Today I was fortunate to hear one of my
heroes – Shane Claiborne – speak at school. I have heard him several times but
listening to him is addictive. You can feel that he believes with every fiber
of his being that another world is truly possible - a world that is based on
love and grace instead of greed and violence (and compliance and apathy in the
face of injustice).
"Maybe we are a little crazy. After all, we believe in things we don't see. The Scriptures say that faith is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Heb 11:1). We believe poverty can end even though it is all around us. We believe in peace even though we hear only rumors of war. And since we are people of expectation, we are so convinced that another world is coming that we start living as if it were already here." (Shane Claiborne)
There are not many people who stir this
passion in me but when you do meet them it touches your very soul. The last few
weeks in a Bible study I am leading I have been blessed to meet lots of new
people. We were discussing barriers that stand between us and true intimacy in
our adoptive family – the church. One suggestion was that we are afraid to be
vulnerable to one another. This hit home. I don’t mind sharing other people’s burdens
but I am reluctant to share mine…even my husband has to fight to let me let him
help me. I decided to be brave and shared what a tight budget we have. I feel
this every week when I go to the grocery store and have to be so careful what
we can buy. Throw in all my weird diet issues and it is difficult to leave the
store satisfied. I was really embarrassed to share this (and I am working on
this, hence why I am sharing it on my blog) but I did anyway because I love the
image of the church being a true community and a family. The next day I opened
my mailbox and there is a check for a whopping $250 for groceries from one of
the amazing couples I shared this with. I just sat down and cried. At that
moment I once again felt that overwhelming emotion and desire for this new
world and new ideal. We can create pockets of the kingdom of God among friends,
families, and neighbors. I felt it with this group of people and have felt it
elsewhere too. It’s something I want to create no matter where I am or what I am
doing.
"And I think that's what our world is desperately in need of - lovers, people who are building deep, genuine relationships with fellow strugglers along the way, and who actually know the faces of the people behind the issues they are concerned about..Mother Theresa always said, 'Calcuttas are everywhere if only we have eyes to see. Find you Calcutta.'"
Where is my Calcutta? Or yours? There are people struggling everywhere. We must slow down enough to help others with their loneliness, their hunger, their anger, their worries, and the injustices that plague so many. I have to stop myself and wonder, why am I working so hard to be successful according to a definition that does not really matter? I want to stop and look at where I am. Is this where I want to be? Because I can do and be absolutely anything I want. The question is whether I am brave enough to trod a road less traveled. The only thing stopping me is myself.
Lord, here I am. I am afraid of what to do next and how to get there, but I am much more afraid of looking back on my life and seeing that it meant very little.
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