community
the following is an excerpt from the book
We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families by Philip Gourevitch. It is in reference to a story told by a woman about the Rwandan cultural responsibility to respond to those who cry out in a crisis situation. If I am in crisis, I want someone to help me. Therefore, if someone else is in crisis, I will help them. "I cry, you cry. You cry, I cry."
So there is responsibility. I cry, you cry. You cry, I cry. We all come running, and the one who stays quiet, the one that stays home, must explain. Is he in league with the criminals? Is he a coward? And what would he expect when he cries? This is simple. This is normal. This is community.
It struck me as an enviable agreement. If you cry out, where you live, can you expect to be heard? If you hear a cry of alarm, do you add your voice and come running? Are rapes often averted, and rapists captured, in this way in your place? I was deeply impressed.Should this not be the norm among our Christian community?
Rom 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.i am thankful to have a community where i believe this to be the norm. i have, in fact, seen it to be the norm. someone loses a job - we all search for a new one. someone gets engaged or married - we have a party. someone has an injury without insurance - we all give what we can.
this is, however, unfortunately uncommon in the united states. if this is not a picture of your community, i dare say you should look for a new one. or create it yourself.
it's a noun, not an adjective
if you use bad grammar, beware. you will not like this post, but i just have to get something off my chest.
it's The Dominican REPUBLIC. not "The Dominican."
why?
because "dominican" is an ADJECTIVE. do you call it The United? NO. It's The United STATES. because without the "states", there's nothing to unite. and without the "republic," there's nothing that's Dominican.
so call it what you will. The Dominican Republic. The DR. La Republica Dominicana. La RD. just please, please, PLEASE...don't call it The Dominican.
thank you.
hope
so i was reading these verses today and thinking about the DR, and Haiti, and about how in 10 days the US will have a black president, yet tonight many of my haitian friends will not eat dinner.
and i was thinking that a post about such a topic would really pull at someone's heart strings with picture of a sad little child with a bloated tummy and that might cause them to pray and give money.
i am, however, not the manipulative type to do such a thing. but i did search my files just to see what i have if i
were to do so. the picture above is the best i could do.
her name is Yoslena, but they call her Belleza - Beautiful. and that is what she is.
it is often hard to reconcile the poverty and desolation and injustice all around these precious children with a God we are told is good and loving. but as i look at their smiles and remember their laughter, David's words in Psalm 9 remind me that there is a Hope that is bigger than i can see. and that is truly beautiful.
Psalm 9
9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know Your Name put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
a list
1. learn to lead climb
2. drive up the west coast. stop in san francisco, portland and seattle. find outdoor adventure.
3. go to africa.
write them on the tablet of your heart
how easily i forget.
every day. i wake up each morning. my first thought is of coffee and how i really wish i had washed the pot the night before. i eventually make it to my chair, a rich, sweet, addictive cup of coffee in one hand, and the even richer, even sweeter, yet sometimes,
somehow...less addictive Bible in the other.
i read the words.
i write them on paper.
i pray.
by the time i get to the 183/mopac fly over i've usually forgotten the words about patience and humility. by lunch time i've forgotten the words about wisdom and by the time the release bell rings i've forgotten the words about discretion. as i head home i forget the words about my wealth and go to sleep having forgotten the words about the Lord's loving discipline.
the next morning i wake up.
i drink. i read. i forget.
were i ever to forget to drink, i'd be very aware by 10:00am and go in search of caffeinated freedom from weariness.
yet if i were ever to forget to read, i fear i would not be aware even by 10:00pm. i would not go in search of biblical freedom from weariness.
and so i press on, fueled at times by
caffeine for a cause (and feeling pretty darn good about myself for it), and running on the spiritual fumes of both the old AND new testaments (and feeling pretty darn good about myself for it) which have not settled in my heart due to the coffeemate blocking the way. and suddenly i look just like the the world - impatient, prideful, selfish, unruly. addicted to me.
the problem is not the coffee. it is, in fact, a quite tasty and stimulating drink. the problem is not the Bible. it is, in fact, the most glorious book on planet earth. the problem is the forgetting. the problem is my heart. the problem is forgetting to write these words on the tablet of my heart.
Proverbs 31 My son [or daughter], do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments...
3...write them on the tablet of your heart...
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce.
11 My son [or daughter], do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of reproof,
12 for the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;
20 by His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.
21 My son [or daughter], do not lose sight of these - keep sound wisdom and discretion...
26...for the Lord will be your confidence...
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
2008 Was Great
it was my first full calendar year back in the country. that means that this year i can't write about the contrasts of third world living versus the luxuries of the US. oh, but wait, i did
visit the DR. and how good that was for sure.
yet in the midst of this "economic crisis" (which, honestly, hasn't affected me much at all, except at Valero and HEB), i feel like it's a bit of the minimalist way of living forcing itself on culture around me. problem is, people here are complaining about it, rather than realizing what a blessing it could be.
and i find myself also in the middle of the tension between wanting more and needing less, of taking more and giving less, and striving to give more and take less. and though my vocation will never allow me to have a lot in the eyes of american culture, i have way more than i could ever ask. and while this year wasn't full of those explicit reminders of the material wealth i do possess, it was full of vivid blessing from the Lord that i didn't even know i was lacking. i've been struck this past year by how much better the Lord knows our needs than we know it ourselves. so many things to which he led me i thought - or hoped - were for one purpose, only to discover they were for something much better.
when stress drained, peace filled.
when people drained, community filled.
when knowledge drained, relationship filled.
when plans drained, the Lord's sovereignty filled.
when decisions drained, the Holy Spirit's guidance filled.
when surgery drained, sacrifice filled.
when pride drained, humility filled.
when sin drained, Grace filled.
