The establishment
Whether organized religion
Pop culture
Mass media
Or government
Will never take
The narrow road
Found in humility
Through faith
A path traveled upon
Through bright heights
And shadowed valleys
But always paved with grace
And leading to a place
We’ve never been
Jesus said, “For judgement I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” -John 9:39
According to U2, “time is irrelevant, its not linear…” I love that line because it reminds me of the notion that I know I’ve read repeatedly in the writings of C.S. Lewis (though I don’t have any of his quotes at hand to share at the moment). I came across another quote which, while it was applied in a particular context, relates, I believe, quite well to the greater life experience:
Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.” -John 7:6
I have many regrets and many opportunities in my life have been wasted. I’ve invested my heart and my mind in the wrong things far too often and, subsequently, I’ve left many tears and much damage in my wake. This morning I am most thankful that, while God sees my distant past just as clearly as my ultimate future, he covers all parts with the same sufficient grace. He knows that I can’t make it on my own and will continue loving me far beyond the time that it takes me to finally learn and subsequently apply, by his grace, his wisdom.
From A Glimpse Of Jesus: The Stranger To Self-Hatred by Brennan Manning:
It is staggering, it is mind-blowing, but it is true. Jesus takes the initiative in seeking out the ungodly, even on Sunday morning. His loving visitation ends ungodliness and makes the sinner worthy. It is difficult to understand how anyone has the right to declare limited access to the eucharistic table so that certain people cannot come to Jesus without their consent and approval. Surely there would be abuses, but abuses do not take away the reality. “In Jesus the goodness out weighed the evil that surrounded him. Sinners were always welcome, tax collectors, prostitutes and anyone else who feels left out can find company with Jesus as the forgiving savior…[N]o one was excluded; no one need feel left out.”
Nobody is worthy. But, we are all welcome.
I read a daily devotional by Brennan Manning called Devotions For Ragamuffins. It is indispensable to me as a source of encouragement and a lens to focus my perspective through on a daily basis. The month of December features a number of devotions focused on Christmas and the one that I read this morning really struck a chord with me because of its emphasis on what really should be more widely recognized as a central tenet of the Christmas holiday season and Christianity as a whole throughout the year:
The wailing Infant bears witness to a God whose Word is fresh and alive, who is not the defender of the old, the already settled, the well established and familiar. The God we encounter in Jesus is free from preoccupation with his own glory, free to be for us, free to be gracious, free to love and let be.
This Christmas such a God might well expect us to be creatively responsive and thus truly Christlike. Indeed, He might call us to set free captives bound by loneliness and isolation, to share our hope with prisoners of gloom and despair, to invite the unlovely to our table, to celebrate our freedom in forgetfulness about our comfort and convenience, to cry the gospel by ministering to widows and orphans, to be the Church by bringing soup to the poor, to ignore conventional expectations, to call His Son out of Egypt once more.
How we interact with and serve those who are less educated, less popular, less cultured and who have less money says a great deal about who we are as people and where our focus is. The real meaning of Christmas is found in facing those who feel like they have the least reason to celebrate.
First posted 12/20/08
I happened upon the music of singer/songwriter Heather Williams purely by accident, but, I was hooked instantly. After hearing her unmistakably sincere voice on the individual tracks that were released on iTunes some time ago, the question of why she didn’t have more of a promoted presence in the music world immediately surfaced. Since then, however, she has signed with INO Records (Derek Webb, Sara Groves, Skillet, MercyMe, etc.) and just recently released her debut EP on the INO label at iTunes. The four tracks featured on the EP showcase her range and ability from the sassy, soulful, groove of “Beautiful Thing” to the anthemic beauty of “Hallelujah” and the moving sincerity of “Holes.” The EP then closes out with a glittering pure pop track called “This Time Around.”
“Hallelujah” is a confessional and celebratory song that starts small, but, builds in presence until crossing a dramatic musical threshold toward the end. Lyrically it begins with recognition of humanity and our need for grace. But, the ultimate message is that, despite fact that we struggle and fumble through our daily existence making mistake after selfish mistake, God’s unconditional love for us still calls.
“Holes” is a piano-driven track that exhibits the pop sensibility of Williams while also showcasing her soulful voice. Like the lyrics in “Hallelujah,” “Holes” communicates the experience of someone who has humbly realized her human limitations and, as a result, opened herself to the hope of something much bigger.
“Beautiful Thing” is the track that hit me immediately as an infectious, gutsy, whimsical pop groove. Its terribly catchy and one can’t help, but, to nod, wiggle, toe-tap, or all-out dance while its playing. Its another track that displays the deep soul in the voice of Heather Williams, but, does so with a power and groove that is distinct in comparison with the mellower ambiance of “Holes,” and “Hallelujah.” “Beautiful Thing” seems like the kind of song that should be on the radio and, in airplay on pop-format radio stations, would stand head and shoulders above most of the vanilla, formulaic music that currently dominates radio playlists.
“This Time Around” provides a distinctively pop canvas on which Williams has masterfully painted her story of redemption and the hope that is found in God’s grace. It is a theme common to all four of the songs on the EP, but one that deserves to be showcased as much as possible because it is the hope of our lives.
Heather Williams, amidst the cloud of insincere musicians with watered down goals and wayward objectives in today’s music industry, is an ever so refreshing breath of fresh air. I can honestly and without reservation suggest that, for less than the price of a tall latte, Heather’s new EP is well worth the price. Find it at iTunes.
It was just a couple of hours ago that I was watching “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” with my four-year-old daughter and I realized another way to answer a question that a friend asked me months ago. In reference to a quote from Brennan Manning (“To be alive is to be broken; to be broken is to stand in need of grace,”) he asked, “What does it mean to be broken?”
Part of the answer is at least hinted at by the process of Scrooge facing his past, present, and future demons and realizing he deserves nothing more than death, but, then realizing that he’s been given a second chance which he takes advantage of, humbly looking beyond himself and recognizing the needs of others.
Being broken is when we come face to face with the stark reality that we are self-centered, self-righteous, damned people. It is when we realize that all that we have that is good has been given to us and, in a knee-jerk, natural, and instinctual response, we desire nothing more than to be able to give to and serve others.
The shipwrecked at the stable are the poor in spirit who feel lost in the cosmos, adrift on an open sea, clinging with a life-and-death grip to one solitary plank. Finally they are washed ashore and make their way to the stable, stripped of the old spirit of possessiveness in regard to anything…They have been saved, rescued, delivered from the waters of death, set free for a new shot at life. At the stable in a blinding moment of truth, they make the stunning discovery that Jesus is the plank of salvation they have been clinging to without knowing it! All the time they were battered by wind and rain, buffeted by raging seas, they were being held even when they didn’t know who was holding them. Their exposure to spiritual, emotional, and physical deprivation has weaned them from themselves and made them reexamine all they once thought important. The shipwrecked come to the stable seeking not to possess, but to be possessed, wanting not peace or a religious high, but Jesus Christ.
~Brennan Manning, Devotionals for Ragamuffins, Pp.357
I wish you a broken Christmas.
I wish you a broken Christmas.
I wish you a broken Christmas,
and a broken new year.
Originally posted 12/1/07
Light sighted at the end of reflection
Though through ten thousand panes redirected
Retains the source despite imperfection
Like the moon’s grand mystery dissected
Failures and flaws of human condition
Symptoms of glory not yet realized
Are waning gasps of Satan’s attrition
Steadfast humility not idealized
Amidst rhetoric of self-proclaimed wise
Diminutive hope before rising tide
Study your reflection instead of the skies
Forget not who you are – Who lives inside
When near defeat access hope unreserved
Reflect His light clear in action and word
