Feel like this simple truth has come back to me time and again the past couple years
Am I really willing to submit my will to God's?
It might even be phrased, am I really willing to trust Him?
This thought comes to me often
when i wake up
when i am getting ready to sit in my seat at church
when i am getting ready to speak my mind to a friend, my wife or children
when a late night call comes
I am beginning to see that maybe this is the question of my life as I follow Jesus
Am I willing to submit my will to His at this moment-whatever moment that may be?
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
No agenda love
Last night Carolyn and I went to see "the Soloist" a new movie out starring Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Foxx
It's the kind of movie where a spot had been touched deep inside me (similar to Rain on Me, starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle)
See, Downey wants to help Foxx-by changing him. He thinks he will be doing something important (only) if Foxx gets help and his life comes back to "normal", whatever that might mean
He finally concludes that the only thing Foxx really needs is a friend who will be with him-period-even if there is no change
To be with others, just hanging, with no agenda but being a friend
Last week another friend shared this quote from Henri Nouwen which spoke to this point
"More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn't be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them."
May I, may we, be friends with a no agenda love
Let's just be...with each other
It's the kind of movie where a spot had been touched deep inside me (similar to Rain on Me, starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle)
See, Downey wants to help Foxx-by changing him. He thinks he will be doing something important (only) if Foxx gets help and his life comes back to "normal", whatever that might mean
He finally concludes that the only thing Foxx really needs is a friend who will be with him-period-even if there is no change
To be with others, just hanging, with no agenda but being a friend
Last week another friend shared this quote from Henri Nouwen which spoke to this point
"More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn't be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them."
May I, may we, be friends with a no agenda love
Let's just be...with each other
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