thanks for the cartoon www.nakedpastor.com
I got inspired by Nadia Bolz-Weber's 5 minute share = Uncategorizable
here is my riff on it:
The historical Jesus as God And man, doesn’t fit in the categories
- he doesn’t FIT, like a round peg in square hole.
Jesus is fish AND fowl,
and I can relate!
Maybe you can too.
Many of us feel like we don’t fit.
And many of us feel alone in that.
I am blessed to be in a position to have deeply shared with hundreds of people in the last dozen years
- hearing their pain, struggle, and challenges
- and let me tell you...
if you feel like you don't fit-in,
and you feel alone in that,
you are actually in very good company!
; )
For good reason:
Our society pushes us to want to fit in a box…
of belief, of fitting-in, of looking-good, of being cool, of success…
according to some ideal.
But, just like the historical Jesus,
we don’t fit into some model of how we should be.
We are not a cog.
For many of us, it can feel so hard, scary, painful, shameful, lonely - to not fit in…
in our family, in our neighborhood, in our work, in our church, even in our clubs and micro-identities...
Whether it seems like we are trying and failing, or trying and succeeding, in this world's game;
most of us find this game to be uncomfortable, at best.
.
But, this is not the end of the story.
Meanwhile…
We are the temple of the holy spirit,
We are God's breath of life enlivening the dust of the ground.
We are the light, salt, glory, power, truth, love of God… in these earthen vessels.
And, each of us is completely unique in all the world.
There is no one else who is, was, or ever will be You
and no one with the same calling as Yours.
We are beyond categorization.
And because of our precious uniqueness,
we can make a difference in this world,
that no one else can.
.
Jesus did as he spiritually saw Abba do,
and said as he spiritually heard Abba say,
in his own unique way,
And we also can learn to step-by-step dance with the Living God, in our own unique way.
Inch-by-inch bringing the reign/kingdom of God to earth, as in Heaven.
Not by striving, rather by resting in God as who we ARE.
.
So, when we look to the world for the way;
We meet the cookie cutter expectations of our culture
- and whether we comply or resist -
we are playing the world's game.
When we play the world's game, instead of our own,
at Best, we we not comfortable
- something is missing, something doesn't fit, something is wrong…
I believe this is a pervasive experience,
Until we allow ourselves to rest in God,
resting in who we really (already) are spiritually.
And from there playing our own game:
Learning to BE who we are,
and then to DO who we are (organically, with ease and grace),
in concert with God's orchestra.
So this is the good news
- God, the reign/kingdom of heaven, spiritual reality, is right here spiritually, now coexistent with his physical reality
- and every moment, we have the chance, the choice to play our part in God's amazing orchestra (or not ;)
We can make a soul choice
to play with God,
to rest in God,
to turn-around;
to look at God, not the world, for our leading, for our feeding, for our blessings, for our fitting-in, for our life…
Hooray!! Hooray!!
.
… and if we really want this - not just dabbling - stopping there doesn't serve.
One soul choice - no matter how large that choice may be, doesn't shift our conscious experience.
We have too much momentum going the other way.
We are called to walk-out in the world, what we already spiritually own.
One soul choice is wonderful, and makes a spiritual difference.
But, if we don't let God transform all of us, that choice will not change our life, or our world.
I believe, and experience that
it serves to practice being who we already spiritually are
out into the world.
In our conscious experience, body, soul, life
- this takes TIME and SPACE,
- this takes INTENTION and ATTENTION
This isn’t a matter of intellectual belief (that is a society lie).
This isn’t just taking a pill, it isn’t a silver bullet (that is a society lie).
These lies lead to sitting-around waiting for the heaven-train,
instead of doing our calling:
bringing to earth what is in heaven - in our experience of life and in the world around us.
.
We are called to walk-out in the world, what we already spiritually own.
This is not an intellectual process.
This is not about rules, or a set-pathway.
This is not about pleasing somebody - even if its our mother, or our pastor.
Going from eyes on society, on the world, trying to please the world (including our family, our neighbors, our religion...)
to
Eyes on the Living God - who is active and dances with us in present time,
allowing God to help us mature into who we really are, and what we can do in this world…
This isn’t trivial.
This is a process in itself.
This is a body, soul, mind, spirit, life transition.
Yes, we are already in God, spiritually.
We are already seated with Christ Jesus in Heavenly places.
But, we are called to make this REAL in our body, soul, life…
continually diving deeper in God, consciously in this reality
- bringing on Earth, what is in Heaven.
Although there are great and amazing blessings inside ourselves and in our world, every step of the way;
This is not an easy or pain-free process.
Paul called it dying daily.
But at the same time, the fruit of this process is SO, SO good.
Life, Abundantly.
As we deepen in this process,
we start to experience that we are whole and complete,
we are love, and we are One,
we are precious, and we are gifted,
and we completely fit-in… in God
We start to experience, And others start to experience,
that we are light, salt, glory, power, truth, love of God… in these earthen vessels.
and life is SO, SO good.
This is a huge blessing to us, and our world
- if we let it be….
The Living, present-time Jesus can show us the way.
Like Jesus,
we can hold being fish and fowl,
we can transcend the world's categories,
we can BE ourselves, and DO our thing:
to our own Joy,
to the Blessing of those around us,
to the transformation of our world, and
to the Glory of God.
The Living, present-time Jesus can show us the way.
.
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