A Final Prayer

The final prayer of Jesus was that the believer's would be one (John 17). I have been pondering this lately, kind of been challenged by it.

The idea of oneness is something that people talk about, but don't exhibit, including myself, because we struggle with discomfort. To be one we must be willing to step out of our comfort zone.

To understand that you are loved by God, you must also understand that everyone else is also. We are all different.

The initial idea of following this concept of oneness begins with dressing ourselves with new eyes.

I was recently at something called P.A.P.A. Fest (People Against Poverty and Apathy). There were many people talking about issues with not connecting with the poor, issues with people who hide themselves in suburbs and leave the poor to themselves, etc. Some people focused on living with less, protecting the environment (God's creation), learning to live a life in rhythm with God instead of the world, etc.

While some people were in "intentional communities" with the poor and others desiring to alleviate the injustice done to the poor, they seem to cut themselves off from those who live in suburbs and serve Christ in other ways. This happens in the vice versa as well. Not all people do this, but some split things.

I was riding my bike through suburbs and thought to myself "I would never want to live in a house like that with a yard and stuff." It felt uncomfortable now that I had been accustomed to living with less. Vice versa, many people in those houses would say that same thing to perhaps those who live with less. The thing is that this un-comfort keeps us from meeting each other and getting to know each other, though we may be brothers and sisters in Christ. There is a separation.

We must learn to accept each other, to recognize that we all grow up in different places, are in different walks of life with God, are all called to help different kinds of poverty in this world we live in.

It only becomes a problem when we isolate ourselves, when we keep ourselves from being one in Jesus Christ. We must be willing to step out and meet our neighbors to understand the way they live, to reach out to people without assumptions (not including times where there is real reason to have assumptions to protect ourselves...unfortunately we have to do that). We must meet people with innocence and a clean plate for where to place our understanding of them other than where they live, how much they live with, the way they dress, or the color of their skin.

I struggle with all of these pieces of people. It can keep me from engaging people with love instead of fear. Let us seek out what it means to be one.

There are so many more thoughts I have been having about this, but I can't remember them now. I hope that these thoughts encourage you in some way and get you thinking.

Challenge yourself to meet people you might feel uncomfortable getting to know whether it is in your neighborhood or at work.

about peru

today is a new day
reaching into what was old
searching through pages i've looked at before
trying to understand it all
and knowing i'll never get there

Compassion

Today I was at the bus stop area in La Victoria where a lot of the boys catch buses to play music on. While saying hello to one of the boys I knew, I caught the eye of a boy I had never seen before.

I felt the need to reach out my hand and say hello, so I did and we began talking.

He shared from his life and I shared from mine, and when the bus I needed to take arrived we said goodbye. What was so awesome about the conversation was that the entire time he never asked me for "plata" (money), which does not happen very often. When I am in a poorer areas of Lima, even if it is spoken like a joke, people ask for money. It felt so good when he didn't ask.

I was wondering at this the other day when Ben and Darcy shared a story with me about their day.

The two were visiting someone in the outskirts of Lima and a boy who was about four ran up to the house where they were standing and started saying "Quiero plata. Quiero plata" (I want money). Nearly every question they tried to ask him was returned with the words "Quiero plata."

Compassion is not giving someone money and watching them walk away, it is entering the life of another. It is so difficult to show people real compassion when they will not talk about their life with you and/or they do not want to listen to you talk about your life. (and often times there is ample reason for this)

It feels so good to be talked with, to be seen as a person and to have the chance to bond with someone.

I was thinking about these stories today, mine and the one from Ben and Darcy, and I realized that sometimes when I have talked with God all I have asked for is "plata."

How can we experience God's compassion if we never share life with Him, make Him a part of our lives by speaking sincerely and listening sincerely. He does not simply want to take away pain. He wants to experiece life with us, the joys and the pain.

He created us to "be" with Him, not to use Him as a means to happiness or a cure for problems. He desires so much to "be" with us.

I am learning to share my heart and give my heart to God.

Jesus...

about a month ago I had a thought about Jesus that I wrote down somewhere and I haven't had the chance to write it out in the blog until now. the thought was...

"Jesus didn't come to have huge statues built of him....or for that matter to have pictures of what people thought he looked like posted of him posing in one way or another."

we were going through the outskirts of Lima when I saw a huge statue of Jesus in the distance. that is where the thought began.

in Paul's letter to the Philippians he writes that Jesus humbled himself completely, that while he was God he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. he did not come for power, or to show his ability being God but for something else...to serve and share the Truth, to share hope, faith, and love. this was revealed throughout his life serving and teaching and when he humbled himself to death.

pictures of Jesus are everywhere in Lima. they're in taxis, on random walls, and in shops and restaurants sometimes with the opposite wall posted with a picture of a half naked woman. (and I ask the question "why is he there? is there any real significance except to have a picture of him on the wall? is he just good luck?")

Jesus came to proclaim a message. he came to begin a kingdom where people love each other, even their enemies, where difference is welcome, where personal gain is placed behind encouraging and serving each other.

He came that people might know who Created them and that they might draw closer to Him and become one community driven by His great love and compassion.

Jesus is not a poster-boy. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

is Jesus sitting on the wall, some picture, or do we allow his message to become a real part of our lives?

what is important is what is in our hearts, not what is on the wall.

a portrait of ministry

yesterday i saw a mother teaching her daughter to ride a bike. she fell a lot. sometimes when her daughter fell off she would pout and leave frustrated at her failure, but her mother would be patient and continue to encourage her, believing in her ability to ride the bike. then the girl would return and try again. sometimes she was hurt when she fell, but still her mother encouraged, and the girl would try again.

the girl doesn't know what it is like yet to ride a bike, to feel the freedom of wind rushing past her. she doesn't even know yet if she can really do it. but her mother believes and knows.

would she keep trying if she did not have the support of her mother?

the Word Made Flesh staff here is a continuous encouragement for the boys and girls who live in the street, someone who believes in them. the boys have yet to believe that they can get more out of life, that they can ride the bike and get out of their place in the street. sometimes they try, and they may fall back to the streets, but that's not the end. we will be patient and continue to encourage them to try again. it is hard for them to believe when all they hear is that they are "piranhas" and bad kids by the public, the news, the police, etc.

so we will continue to pray for Richard and the others. it's not easy to try to ride the bike with so many obstacles.

think about it...if you were handed a poor deck of cards in life (lack of knowledge, of how to live life, of how to express yourself in a healthy way, of how to trust people, etc.) and had no support and encouragement (more so the opposite), how motivated would you be to try for greater things? we all need support and encouragement to live.

we are the family, the support for the youth who do not have any.

it's not easy. it takes time. it takes prayer. patience. love.

these were my thoughts yesterday as i sat in a park.
i hope you are blessed by these words.

Pity & Love

My thoughts continue to be drawn towards my response to the marginalized.

I have had so many encounters that I could write about. I think that what I really struggle with is the concept of pity.

it seems that...

In pity we look down at someone and remain in our position,

In love we go to them and look into their eyes.

I do not want to just give people money, walk away or have them walk away, and then forget them or have them believe I will forget them. I want to hear their "voice." I desire for them to know that I care about their life.

I am still learning how I can love the poor.