purity

CBG: Pure

June 28, 2020 — Leave a comment

And [Jesus] opened his mouth and taught them saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Matthew 5:2-8

Purity. How do we untether the word from the white supremacist, patriarchal and othering world it is often defined by in today’s church cultures?

Burn the idea of being a precious untouched flower.
Burn the idea of being white.
Burn the idea of being a certain kind of feminine that “upholds value” aka dogwhistle sexism.
Burn the idea that it is too late, too far gone for others aka shame.

Purity. Clean. Whole. Full integrity. Is purity a fable and a lie to keep the masses down while those at the pulpit hold onto their power to tell us how to attain? Who is pure among us? Jesus? I think, maybe, only, Jesus…Jesus certainly saw God.

What was his heart like? Full of emotions. Full of purpose. His heart was for his calling on earth — to close the gap between humans and God. His heart was to bring all to a state of worthiness and wholeness so that those in that experience know their forever place in the kingdom of God.

Purity in heart is a callback to the uninhibited connection to God in the garden. It requires a burning of the shame, the lie that we need to do it on our own and the distrust of a good creator. Purity in heart is how we are created — an innocence and full access to God — but the ways of this world fog up that truth. If we can believe that we are already pure in heart while simultaneously working to feel and exist pure in heart, we will become intimate with God and our purpose.

Prayer: God I pray for the courage to believe in my already purity while working towards experiencing it fully. God I pray for shames and lies to be burned away by your goodness.

How has the idea of purity made me small or judgmental?

Day 33: What goes in must come out

January 18, 2019 — Leave a comment

Leviticus 11-13; Psalm 33

There is nothing wrong with a kid who plays in mud and gets dirty. It’s normal. It happens to all kids who play in mud. It might even be a little cute. Until that muddy kid wants to jump right into your fluffy white comforter. Even the path he takes to get there — the muddy footsteps, the small handprints on the wall, The flinging of mud here and there — you get it, might get dirty. Being unclean isn’t wrong. It only becomes an issue when it comes in contact with something that reveals the uncleanliness by messing with what it comes in contact with, in a negative way. I don’t want a muddy white comforter.

Same with here. There’s nothing wrong with the unclean, unless it messes with the goodness of that around it. What makes us unclean is no longer eating this or that, but how we present ourselves. Do your speech and actions defile the good around you? Do your words negatively impact those who hear it? Does your silence and inaction harm those around you? Does your passionate unswerving speech condemn those around you? It is not what goes in that makes us unclean; it’s what comes out. But sometimes what goes in affects what comes out. If I eat a lot of garlic, my body smells like garlic. If I listen to the same kind of person talk, I might unintentionally quote them or phrase like them. Awareness!

So listen to your rap music, watch your Game of Thrones, read your romance Harlot novels, use your vibrator, eat your chips — I mean it. But if those things affect how you interact with those around you with less care, compassion and love, maybe reconsider? Is there a correlation? No judgment. Just curiosity and awareness that lead to potential change.

Day 18: God hardens & softens

January 3, 2019 — Leave a comment

Exodus 4-6; Psalm 18

I’ve always found God hardening the Pharaoh’s heart harsh and unfair. Did God choose to eliminate this man to save other people? Does God already destine some people to be evil and die? Does God sacrifice the one for the many? Well, he does do that last one with Jesus. But Jesus came back to life; will the Pharaoh come back to life? Hm. Maybe. We don’t know from this passage what happens to the Pharaoh after the Israelites escape. All we know is that at this point in time, his heart was hardened.

  • Did God tell Moses this to give him a heads up and lessen the blow when the Pharaoh refuses to listen? God hardened the Pharaoh’s heart. Was this more of a premonition or a psychic reading of the future? If God is holy, good and true, what does it mean that he hardened someone’s heart? What if hardening one’s heart isn’t actually evil, but a state a heart might need to go to in order to find healing at the end? What if the hardening allows for the greatest softening later?
  • Often we approach hard scriptures in the Bible and either dismiss them or say, well God knows best. Clearly we can interpret in ways that protect where we stand. How can we see The Bible as a way to affirm God’s unfailing and relentless love, while remembering each story and statue must be placed in the context of redemption? The goal is redemption and touching Jesus to experience the wholeness we are created in.