See yourself the way you really are

Tonight I watched Kung Fu Panda 2. This might be juvenile, but I find these movies really inspiring. The panda is not especially trained or skilled. He is not physically fit. He tends to be bumbling and screws things up a lot. He doesn't even really have a plan most of the time. But he lives up to his destiny and accomplishes the impossible.

It reminds me of these Scriptures:

2 Corinthians 4

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

2 Corinthians 10

⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Mark 10

²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

I was recently praying with my mentor about my new purpose in life. I have had to renounce the old purposes I have lived for based on an image of myself that was not true to God's purpose for me. She asked God to give me a picture of what it looks like to live for my new purpose. I got the image of The Awakening statue.

In case you have never seen it, it is a giant "awakening" from his underground slumber to emerge from the earth. I remember seeing this as a kid. I think I could fit my whole person in one of his hands.

This is the image God gave me... of ME! I thought that was awfully flattering of God, but perhaps a little unmerited. "Me... a... giant?" And then I warmed up to the idea, like finally bursting up from the earth like the beautiful buds and sprouts which long laid dormant during the winter. Sure, why should I NOT be a giant? A giant in faith, in love, and in relationship. Who is to say these things are unattainable for me? Who am I to disqualify myself from the purpose that God has for me?

And I think this is what most of us do. We see ourselves as small and unqualified. We embrace all the limitations that people and life circumstances have shackled us with. The lack of promotion at work. Or worse, the lay off. And then not getting hired during the recession despite sending out umpteen resumes. Or perhaps your spouse never believed in your dream. Or you had kids and never got to use your degree that you worked so hard for. Or your vision for your life does not meet the expectations of your family. The limitations have unlimited possibilities.

But how does God see you? We know how he saw David, as a King who was currently occupied as a lowly shepherd. He saw elderly, sterile Abraham as the father of nations. Cowardly lion Gideon as a valiant warrior. Insert your favorite here...

Why not ask God how He sees you today? What would happen if you awoke from your slumber of a poor self-estimation? No matter what life has dealt or others have done to you, as is the message of the panda, it is up to you to determine your future.

So rise up sleeping giants!

“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

(Ephesians 5:14)

Standing on the corner waiting for destiny

I like strangers. This is no secret. Sometimes it's as if a particular stranger has a bull's-eye on their chest or a big neon arrow sign over their head flashing as if to say, "This person needs to encounter God today!"

One such man was standing on the sidewalk in front of my friend's house.

I was walking down the street to go to Bible study at my friend's house when I happened upon a man standing squarely in the middle of the sidewalk looking at the sky and appearing quite perplexed. He had on a backpack like he was about to embark on a trip. Or a hike. But he was in the city.

So I said to him, "Are you waiting for somebody?"

"No" he replied.

And then I said, "You look like you're waiting for your destiny!"

He actually was waiting for his brother. But we engaged in conversation and he volunteered that something very horrible had happened just recently. Before we got into the details his brother emerged from a nearby house and I invited them to Bible study. I said that it very well could be that God would show them their destiny! The brother asked if God would do that for an atheist. I said "Sure!"

They had somewhere to go, so the conversation was left there, but I can't help but wonder what was the horrible event that had happened. In any case I hope it was an encouragement to the man to hear that God has a destiny awaiting him!

I don't know where life finds you today, but I pray that wherever that is, you would know what you were put on this earth for.

1 Corinthians 2: 9

“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him”

A Dose of Profundity from Desmond Tutu

Ubuntu and so restorative justice gives up on no-one. No-one is a totally hopeless and irredeemable case. We all remain the children of God, even the worst of ones. We all retained the capacity to become saints. For us as Christians the paradigm was provided by our Lord and the penitent thief on the Cross. He had led a life of crime presumably until he was crucified.

Some might be appalled at this death-bed repentance and conversion, but not God, whom we seek to emulate - "be as perfect as your heavenly father is perfect" is Jesus' exhortation. We are not able to declare categorically that so and so has a first class ticket to hell. We shall be surprised at those we meet in heaven whom we least expected to be there and perhaps also by those we do not find there whom we had expected to be there.

St. Patrick's Breastplate

I bind unto myself today

The strong Name of the Trinity,

By invocation of the same

The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me forever

By power of faith, Christ incarnation;

His baptism in Jordan river,

His death on Cross for my salvation;

His bursting from the spiced tomb,

His riding up the heavenly way,

His coming at the day of doom

I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power

Of the great love of cherubim;

The sweet Well done in judgment hour,

The service of the seraphim,

Confessors faith, Apostles word,

The Patriarchs prayers, the prophets scrolls,

All good deeds done unto the Lord

And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today

The virtues of the star lit heaven,

The glorious suns life giving ray,

The whiteness of the moon at even,

The flashing of the lightning free,

The whirling winds tempestuous shocks,

The stable earth, the deep salt sea

Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today

The power of God to hold and lead,

His eye to watch, His might to stay,

His ear to hearken to my need.

The wisdom of my God to teach,

His hand to guide, His shield to ward;

The word of God to give me speech,

His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,

The vice that gives temptation force,

The natural lusts that war within,

The hostile men that mar my course;

Or few or many, far or nigh,

In every place and in all hours,

Against their fierce hostility

I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,

Against false words of heresy,

Against the knowledge that defiles,

Against the hearts idolatry,

Against the wizards evil craft,

Against the death wound and the burning,

The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,

Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me.

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,

The strong Name of the Trinity,

By invocation of the same,

The Three in One and One in Three.

By Whom all nature hath creation,

Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:

Praise to the Lord of my salvation,

Salvation is of Christ the Lord.