The Playground of Life

I journaled about this on March 3rd with the intention of sharing it right away. But, life got in the way, and as time passed, I found myself in a somewhat awkward spot being stretched in painful ways. So, let's just say, I fell and scraped my knee. But, God doesn't change--He's changing me and so here is what I wrote then, a snapshot if you will:

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I just had a small epiphany. I was in the midst of an intimate time with God feeling very joyful and free (regardless of circumstances) and I thought to Him, "I want to be like this for the rest of my life! No wonder I don't know how to keep my mouth shut, I can't hold the joy in!" But then I had an inkling... Without hearing a distinct thought, I realized "There's more." Then I started to draw some conclusions.

Whatever processes God has yet to bring me through, some of which involve pain, the outcome can only be more joyful that these [processes I have already experienced.] To stay like this would mean to be satisfied with very little. But the goal is not more of anything, it is all a byproduct of walking closer with the Lord in the midst of the circumstances that He brings me through.

Then fragment of a C. S. Lewis quote came to me. Here's the whole thing: "...[We are] like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased." (I now read this as a freeing statement of fact, not a judgment...)

Anyhow, I couldn't remember at the time (before I looked it up) exactly how it went and I thought it had to do with a child being content to play in the sandbox on a great big playground in the wide wide world. (Sidebar: Isn't it interesting that God started us off in a garden..?) Sticking with the playground analogy, I have now (in FREEDOM) discovered the "slide" and it is amazing! It's just so much fun. BUT, I don't know how to get to the swings yet (and that's okay) and I may have to scrape my knee to get there. God will be enough then. Beyond that... I don't know what there is, but it must be amazing. And someday, I hope to fly...

Oh! I just found another C. S. Lewis quote. Man, that old professor "got it," Lord love 'im.

"At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in."

Now... Before I would have read that and I would have known (by the Holy Spirit) that is was true, but I would have felt a little bit sad... Why? I think it's because I knew deep inside that I was missing out on something in the here and now. I never would have admitted it to myself, but I was jealous. How could he (Lewis) discern such things and I could only read about them?

By the grace of God--I now KNOW these things. My Father is revealing them to me and that is a miracle right there. I'm living in the middle of it, so I know it's true, and I am not ashamed.

Many Ethnicities, One Race

I have been thinking a lot about "racial,' or rather I should I say ethnic issues for the past couple of weeks. One source has been the discussion about Barack Obama, my internal speculations about this beliefs, and the "church" he attends. If you want to see a bigot who does realize he's a bigot, just look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdJB-qkfUHc.

Here's an article about Barack's public denial vs. what he practices (attendance): http://tinyurl.com/2sfpgp.

Here's Sean Hannity interviewing Jeremiah Wright about his positions: http://tinyurl.com/327o56

Now. lest anyone think that I fostering divisiveness by drawing attention to this, I will now state that the opposite is true. I am sick of divisiveness in the body of Christ because, of course, it is the opposite of what God desires. But what I didn't see was how the concept of race itself divides. More on that to follow in the article...

Two other sources that have brought "race" to the forefront of my thinking as of late. First, it was the topic at the SEC Men's retreat Dan went on, and from what he tells me it may have been mishandled to a degree. Then I went on an informal homeschool moms' retreat the weekend before last and we had a brief and somewhat disturbing discussion about trans-ethnic adoptions. (<--trans-"racial")

Okay, I was not planning on saying all that, but I wanted to "set up" my discovery of Thabiti Anyabwile. What a brilliant communicator. I discovered him through an article he wrote for boundless. The following is the best article I have ever read about "race" and theology:

Many Ethnicities, One Race

By Thabiti Anyabwile

Perhaps the longest running conversation between Blacks and Whites in America is a conversation about race. It’s a conversation that started in 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia as slavery and the trans-Atlantic slave trade began. The conversation moved through the Civil War, through Reconstruction, through Jim Crow segregation, and into the Civil Rights movement. And the conversation continues today in battles over affirmative action, racial profiling, and other problems in an increasingly diverse nation. In all of these conversations, the topic is "race." Everyone talks about "race." Lurking behind all this controversy and influencing our very identities are notions of "race."

The rest it here: http://tinyurl.com/32yx8y.

It may stretch you...it certainly stretched me, and I am glad. Christ has set us free from racism. But, some of us don't realize it yet... That, however will change, and I intend to be a part of it.

Rush Voted for Hillary

So, Hillary won some primaries, big time.

Well, I meant to blog about this earlier:

Limbaugh Makes Last-Minute Push for Hillary

Monday, March 3, 2008 12:13 PM

No.1 radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh went on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” and reiterated his call for Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s primaries in Ohio and Texas to keep Barack Obama from wrapping up the race... http://tinyurl.com/3d43ez

All I have to say about this is:

Romans 3:8

"Why not say—as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say—"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is deserved."

Okay, so that's taken out context, but it fits in some ways.

Oh, one more thing that was rather amusing... At church on Sunday, The host (MC) of the room I'm in snuck in 'Hillary Clinton" on the list he was composing while polling the kids about what they were afraid of. Hee hee.