Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Thoughts on the impossible.

A friend, Mary, recently gave a teaching at a women's retreat, and it still sticks with me: sometimes God calls us to the impossible so that when we achieve the impossible, we can't possibly claim the credit. The glory is God's and it's blatant to everyone with eyes to see, including those who follow Him and those who don't.

Time and again, God has used non-believers to do His work. I never forget this, especially in our battle for harmony with creation. Christians ought to be leading the charge, but as they're not - God will use whomever is willing to hear His battle cry.

I once saw a grown man, an advocate of nature whose career is based in a love of parks, walk out of a short film depicting the destruction of coral reefs. This image comes back to me over and over again as I try to walk this out. Many people, regardless of their understanding of God, can sense the spiritual side of this battle. It is more than just destruction of the planet, it's a destruction of self, the defacement of our own dignity. It's like waking up one morning and realizing you've been using your bed as a toilet for the last year. Or worse, someone else has been using your bed as their own toilet, continues to do so, and they can't understand why you're so upset with them.

It seems impossible. Daunting. Because the solution is not policy change, new laws, or innovative technology. The solution is a lasting personal change in the hearts of men and women. The solution is an understanding that our planet is sacred. Understanding that it's actually really unhealthy to soil your own bed. It won't be accomplished with pamphlets, facts, figures, rants, or anything like that. It will be accomplished with simple and self-sacrificing love, just like anything else that God does.


Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing.

What's the Father doing?

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