Out of the Corner of My Eye - Blindman at the Gate

I think I caught a glimpse of truth out of the corner of my eye.
A ghost, a whisper, a suspicion, a subtle and subversive rumor.
So dangerous that every army would be commanded to march against it;
so beautiful that it would drive those who see it to madness
or sanity.
Does the whole of my kind suffer from mental and moral vertigo?
As Melville said of cabin boy Pip,
he saw the foot of God upon the treadle of the loom
and dared to speak it.
Henceforth his shipmates called him mad.
As Vladimir said when they came to bury Fyodor,
the spiritual leader must feel the falsehood prevailing in society;
the prophet must struggle against it, never tolerate it, never submit to it.
I think I caught a glimpse of truth out of the corner of my eye.
Have we been so blinded by the bright lights of advertisers’ lies
that the only true vision is peripheral vision?
In the age of constant commercialization and overblown hype
does truth shout with a whisper and stand out with subtlety?
I think I caught a glimpse of truth out of the corner of my eye.
It terrified me as I fell in love with it.
I said,
This explains everything.
This changes everything.
This challenges everything.
This threatens everything.
This transforms everything.
Dare I speak it?

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This post first appeared at www.brianzahnd.com

Why Worship? For Our Daddy to See - Caleb Miller

One night I was out cooking in my kitchen—I often do the cooking, I thoroughly enjoy it—and I heard my 2 year old son running back and forth from the kitchen to the living room.  Each time he returned, he had another small car in his hand.  Looking at the floor, I saw his little cars all lined up perfectly in a row.  Dylan’s face was beaming, and through an ear to ear smile he shouted, “See daddy, cars!”  He was so proud of his collection of cars and just wanted me to share in his joy.  In that instant, I had a glimpse of the Father’s heart towards us. 

Dylan was thrilled with his cars. He wasn’t bringing them to me because he thought I should receive praise for what he had.  He wasn’t bringing them to ask me for more of them.  He wasn’t even bringing them to play with me.  

He was bringing them because he was proud of them and wanted me to share in that pride. 

I immediately began to think of what we have done to this thing called “worship”.  What is meant to be a place and time (a lifestyle? maybe) where human mortality collides with divine love and sharing happens has become a place of petition & repetition.  

But how do we reclaim it?

We line our cars up for our daddy to see. 

Not so we can praise him for them.

Not so we can ask for more.

Not so we can play with him.

Not so we can repeat catchy phrases.

So we can share with him what we have. 

If we have sickness, we bring our sickness and line it up. We let him share in it.

If we have poverty, we bring our poverty and line it up. We let him share in it.

If we have depression, we bring it and line it up. We let him share in it.

If we have fear, we bring it and line it up. We let him share in it.

If we have health, we bring our health and line it up. We let him share in it.

If we have wealth, we bring our health and line it up. We let him share in it.

If we have joy, we bring our health and line it up. We let him share in it.

if we have peace, we bring our health and line it up. We let him share in it.

Our God is a very present help in time of need - that is certain, but He is not only found in our darkness. He is found in our light. The God who never leaves us or forsakes us doesn’t withdraw because of problems, He excels in them. He also excels in our victories. Not because He wants the glory, but because He enjoys sharing in the things we are proud of as well.  


In short, we worship because we want to share with our dad. Our lives, our gifts, our fears, our hopes and dreams.  We share it all with him, because that is the nature of our relationship with our heavenly father - one of sharing.

In the words of Jack Johnson “It’s always more fun to share with everyone”. Nothing is more enjoyable than sharing with our heavenly father.

Monte Wolverton's 'Chasing 120: A Story of Food, Faith, Fraud and the Pursuit of Longevity' - review by Brad Jersak

I recently glimpsed a Facebook post that said only, 'I hate foodies.' I had no idea what a 'foodie' is so, fancying myself a researcher, I googled it. I discovered a whole new world of grand obsessions (especially with longevity) and frightful intrigues ... most of all, the conspiracies (fictional or not) around GMO food. 

What's a GMO, I asked? Genetically modified food. Now I must say, I'm ever so thankful for seedless grapes ... but some of the other stuff. And how about those mountains of supplements that could genetically modify me? Crikey! 

Nimbly backing out through the door, I moved on in happy denial. Not my cause. But I had to admit, these are the raw materials of a riveting suspense novel. Imagine a GMO backfiring in freakish ways, throw in a cultic-religious movement that offers 12 decades of vitality. Spiritual abuse, dietary legalism and a dangerous GMO twist. Now you've got a plot! 

Well, it depends who writes it. And don't be fooled, novels aren't just retreats from reality. They often bear important truths that non-fiction can never carry past our defenses. In this case, author, artist and syndicated cartoonist Monte Wolverton has delivered a page-turner that both entertains and illuminates the reader. Chasing 120: A Story of Food, Faith, Fraud and the Pursuit of Longevity, unveils Wellness 120, the religious health empire of a manipulative health guru, all allegedly based in Scripture.

The novel is not just fun ... it's important. Even aside from the GMO conspiracies, I believe Wolverton's tale speaks to the deep disillusionment of so many people who've been burned by religious hucksters and corporate pop-gurus--people who've built empires on whatever vulnerabilities we carry in our woundedness. It's not enough to upset ourselves with the injustice of spiritual abuse. We need to ask what conditions set us up for it in the first place. What is the desperate need the charlatans promise to fulfill? Rather than just stealing false hope, might there be a good word that delivers true hope? Monte takes us there in Chasing 120, without platitudes or cliches. It's an excellent read that leads to some healthy thinking.

Click here to find out more: https://www.ptm.org/uni/resources/order/form_chasing120.php
And here's a great 3 minute Intro with Monte: 

"Changing Course" (Loving Our Enemies, chapter 1) by Jim Forest

Chapter 1 of Loving Our Enemies: Reflections on the Hardest Commandment by Jim Forest. The publisher is Orbis.]One day Jesus asked the question, “Do people gather figs from thistles?” The answer is of course no — you harvest what you plant. Plant thistles and thistles take root and thistles they become. If you want to grow figs, you need to start with fig seeds. With this question, Jesus implicitly ridicules the idea that good can be brought about by evil means. Violence is not the means of creating a peaceful society. Vengeance does not pave the road to forgiveness. Spousal abuse does not lay the foundation for a lasting marriage. Rage is not a tool of reconciliation.                    Yet, while figs do not grow from thistles, in the world of human choice and action, a positive change of attitude and direction is always a possibility. Sinners are the raw material of saints. The New Testament is crowded with accounts of transformations.In the Church of the Savior in the Chora district of Istanbul, there is a fourteenth-century Byzantine mosaic that, in a single image, tells a story of an unlikely transformation: the conversion of water into wine for guests at a wedding feast in the village of Cana. In the background Jesus — his right hand extended in a gesture of blessing — stands side by side with his mother. In the foreground we see a servant pouring water from a smaller jug into a larger one. The water leaves the first jug a pale blue and tile-by-tile becomes a deep purple as it reaches the lip of the lower jug. “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana, in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” This “first sign” that Jesus gave is a key to understanding everything in the Gospel. Jesus is constantly bringing about transformations: blind eyes to seeing eyes, withered limbs to working limbs, sickness into wellbeing, guilt into forgiveness, strangers into neighbors, enemies into friends, slaves into free people, armed men into disarmed men, crucifixion into resurrection, sorrow into joy, bread and wine into himself. Nature cannot produce figs from thistles, but God is doing this in our lives all the time. God’s constant business in creation is making something out of nothing. As a Portuguese proverb declares, “God writes straight with crooked lines.”                                                                                                                                                                                                       CLICK HERE to read the rest of the chapter

The Walking Wounded - by Greg Albrecht

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.—Psalm 34:17-18

When we think of the term "walking wounded," we usually consider warriors who served their country, whose wounds are visible and known, as well as those whose wounds are not as apparent. 

Most recently, we are familiar with The Walking Wounded who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. While one of the tragic consequences of any war is The Walking Wounded left in its wake, one of the most publicized examples goes back a generation. You will remember The Walking Wounded who came home to these United States from the Vietnam war. These veterans returned, having served their country, having followed their orders, but nonetheless having taken part in an unpopular war. While many were, like veterans of any war, injured and maimed, others looked outwardly normal.

But inside, many were, and still are, seething cauldrons. Many of these veterans still deal with survivor-guilt. They came home, but some of their comrades-in-arms did not. They struggle with the psychological and emotional flashbacks to the pain and suffering they caused, and the pain and suffering they endured. It's called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

I have close personal friends who are Vietnam vets who still suffer flashbacks, who still deal with PTSD, 40 or more years later. PTSD, among other things, can involve waking up in the middle of the night, in fear, in emotional pain, in full battle mode, in the middle of a nightmare induced lock-and-load adrenaline rush. It's never, ever fully getting over the haunting torment of something so excruciating that the mind blocks it out, until something triggers it anew. These moments are called flashbacks. 

CLICK HERE to continue reading Greg's article

One Day, God Planted a Stake in the Ground - Jo Pestell

God spoke
        Darkness came
                        God was there

God spoke
        Light came
                        God was there

God spoke
        Creation overflowed
                        God was there

One day God planted a stake in the ground

"Everything I have is yours
    - share it with me or use it for yourselves"

They ate
         A different light came
         They were hidden from each other
                          But God was there

"Everything I have is mine"
    - but still a voice within whispers of a different way

One day God planted a stake in the ground

"This is my body given for you"
    - a gate or a stumbling block

Take, eat
          Their eyes were opened
                           And God was there

"Lord, it's hard to give my body to serve you"
    - but the Spirit comes and brings strength within

Still....

Sometimes when we speak
           Darkness comes
                           God be there

Sometimes when we speak
            Light comes
                            God is there

Lord help us speak
            "Your kingdom come"
                             God is here

This poem first appeared at http://dwellingspaces.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/one-day-god-planted-stake-in-ground.html

"An eye for an eye" - Prot (KPAX)

"Let me tell you something, Mark. You humans, most of you, subscribe to this policy of an eye for an eye, a life for a life, which is known throughout the universe for its stupidity. 

"Even your Buddha and your Christ had quite a different vision; but nobody's paid much attention to them, not even the Buddhists or the Christians."

Prot (from KPAX)