truth

Be a Witness of Hope

January 7, 2021 — Leave a comment

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?’ he asked Peter. ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ He went away a second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.’ When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!’

Matthew 26:36-46

The truth is always something that is told, not something that is known. If there were no speaking or writing, there would be no truth about anything. There would only be what is.

Susan Sontag

Jesus’ time at Gethsemane might be ‘the calm before the storm,’ the ‘storm’ being his torture & execution. While I think what is to come is horrible, this moment before is equally scary, maybe even more devastating. In this moment, Jesus is at the edge of a cliff, knowing he needs to jump but cannot even see the bottom. Jesus feels the depth of sorrow. Jesus feels the loneliness with his friends asleep. This task is for uniquely for him, and only he can fulfill it.

The gap between knowing what needs to be done and doing the thing reveals our fears and our faith. How do we get from our ego to a kind of living that thinks beyond ourselves which incorporates God’s will? How do we arrive at a place where our will aligns with God’s will, not out of obligation, but out of love and purpose? How can we act from a place of surrender & sorrow? How can we act from a place of service when what we witness breaks our hearts? How can we become witnesses of surrender & a will greater than ourselves?

Bring your defeats, your doubts and fears to God. Be radically honest. I pray God honors your honesty with radical trust. Live out of that radical trust that you have a great purpose. When you can sense and see the sorrow of this world, yet choose to go on, you are a witness of hope.

RBG

September 19, 2020 — Leave a comment

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, not that Ehud was dead. So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried for the Lord for help.

Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’ Barak said to her, ‘If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.’

‘Certainly I will go with you,’ said Deborah. ‘But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.’

Judges 4:1-9

Women lead and women decide. Women prophecy and women protect. Women watch over and women take charge. Women are chosen by God to watch over nations and are chosen by God to overthrow nations. Deborah the prophet, the judge, was no exception. She was but an example of where women belong.

Rest in power RBG. Thank you for how you set an example for all of us women and warriors to do what is right and to lead a life that is marked by integrity and dissent. Thank you for fighting hard for us even while you were fighting hard to stay alive. We will honor you by choosing to live our lives in a way that bring others together and elevate the integrity of humanity. We will honor your legacy by stepping in even when we are exhausted, even when it feels so late in the game, even when we know our time is coming to an end. You showed us how to keep going and you showed us no is a good answer. We love you. We honor you. You are marked by God and as you rest in Shalom, may you continue to preside over this nation. We need your vibes.

John 16: Tell all the truth but tell it slant

January 20, 2020 — Leave a comment

I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father.

Metaphor

Similes, As If’s and like’s

Make the medicine go down

Movies art

Poetry

Make suffering and realties

Digestible and gentle

Candy coated like gardens of Eden

Hold the stories and feelings we understand

Growing and pruning truth in its core

What if Jesus is a metaphor?

What if the words we take to be so inherently true

Are true in the sense that they point to truth

But within itself are malleable and allow for shifts

According to where the light hits

And the time of day

And season of life

Flexible allows for faith

Flexible holds a God that has inherent worth

A God who is unafraid of your doubt and anger

I want the truth

Straight and slanted