lest we spoil the humble pie we yearn to serve

Lest we spoil the humble pie we yearn to serve as part of the great charitable ball, let's bake with certified-organic repentance and more than just a dash of infectiously generous gratitude... all the while looking-out for spoiled self-righteousness / spiritual pride masquerading as thanksgivings to God.

·         Rather than compare ourselves to others, measure ourselves against the Gospel.

God’s grace is given freely and impartially, it’s not earned.

(article) Why funerals demand a body

"As religious connections have frayed, and our desire to confront loss has waned, the funeral service has changed accordingly.... Thomas Lynch, an undertaker and poet, and the author of the acclaimed essay collection “The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade,” believes that in adopting these newer rituals Americans have lost something important. In a new book, “The Good Funeral,” written with theologian Thomas G. Long, he makes a passionate argument for a return to the labor of the funeral—to the presence of a body and to mourners playing a role in the physical disposal of their dead, be it through burial or cremation..." "LYNCH: I see the fireside and the graveside as equivalents. That’s where we should go with them. To the edge of whatever oblivion we’re consigning them to. Whatever that space is, it’s made sacred by the fact that we’re putting our dead in it.... If you have a bunch of people gathered around an open piece of ground, and you lean [a shovel] towards someone, you don’t have to give them the operating instructions. They know what to do with it!"

http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2013/10/20/why-funerals-demand-body/nepmNQdKobLgIbdnu1aTDP/story.html

Bring it all to God, struggling and demanding if that’s where you are.

Committing again to persistent prayer and faithful perseverance toward truth and justice larger than ourselves, especially when we’re tempted to scratch our itchy ears with only the comfortable and like-minded familiar.

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” 

(Philippians 4:6-7 as paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message)

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

...and he did... and still does... untrusted foreigners, unclean outcasts, and unthankful kinsmen alike.  

We’re called to faith that makes us well.  

Let us return and praise God with a loud voice! 

What kind of returns are we seeking on what types of investments?

What sort of motes are we digging around our castles – who is kept out?  Who is shut in?  

What does it mean that “In God We Trust” is printed so boldly on the reverse of the currency that represents wealth and opportunity in our economy? 

Chasm is deep and wide between Hades and the place of eternal blessings... but is it any wider than the gap between the rich and poor in our world?  And, note that the story isn’t specific about who has been digging that ditch, resulting in the distance... who would create such a mote, and why?

Is the radical equality of God’s kingdom only a future hope, or should we be seeking and building toward such a kingdom now on earth with what we do have and control? 

What choices are we each making day by day with what we do with our wealth and the decisions we make in relationships, in conversations, in our daily interactions in our offices and neighborhoods, and at the voting booth?

What kind of returns are we seeking on what types of investments? 

"...I won't die lonely, I'll have it all prearranged... a grave that's deep and wide enough for me and all my mountains o' things."  (from Tracy Chapman's song, Mountain O'Things)

coming back to forgiveness... again and again

embracing radical, unreasonable, unbelievable forgiveness... challenged to charitably love each other, even when our motives are mixed and the circumstances less than ‘clean’, honest, and ideal

Interested in higher costs of living?

Interested in higher costs of living? 

Living and loving in Christ ain’t cheap... but oh so worth the price.  

“Choose life so that you may live” (Deut 30:19)....

be useful and forgiving (Philemon)...

continually re-examine priorities and re-consider commitments (Luke 14:25-33)