A Tasting, #2

Welcome, friends. Come in, sit down and join me for a taste of wine (malbec) and bread (muesli).

So much is going on--serious first, then light-hearted.

1. This man is an absolute terror. And yet, he too is loved by God with the same, rock-solid, deep and intimate love that Jesus showed me so many years ago. My mind is still so oriented towards 'achieving' or 'earning' love that initially, cognitively, I question whether this can really be so. Deep down, I know that if it is not true, then I am just as condemned as he is. How will my thoughts, speech and behavior be changed by the fact that one of the craziest, most hated and ridiculous men on the face of the earth was worth the Son of God dying for?

2. A few thoughts from this past weekend, and excerpts I sent to a friend after:

"For the past couple of months, our church has been going through a season of reflection on heaven. it has been really amazing, because we are just surrounding ourselves with the promise of the way things ought to be and the way they WILL be. Yesterday evening there was a different guy (not our pastor) speaking. He started talking about the yearning that we have deep within us--that kind of intense desire for something Better that CS Lewis writes about--and how, if we let ourselves be affected by what's going on around us (that is, what is broken and twisted and unfair) that longing becomes even more deep so that it surprises us with its intensity. But, he said, that intensity is not just to have but to use. We know that things are not as they should be, therefore we should agitate (that's the word he used) against the way things are because then we get to be a part of Redemption making things as they should be. Endure, because as we endure, we get to taste ever more deeply of the Great Story that will soon envelope us all.

Our church uses The Voice translation (not popularly known yet but i encourage you to check out the website if you can, www.hearthevoice.com). I don't have a physical copy so I can't give you the translation of Hebrews 11:1 that was used. But here it is from The Message:

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see.

In The Voice translation, the essence is that the strong conviction that we have in Him--that yearning that betrays our deep-down knowledge--is the certainty of living towards and in the Great Reality of His kingdom: heaven come to earth. So, my prayer for you...is this: that the way things are will only convince you more strongly to fight against the current situation and to fight for the way things should and will be one day."

3. All of the above thoughts lead to another: I am NOT crazy for being an idealist, and for feeling more disappointed than others about the way things are. It is okay--more than okay--to rage against the broken-down, tired and unfair machine.

And, to the lighthearted...

4. What is the appeal of this man? There's the obvious: First, he is British and has a British accent. Second, he is an incredible actor with a breathtaking repertoire. Third, he is incredibly witty and humble. But, there is something beyond the obvious and I think it's called Mysterious.

5. This past weekend, Randall and I got to hang out with a couple of my Saudi students. These two guys are an absolute RIOT. We watched YouTube clips of people drifting their Toyota Corollas in Saudi Arabia, driving on two wheels in their LandCruisers in Saudi Arabia and laughed till we cried watching Russell Peters' ethnic impressions of Arabs (don't go there unless you can take a little profanity). They fixed a traditional Saudi dinner for us (kepsa), which we ate the traditional way: seated on the floor and eating with our right hands. They are a little bit worried that they will catch some slack because of the Saudi guy that was arrested in northern Texas for suspected bomb plotting, but hopefully it won't be too much.

6. If you are ever having a bad day, you should do whatever it takes to find this place:

Then you should go inside and allow your senses to be overwhelmed with what I can only assume to be a literal taste of heaven, much better than any tasting I can offer you here.

Until next time....go in peace.