but where are the miracles of today?
has God just started slacking? i think probably not.
my guess is that this world and us (the people who live in it) are the slackers who have caused miracles to be overlooked.
probably there are miracles every day that we just scrape up to be luck, good fortune, or an opportunity for media coverage.
anyway i'm keeping my eyes open for something resembling a miracle.
something i want to get more heavily involved with is homeless missions. i've done a lot with that since entering college and it's close to my heart.
i just need to go search for some opportunities or possibly just make those opportunities happen.
i want to do bigger and better things than i have in the past. handing out food on saturday mornings just isn't feeding the fire - that passion that i have anymore.
homelessness is one of those things that can be cured. obviously with time and money and lots and lots of patience.
sometimes we pose the question to God, "why do you let bad things happen?" but you know, God has every right to turn that question right back on us because we are the hands and feet - the tools and the body of Christ which are supposed to be living out the Way.
isn't that an interesting way to look at it? it's not God so much who is letting bad things happen - as it is us failing at our jobs. reality check, eh?
i've been thinking lately that i want to do something radical - to really live the life that Christ asks us to live. but i'm not going to lie - that seems like too much work.
and that's the problem with lots of Christians. we pick and choose what is easy for us to accomplish in this life.
nineteenth century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said:
"The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say. If i do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament."
this makes me think of a conversation i had with my dad today. we were driving up around amish country and you know they're all out there in their get-up - bonnets, dresses, overalls, hats, and what-not - plowing away with the most rudimentary farming tools. it was just stunning.
i mean, i don't live in a box so i'm aware of the religious values of groups such as the amish but it is just absolutely jaw-dropping to see them in the 95 degree weather, decked out in black and long pants, sporting grizzly adams beards, and using farm equipment that has been surpassed in efficiency and speed years ago right alongside a farm with the best equipment being run by young men wearing shorts and no shirt listening to their iPods.
that is true dedication to their God, to their faith, to their religion.
what if all Christians were that dedicated to what they were taught?
the world would be quite a different place.
like i said, i'm just dying to find something i can do, something that just really fires me up, somewhere i can help.
we all know of Mother Theresa and her work in Calcutta. it was she who said, "Calcuttas are everywhere if only we have eyes to see. Find your Calcutta."
i want so earnestly to find my Calcutta.
so if anyone reading this (if anyone read this) has any resources for something, anything i can do please comment!
going back to talking about living like Christ - it makes me think of one of my favorite worship songs called My Jesus
by Todd Agnew. this song has some lines which are worth taking a look at:
"Who is it that you follow? This picture of an American dream...I want to be like my Jesus. Not a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus. You see I'm tired of living for success and popularity. I want to be like my Jesus but I'm not sure what that means to be like You Jesus. Cause You said to live like You, love like You but then You died for me. Can I be like you Jesus?"
it's the big question. can we even live up to the standards? can we really live the life of Jesus?
people are doing it. so i say yes. it'll just take a lot of strength and patience and love and a mixture of a lot of other things. but you certainly have to be ready for it.
i'll end on one question that is just for you. because this question made my heart stop for a little bit.
even if their was no heaven and hell would you still follow Jesus?
hmmm. God Bless!
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