Soul Munchies | Soul Munchies

This is Water

Rachel — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:30 +0000

The most obvious and important realities are often those that are most difficult to see and talk about. ~David Foster Wallace

It’s graduation season: a time for decorated mortarboards and ill-fitting gowns, transitions, bittersweetness at remembering what has passed and looking ahead at what’s to come, celebration for accomplishments and rites of passage.

And graduation speeches. Lots of them. I love giving talks, but honestly, I’m thankful I’ve yet to have to give a graduation address. What is there to say that hasn’t been said? What wisdom could I possibly offer to others? How can you avoid cliché and cheesy, yet still be honest and inspirational and uplifting?

This video is one of the most powerful graduation speeches I have ever read or heard and well worth the 10 minutes. David Foster Wallace emphasizes that he is not advocating for any religious or spiritual beliefs, but I believe it can resonate on a different tone for us as Christians. Water alone is key to the sacrament of baptism, even though water really isn’t the point. Wallace challenges us to pay attention, be compassionate, be awake, be alive. To see and to talk about what is essential but difficult to articulate.

Check it out:

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What is water? What do you need to note and to say? What do you need to do to be alive, awake, to choose what God wants for us?

Strength to change

Rachel — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:00:14 +0000

No matter how difficult this is going to be to change, we are going to have to change it. ~Sandra Steingraber

Sandra Steingraber is a scientist, poet, and environmental activist. She was also arrested on March 18 for the act of civil disobedience for blocking machinery from fracking, then refusing to pay the fine.

Standing in front of dangerous machinery to save the environment is something I’ve seen in movies and TV, but never imagined happened in real life. I never dreamed someone from the same university that I attended would become famous for this work.

I believe that creation care is part of our call and responsibility as Christians. I also struggle to know how to divide my time and resources when there are so many areas in need of healing, attention, care: sex trafficking, immigration, jails, hunger, poverty, justice, orphans, sexual abuse and violence victims, mental health care. The list never ends.

So part of what I love so much about Steingraber’s message in this video is that she presents not a solution to these problems, not a rally cry, not a plea to join her own organization and causes. She suggests that what we ought to do is not normalize injustice. That we can’t simply accept that these problems seem impossible–that instead we simply must stand strong and resolve to change.

David Lose writes about how the miracle of the Incarnation suggests that misery, suffering, are not ordinary to God. Why should they be ordinary, commonplace, without action and hope and solution for us?

Where are you being called to be strong?

Following God in Shoes that Fit

Rachel — Thu, 02 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

I just finished a series of retreats on the incorporating the values of St. Francis of Assisi into our own lives. Francis, born of the upper class in the 1200s of Italy, chose to be among the lepers. Lepers lived, quite literally, among the filth of society; they were exiled, abused, and forced to beg to survive. Francis gave away all he had; he chose to give up a solid, profitable future to do what he believed Christ called him to–living among the most marginalized. He believed that truly following Christ meant seeking out and living among those who society deemed untouchable and unworthy of love.

We have modern day lepers in our society, those who we cast out, abandon, scorn, force to beg. As Christians, we seek to follow Christ. Our emphasis in the retreat was not meant to be a guilt trip, nor a call to abandon our lives and sell all our possessions on craigslist. One of our retreat leaders emphasized that “we need to follow Christ in shoes that fit our feet.” In other words, we need to discern what following Christ means in our own lives, in our current situation, and in ways that fit our circumstances and gifts. We cannot all abandon everything to live among the marginalized, though there are some who are indeed called to do just that.

For me, this idea of our own shoes is both a comfort and a challenge. I don’t have to resign myself to being homeless, to abandoning my family, to sacrificing many of my dreams. It gives me the security to celebrate the gifts God has given me and the freedom to use those gifts for the world.

But this shoe idea doesn’t get me off the hook either. I–we–are still called to trust, obey, and follow Christ. This isn’t an easy call, by any means.

But we are called to do so with the shoes that fit our feet.

This week, I challenge you to pray what that means in your own lives, right now. What is Christ calling you to do? Where can you follow? Know that wherever those shoes take you, you’re not alone. Thanks be to God.

A Letter from God

Paige — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:00:44 +0000

My dearest Sons and Daughters,

What is this you have been practicing? Have you forgotten why you are here? Many of you have taken it upon yourselves to define what I stand for.

It’s apparent that you are all very different; from your political views, to thoughts on gay rights, to money, and even sometimes to your opinions and beliefs on how I work or if I even exist. Not one of you is exactly the same – each is beautiful, unique, special. But don’t worry, that’s what I wanted. It’s all in the plan. I’ve got everything mapped out, step by step, and trust Me; it works out perfectly in the end.

I have granted each of you with gifts – talent, knowledge, faith that can move mountains, musical abilities – the list goes on and on. So many different and distinctive assets that I have bestowed upon My children so that they can not only share these blessings with each other, but also so that these various gifts can come together and shine the majesty of My wonders onto those who are trapped in the dark; for even those who may be lost in the valley of the shadow of death are to be recipients of my love, as well.

However, though this is what I have intended, some of you believe there is a better way to do things – one you have developed on your own.

You see, not only have you each been born with unique strengths and advantages, but you are all also at the hand of your own personal weaknesses. When I say weaknesses, I am referring to the way you sin on a daily basis. There are SO many of you, and unfortunately SO many sins to fall victim to. For some reason, when My children differ in weaknesses, they tend to make those differences a main point of focus.

I will acknowledge that many times, this is done with good intention; with the intention of correcting the sin, fixing the people, representing what you believe to be Christianity and My will through your actions, usually using your gifts all along to carry this out. Unfortunately, these actions often lack one thing: love.

You all have one job: “To love one another as I have loved you. Others will know you are MY disciples IF AND ONLY IF you love one another”. Love. It’s the most important representation of who I am.

I never granted anybody the authority to judge another, to change another, to criticize another’s way of life – only to love one another. Although you have dissimilar ideas of what I want for the world, there is no need for you to police each other as if you were made to perform a Christian “citizen’s arrest” on those who are doing something wrong.

When you use your gifts to represent Me and bring others into a life that imitates yours, but have no love in your actions, you are repelling those who need My love the most.

You can be among the most intelligent of my children; you could know My Word cover to cover, and you can be in attendance to your church every Sunday. But if you don’t exhibit My love in your daily life and activities, none of that even matters. Nobody will listen to your theories or care that you’ve memorized the Bible if you aren’t compassionate and loving towards My people, especially those with dirty hands. In fact, you are more likely to be despised by others, thus giving Me a bad look in the process.

I’ve become a chore, a punisher, an angry high being to those who only hear, “Don’t lie. Don’t swear. Give 10%. Don’t have sex before marriage. Repent NOW before it’s too late, or burn in Hell!” Using a method like that, stating a long list of rules with a promise of burning for eternity if not followed, to bring the lost and oppressed to the light only makes the familiar darkness a more comforting place to stay. All that has been made clear is what you stand against rather than WHO you stand FOR. I can’t really blame My wounded children for steering clear of what seems like a mentally and emotionally abusive, “bondaged” lifestyle.

I wish every one of you could see that love is magnetic. After all, is that not what draws you to Me? My love forgives the unforgivable. My love mends what has been broken. My love died on a cross to wash the dirty hands of all sinners; ALL sinners – not just the liars, or the cheaters, or the doubters, or the sexually immoral, or the drug addicts, or the rapists, or the thieves, or the murderers – but ALL. I deeply love and take care of all of My children. Therefore, you guys should, too.

It’s not always going to be easy. Like I said before, you’re all so different. How can you possibly learn to love another who’s sinned so morbidly?

I’m sure some of you might be familiar with the phrase, “Love the sinner, hate their sin”. That solves everything, right? WRONG! I’m much happier with the way your brother in Christ, Mark Lowry, has put it: “Love the sinner, hate the sin? How about: love the sinner, hate YOUR OWN sin! I don’t have time to hate your sin. There are too many of you. Hating my sin is a full-time job. How about you hate your sin, I’ll hate my sin, and let’s just love each other!”

I couldn’t have said it better myself; let’s just love each other. You are all My co-heirs. You share in My sufferings, you share in My glory. It’s only right that you unite with love so you can properly celebrate and enjoy the love I have so freely given to you, represented by Christ.

So when you are opposed to another’s lifestyle, remember: I have given you eyes, not to look upon another with a critical eye, but to search for and see the value of that person as My child. I have given you a voice, not to speak judgmentally, but to give words of kindness and encouragement. I have given you hands, not to point fingers, but to extend a helping hand to those who have fallen short. And I have given you feet, not to trample those who are on a rocky path, but to walk alongside them and for you to share your journeys with each other.

Extending your love rather than your criticism is the more effective way of sharing what you believe and who I am. So I’m here to tell you: a life such as this – never condoning, never settling, but standing firm in My truth – is what I intend for each of you.

So, as I give every sinner a second chance, I’m giving you all a second chance, as well, to love your neighbors. I know you can do it. It’s all in the plan, remember?

I can’t wait to celebrate your lives of love together in Paradise, soon. But until then, remain steady in loving each other.

Peace and Love,
God

The Great Divide

Jessica — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:37 +0000

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure

The cross has done so much for us. It has restored us, healed us. Once removed, it has returned us home; reunited. It makes right what should be but cannot be, at least not by human means. This is the heart of our gospel, our good news. The cross undoes the divide that occurred in the Garden. Man and God restored.

And yet I fear that the way we have sometimes told the story of the cross has us dissecting God. I’ve written about this before, but I am reminded of it once again, of just how great the Father’s love for us is, as I prepare to leave for another country.

I will leave my daughter for three weeks. She is in good hands. Her father is amazing and her two sets of grandparents are working to fill in the gaps while Momma is gone. But still. I will not be there in the middle of the night when she cries out for Momma. I will not be there to eat her gourmet meal of plastic peas and pickles made especially for Momma. My lap will not be there to sit upon. Will anyone even understand what she is referring to when she clenches her fists in the air and says, “Grrrr?” Who will sing our made-up songs?

And what about all I will miss? I was gone just last weekend at a retreat and it seemed in just two short days she was already speaking fluently in sentences. What will she learn to do in three weeks that I will miss? Will she even remember me? Our songs? How much damage am I doing to her psyche by leaving? Will she feel abandoned? Scared? Will she think I do not love her?

So yes, the last few questions are slightly dramatic; yet, I still have them. As the day gets closer to me getting on a plane and leaving her, the more I think about it and the more my heart catches in my throat before falling to the pit of my stomach. I catch my breath.

“It will be okay,” I tell myself. ”This is for a bigger good,” I remind myself. I go to meet what we hope will be our other daughter. I go and in the going I teach the Zo what it means to follow Christ. And this is where it hits me: The Great Divide.

Jesus is who we see on the cross. It is him we identify with. We see the pain he endured as man, full of our flesh and blood. We see the agony he went through at being utterly alone. Even his own father turned away! All that Jesus suffered for us makes us love him more, makes us understand the depth of his love for us. In Christians circles, we like to say it was his love that kept him on the cross for he could have called down angels from heaven to save him.

But how little we consider the agony of the Father. The planning that went on for thousand of years so that “at just the right time” Christ could come to us. Imagine all that time to plan and coordinate, but always knowing what the plan would mean for the one you loved, for your own Son. Imagine the agony that he endured from the beginning of time.

How often have we forgotten the pain of the Father watching his Son in agony and knowing that to save the other sons and daughters – us – he could not intervene? Somehow we so easily see that it is God’s holiness that does not let him look upon his Son who has taken on our sin but we fail to see it was God’s love that compelled him to not look? For imagine if he had looked. What Father would not have intervened? What Father would not have called down fire from heaven and utterly destroyed his Son’s enemies?

Yet he doesn’t. He, the Father, endures great pain and agony for he knows, as I know about Zoe, that in the end his Son will be okay and what is happening is necessary, even good. But this knowing does not change the agony of the separation And that separation wasn’t felt only by Jesus on the cross, but also by the Father.

This agony was endured by Father so that we could know the Father’s love. And ironically I fear, that while many of us are saved for we know Jesus, the great divide between man and God still remains for we have yet to fully grasp the Father’s love for us.

And then I look at Zoe running around half-naked, giggling with her pink hat on and wonder, does the child ever grasp the fullness of their parent’s love for them? In an ideal world, I don’t think they do. They just rest and run in it.

So maybe the great divide isn’t that I don’t understand the Father’s love for me but that I’ve forgotten how to be his child.

All Sons and Daughters [Music Monday]

Jessica — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:26:03 +0000

I’ve always liked change, even been drawn to risk.

Then I had my daughter. And suddenly I’m aware of my mortality, of just how short my life is, of the day that is just around the horizon when I will whisper good-bye to her, assure her of how I have loved her and the great joy she has brought me.

Suddenly I question leaving her for three weeks to travel on an airplane to a third world country, all things that increase chances of death. And something in me starts to resist, to question myself: “What are you doing?”

And then there are new hurts in the last six months which resurrected old hurts and I think to myself, “Are you serious? Didn’t we resolve this already? I’m here again!” And the Spirit presses in this gentle, suffocating way that begs me to trust Him, to let it all go and trust that when He says I am His beloved that it is true and real and it, not the reality of others, is what matters.

And there are other areas I need to change, to grow up, to learn new skills …. to admit wrong …. to love better and suddenly …. yeah, I’m not digging change at all. There’s a little girl in me that pushes back against the Father, stomps my feet, tears run down my face, and my fists are clenched. My defiant, hysteria causes my nose to run and my shoulders to shake. We have hit fear and that little girls screams, “I don’t wanna!”

“I don’t wanna!”

So it songs like these that soothe that little girl. I hear them and I imagine the Father walking over to the little girl, kneeling beside her, soothing her gently, whispering, “I know sweetie. I know.” No judgement. No frustration. Just good old love in a parents’ arms that let me be two and remind me that it’s okay to be two but we can’t stay here forever. We have to grow up. And sometimes growing up sucks, but it’s okay.

It’ll be okay.

It’ll be okay because He is here and there is something more than this fear, this hurt, this ugly sin in me.

So here is a little prayer that your week, whatever it entails and wherever it finds you, you know that your pain, your fear, your sin is not the end.

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