Thursday, July 14, 2016

A way less traveled

Ann Voskamp advises us at A Holy Experience,
When you’re worked up, whisper.
It’s how God can usher Himself into a place — ask Elijah.

It’s best parenting practice. It’s best life-survival practice. When the world gets loud, put your ear down to it and listen — and then whisper. When everyone yells, no one can hear.

When the world and you are worked up, whisper — and a pin will drop. The other shoe will drop. Then we can finally get our shoes on, finally get somewhere. Get somewhere better.

...When you stand down at the river, the world get’s mighty quiet.

Like the mightiness might actually come in the quiet.

The river keeps navigating its complex course.

Keeps rolling out the possibility of another way, a way less travelled, a way through.

And the river’s wide and deep and strong and long and there are layers to all this water, quiet depths. The travellers and followers and disciples, we navigate complexity. We acknowledge complexity. A river like this faithfully carries us Home.

Because the Truth is: We’re not called to carry boxes — we’re called to carry crosses.

Box carriers are about buying certainty for living. Cross carriers are about carrying the complexity of living.

Box carriers strain for the power of controlled lives. Cross carriers surrender to the power of the Christ life.

Box carriers box things into simple. Cross carriers unpack things and sit with the suffering.

It’s only those who carry crosses who can know how there is an intersection of the many complicated things that bear down on people.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples — not if you label one another, but if you love one another. (John 13:35).

They’ll know you are My disciples if you don’t label the limping people, the misunderstood people, the people with a different ethnicity, skin colour, culture, depressed people, struggling people, sick people, confused people, angry people, hurting people — but if you love them.

A kind of miracle happens when we don’t label people but love people.
Read more here.

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