latest at-large thoughts

faith & belief

They seem to be intermingled and interchanged with each other a lot. I can see the overlap, but also see some very big distinctions between them.

I'm not interested in debating them, or gurgitating their common or scriptural definitions. Just for some reason been thinking of both of them lately.

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grace

I know grace is a cornerstone of the Way, but for the last few months either due to overuse or misuse I've not liked the word. (Those have been the times it's been overused, duh.)

Probably started last fall when I heard about some youth going to a convention, where the theme of the convention was "be a grace agent".

My first thought was, wtf? So the 21st century thing to do is take a bedrock truth and make it hip?

Corporate America coined the phrase "change agent" some short years ago, and now the Body takes that and "makes it their own"?

I understand it was geared around a youth event, yet it still seemed to be Christianese and corporately-imitating.

And hearing it overused for months has probably not endeared the word used to describe the thing I cling to every day.

This past weekend was a breath of fresh air. Some friends and I talked about living by Law versus living by grace. The discussion of it didn't cause any wincing.

Well, I did wince, but not from hearing the word used in a watered-down way.

I winced in the sense I realized how common it is for us to desire grace for ourselves and justice for others.

Both of my hands are raised on that one.

And what did I do after that? Rationalized my desire for justice by telling God "okay, well if You want to give me justice, go ahead. I don't care."

And I don't care. I'll volunteer, hell. The idea of justice is very liberating to me right now.

And then I thought about the "causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust" verse. I struggle with that verse. A lot.

And I told the Lord this.

And He appreciates the honesty.

But that isn't going to sway Him.

That's okay. I'll get Him.

I know how to.

It's my "oh yeah, Wise guy?" way to get Him.

I save it for special occasions.

Like after I get a brain freeze when I drink a Slurpee and He laughs.

Or when He laughs about me tripping in a pothole and looking like a fool. (He really got tickled on that one, and had the nerve to tell me what THAT "gotcha" was for.)

Or like the time I thought there was a stinging insect in my car right upon me and I spazzed out for a second to get out of the car. His sides were splitting on that one. (There was no insect in the car.)

I'll get You back, Dad.

Remember that time I helped the guy with some money and almost gave him a heart attack at the same time? That dude didn't know whether to thank me or hold up his fingers in a crucifix toward me! (snicker snicker)

I got You good on that one. That made even You raise YOUR eyebrows! (heh heh) I mean, I know You know my heart and all, but You weren't expecting me to do THAT. (guffaw!)

I've got a few ideas brewing.

Something like a rigor-mortised animal found on the side of the road propped upright in a church parking lot...on one of the busiest streets in the city. You got a preference for a raccoon?

Maybe a possum or a skunk would be better, given the number of churches that are asleep or stink...

I'll getcha. Just You wait.

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Saw the glorious church billboards this past weekend. The latest "Bottom 10" addition, a church whose mantra is "Success in Life".

What's the pastor wearing in the billboard pic? A suit?

Nay! Not a suit, I tell you, but a Tuxedo!

Chalk another one up for us, the oh-so-relatable body of Jesus.


Psssst--elitism is not the Way.

C'mon now.