barrier, stop buying stuff - oh no that wouldn't be right, in fact that would be ridiculous!  Jesus doesn't want us to have our lives inconvenienced just because so many other people are suffering right?...no not right.  WRONG!  I think Jesus would want us to have our lives inconvenienced.  God's children are being raped, God's children are starving to death, God's children are dying of astonishingly preventable diseases, and you want me to tone it down?

I am only starting to realize I can't tone it down.  I have looked at the hard facts and by the grace of God I am starting to understand that I'm not special.  I am one of God's children, and I am called to do everything in my power to shine His light and to give a voice to those who don't have one and my fear is that you will read this and say oh good for her.  She's writing - not me - that you will patronize me and put me on a different plane, planet or pedestal.  One that you won't have to live on - no this isn't for me, this is for all of us.  And she goes on if you listen hard, you will hear Christ's voice too - the one telling you there is a reason you feel like screaming or crying when you watch the news.  It's Christ's voice. That lurking milieu that you have achieved the American dream, but somehow aren't happy - Christ's voice.  That dark part of your thoughts that's always asking what am I really suppose to be doing with my life?  - Christ's voice.

She closes this way...can't promise you the key to a good life, but I can tell you this - Jesus wants to be all up in the thick of it in the human condition.  He would have no problem telling you to sell everything and give it to the poor.  And when you say no..you couldn't possibly do that.  He would look on you with sadness, not just because He loves you but because He loves everyone. So sad that you might take a second look and reconsider and start dismantling piece by piece the many walls you have constructed to keep the poor and needy and kingdom calling away. God help us - no joke it's rough, but I sleep well at night."

I have absolutely NO idea who wrote this - but I listened to the sermon over and over and over again to capture every last bit of it!  The bottom line is...there are two stories.  There is story made up of a world of flattery, fear, insecurity and upward mobility behind a veil of advertising that makes it all shiny and glittery and there is God's story of the Cross...and now I beg the question...which story are you living into?

Stories.

Each of us has a life story.  Our story reminds us of where we have been and where we have yet to go.  It reminds us of who we are and who we have yet to become.  So many people, places, and things shape this story - a story that is so uniquely yours.

I have been thinking ALOT about this lately.  What is MY story? How would I describe my life and who I am? How would someone else describe it? What do I want my story to become? What do I need to do to get there? Who do I want to become? So many questions - so few answers and this is the story of my life. But if I sat down to write my life story thus far what would I say? What would be worthy of even mentioning? What would the title of the book be?

We each have a story - So the big question is... what is your story?

Open your heart to hear other peoples stories. Open your ears and you will hear the cries, the joys, the struggles and the triumphs that are laced within each of our stories. Sit and listen - you never know what you might find in the depths of someones story.

Stories.

So if I may boast again about my darling husband...I think I would boast about his beautiful writing abilities. Now I know we all have our giftings and my Leadership Through Storytelling class clearly showed me that my gifting was NOT creative writing NOR storytelling when I had to make UP the story and create dialogue and all that malarky. Now writing about myself and telling my OWN personal stories - now I can do that. But writing about things that have yet to happen? and creating fantasy conversations between two people? and writing overly descriptively so that people feel as though they are a part of it all? Now THAT is hard for me!

However, what is hard for me may come easy for another - and that another is my husband! Peter can just sit down and write the most beautiful stories in moments, and yes I am jealous of this gifting, but it doesn't mean I don't boast about it or appreciate it! I clearly remember a specific moment where I had to write this story for this said class and parts of the story were in fact true because I just couldn't make up the ENTIRE thing. I wanted to write about something real and tangible and I wanted my characters to be real people - so they were, but I still had to create dialogue and I still had to use a TON of descriptive words and I still struggled. But my husband is a beautiful writer. So I thought I would consult him, and I did and within minutes he had turned my simple, plain, boring dialogue into something vibrant and beautiful. He even advised me on my descriptive words and within minutes the characters and the situation came alive! Now that my friends is a gift and a talent....so I thought instead of going on and on about my husband's writing abilities, I would share one of his stories with all of you! And I may even try to round up a few of his oldies and share them on here. But read this one first...and read it through to the end..because the ending is the BEST PART!

GALLOWS by Peter Drennan.

He walked slowly to the gallows. He could not remember his name. He had no name, only people of worth had names. He was worth nothing, simply a waste of human genome. Maybe he once had a name? maybe he even had a family? maybe he was once loved? But not anymore, now he was merely sub human. As he walked, in torn clothes that barely covered his naked form, the crowds gathered to jeer at him. They screamed profanity, throwing rotten food and animal entrails at him. They spit on him, hurling insults and excrement. They were enraged by his very existence. He insulted their humanity. His clothes were torn from him. He was kicked to the ground, naked, stinking and humiliated. He continued to walk, crawl and scramble to the gallows and to his judgement. If he was lucky he will be hung today. It was what he deserved.

As he reached the platform, he saw his judge and executioner. His heart filled with dread, The Accuser was known for no mercy and no quick kills. The Accuser relished in torture and hearing his victims blood curdling screams. He climbed the steps, unable to hear anything but the crowds accusations and insults. But he deserved it. He deserved it all because he went too far. The Accuser stood there, draped in a black cloak with deep black eyes that glint with blue fire - cold yet ablaze with a deep fire. On his shirt cuff was embossed the words ACCUSER OF ALL. It is The Accuser that OWNS the crowd and the entire world.

The Accuser cried, "YOU are accused of being filthy, disgusting, depraved, ugly and worthless! What say YOU!"

The crowd cheered, and a new wave of filth left their mouths.

The Accuser is not yet finished and the cries continued, "YOU are guilty of everything! IT is ALL your fault! What say YOU! Look -your own family has rejected you, and they did not even name YOU! NO one wants you."

He was unable to speak, yet he found himself nodding with the accuser, agreeing with him. His mouth was trapped shut, and his mind fell into darkness as he accepted what The Accuser was saying.

"You will be sentenced today, and there will be no chance of ANY pardon. Sentenced to punishment in the pit of torture where all of the SCUM go!" cried The Accuser. The crowd wanted to tear him to pieces themselves, the words of The Accuser intoxicated them and they celebrated in an orgy of rage.

The Accuser continued..."YOU may have heard a rumour of some promising pardons. Well that is a LIE. YOU are all un-forgivable...and in any case I KILLED that liar a long time ago." The Accuser removed his hood and gave a terrifying battle cry of pride. He cried, "Step forward and take your punishment." The crowd reached a fever. The Accuser continued, "NO one can save you and no one would want to!"

He braced his body for his eternal punishment. As he reached out his hand to recieve the cold hand of Fate, he heard a word he has never heard before - A word that was pure, a word that was not ugly but beautiful. It was whispered. It's sound was refreshing like a summers rain. It was not from the crowd. Their words were like sandpaper on an open wound. Their words were growled, and they came out of the bowels of the firey dungeon. No... this word changed everything. He tried to say it back but it had been so long since he had spoken, and his voice was like a crackle. He kept hearing the word. The Accuser jeered, "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING FOOL! Look he is retarded now as well as disgusting!" But there was less certainty and revillry in his voice now, almost as if he could hear the word himself.

The word got louder and clearer and the crowd stirred. Someone came walking through the crowd. They removed their cloak, strode up the steps and stood beside him. She said, "John it's me. It's Grace. Remember me, remember what I promised?" On her cloak was the word he was trying to say, the word he was hearing but could not say...

The Accuser was furious and cried, "THERE IS NO ONE here called John...just a filthy criminal!" Grace, turned to The Accuser and said, "YOU fool, you have no idea what has already happened. You are no longer the accuser of the realm and John is no longer under your dominion. YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE! John, I named you before you were born, you are not filthy you are worthy and glorious. Come with me and we will go onto the other gallows and whisper those words you heard and build the new realm where the accuser has no rule!" the accuser shook at her words and cried, "NO ...LIES ...SHE SAYS LIES! PUNISH HIM!!"

Then Grace so gracefully said..."John lets go see your friends, and your Father. He has been waiting for you for a very long time." John replied, "Grace, you saved me...but why?" Grace replied with a sigh, "Oh John, we have been searching for you for a long time, you have no idea how much we love you!"