Gifted

My little girl, who I am excited to see grow and become, has been rather active tonight. I wish I had a camera in my belly to watch her stretch and grow and punch me from the inside. I've been reading various websites about birth and parenting and education as I feel her move in my belly. I can't wait to see who she will be and what special gift she will bring to the world. I hope I am able to both facilitate her growth of discovering who God has created her to be and get out her way and not let my own hangups become hers.

I believe God has granted each of us a gift, something that is uniquely ours. It is a combination of our personality, our interests, our talents, and how all of these come together to impact the world around us. As part of a larger community we each play a special role in making that community whole. I am saddened when I see people who, for whatever reason, are not living out their gift. Because of abuse or addiction or circumstances they are not living fully. None of us are really, but sometimes it is more profound. I wonder who that person was suppose to be before they were dealt such a shitty hand. What are we missing in the world because some people are too busy just trying to survive to truly live or dies too young?

Can't wait to get to know you, little one. And could you tell me what your name is? Your parents are stuck.

God is not a person

Something that has been bothering me lately is our tendency to personify God. God is not a person. Jesus was a person. The purpose of Jesus was to help us understand who God is. God is hard to picture, so we have Jesus. Jesus is God personified, but God the creator and God the Holy Spirit are not persons. God as he or she or it doesn't matter because God is beyond these labels.

When we talk about what God would do I think we miss the point of who God is. God is. That which makes an "is" is God. Sometimes when I'm trying to wrap my head around this it helps to substitute life or love in for God. God is life. God is love. So, does life forgive us when we lie or mean to someone or whatever, all those sin things? Those sin things we do separate us from Life or God. So, being a jerk is sinful because it isn't about life. Can we be forgiven? Yes, of course. Part of life and love is reconciliation. Love is bigger than our all the things we can do to mess it up. Love is patient and kind and... I can't remember the rest. But the more we push against Love or Life by doing things that takes us away from it the less we get to experience it. The less we experience God.

I'll leave it there for now. More to say, but one thought per post or I'll just ramble on too much.

Taking Communion again for the first time

I hear the words before communion almost every Sunday. They often just wash over me, but I don't always listen carefully. Recently, I was actually paying attention when they were said, perhaps because I was in a different setting, perhaps because the Holy Spirit was doing something in me.

Jesus took the bread and said "This is my body." (paraphrase) Well, it couldn't actually be his body; he was standing right there. So what was he saying? In that moment what I heard was, I am that which sustains and gives life. I am the simple piece of bread at your table. I am with you in this everyday item giving you life. It didn't seem to be about a moment, but a declaration of who Jesus is.

Jesus took the wine and said "This is my blood." (paraphrase) Jesus doesn't just sustain us, but adds to our life. Jesus gives life to our life. He brings meaning and celebration. He isn't just the ordinary bread but the wine which is a celebration. The joy we have from life comes from Jesus; he is present in those moments breathing life into the party so to speak.

So it seems we sell ourselves short when we put God in ritual. God is bigger than our rituals, our festivals. God is in our life. God is our life. It isn't about believing in some man in the sky, but about embracing the life we are given to the fullest. Live on. Live free. Jesus is part of it.