Dear David

This isn't a literary masterpiece. I copied it down from the scrawls of legal pad pages torn out messily and stuffed in an envelope. Despite months of trepidation, the letter wrote itself. The words acted as if they'd been locked in the pen and now finally were released with ease. I figure that means the Holy Spirit was speaking. I think too much for it to have been me. The letter is to my brother David; he's serving a prison sentence at Fort Grant right now. I have turned down many collect calls, and the letter he sent to me has sat unanswered in the kitchen for months. Before mailing the reply I finally penned, I felt like copying it here. As Easter approaches, I am in a new place with God. It's a very humble place, and well, I just don't have much else to say I guess. While the letter is probably blasé to anyone reading, it is significant to me. If you have someone in your life that perpetually "needs fixing," or if you're the one everyone disapproves of, or you're just looking to waste some time, feel free to read on. Insight not guaranteed. Just a pretty plain letter from a sister to her brother.

Hi David,
I guess I have been holding off writing. You've been in my thoughts almost daily, but I could not bring myself to write. I want to write, though, to tell you that I hope your time away from this side of things has given you what you needed, or at least set you on the path to achieving you dreams. Above all, I hope you have considered living a life in relationship with the One who designed you, has a purpose for you, and loves you beyond life itself. Loves you in the way you were made to be loved.

Life is hard. I have gone through my own humbling circumstances, and it has left me feeling a bit speechless. For many years I have thought I knew what was right for you. I always had advice or opinions about how to "set you straight." I have begun to see now that no person can truly heal another. No program can provide freedom. Each of us has a prison to deal with...whether we live in it for life is a personal deal. Some people's prisons are visible, like yours, but many more of us hide ours well. I'm saying this philosophical stuff only to get at one point: I'm sorry for judging you and thinking myself "superior." I've decided it's due time to "let" you go. You have made many choices that have been selfish, deceitful, and just plain cruel. I would imagine you feel sorrow and shame for that.

Well, welcome to the club, I guess.

I realize now more than ever that we each have a path that God works in to show us that:

1) We are wicked sinners who cannot get it right even when we try out hardest or don't try at all. (Romans 3:23)

2) He knew we'd fall. He loved us. loves us. even in the moments we are ugliest. (Romans 5:8)

3)He gave his only son to live a blameles life, face every temptation man faces, and then bear the weight of all our sins on his bloodied back as he hung on the cross being shamed, belittled, and mocked. (John 19: 1-30)

4) He raised his son from the burial tomb to LIFE, to be King, to be man's best friend, savior, healer, true love, encouragement, and total, complete redeemer from our sins. (Hebrews 4: 15-16)


Some people are humbled quickly and cling to God, abandoning their wants for a life spent knowing and being fulfilled by Him.

Others fight his call and suffer much before submitting. Submitting to what? His love. His way. It is a "death" as Mark 8:35 talks about. It is a death that many are unwilling to lay their lives down for. Little do they know, they will be raised to life... and life abundantly. (Jon 10:10)

Others still never relent and keep trying to get what they want.

I hope this letter is conveying what I pray it does-- that I love you. I too am on this journey and as I am running (tripping, going the wrong way, sitting, and so on) I shout to you: "You got this, David. Follow your heart and that still quiet voice of God. He will not leave your nor forsake you." Following after Him is frightening... but I suppose anything that is worth it is. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Easter is coming (4/20). That's kind of ironic as I write it down. 420 ... pot has been a giant battle in our family, and perhaps a thief to steal our family's joy. Well this 4/20 is Easter, and I will look at it differently. The things I wrote were not to "preach" at you or persuade you, but truly what is on my heart in my own life.

I will miss you at Annie's first birthday on April 12. :( Damn. <-- I couldn't think of a more suitable word to describe my sadness, frustration, and anger.

Well, I pray that when you read this letter you feel a good friend sitting beside you saying, brother, I love you.

I couldn't love you more if I tried.

I'm not putting money on the phone to talk. I just don't have much to say, I guess. I figure you will weigh your choices and determine what is right.
(Everyone here is doing well.)

Your sister always,
Rachel

Revolutionary Love

SB 1062 had me weighing some things this week. To be short, I ended up here:

Luke 10: 25-37

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

(Did you catch that this person was an EXPERT in the law? And he was "testing" Jesus? That tells me that this expert had some conflicts with Jesus' teaching, and he wanted to toss out a tricky question to see if Jesus would say something offensive.)

²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”
²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

(Do you ever find yourself asking this question? Who IS my neighbor? Does neighbor include people are not Christians, people who treat me badly, people who lie, people who practice what I consider to be evil practices, and so on...)

³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”


What is Jesus saying here? For Jesus to say the the Samaritan was an example of love in this parable must have thoroughly shaken the Jewish law expert. The parable is offensive because the Samaritan was a sinner, but not just a sinner; Samaritans were a continuous source of difficulty to the Jews and their faith. This little bit of historical context will give that parable much greater meaning and depth in regards to what Jesus was preaching to the religious of the time: 

The Assyrians took over Israel in 722 B.C., and took the majority of Jews captive. The remaining Jews were exiled. The Assyrians brought in gentiles to live amongst the Jews, and these gentiles brought pagan idols and pagan practices. The captive Jews began to worship these idols, intermarry with the ungodly foreigners, and taint the faith they once followed. In result, their descendants were called Samaritans rather than Jews. After 70 years, a remnant of the original Jews were permitted to return to the Assyrian-dominated area, and they began to rebuild Jerusalem according to the Jewish faith and morals.  The Samaritans ardently opposed and undermined their efforts to rebuild the Jewish nation. And so, a great bitterness and hatred grew between the two peoples. 

With this history and Jesus' parable in mind, Bible.org says, "It is not the person from the radically different culture on the other side of the world that is hardest to love, but the nearby neighbor whose skin color, language, rituals, values, ancestry, history, and customs are different from one’s own."

Food for thought. Remember Jesus didn't come to be president of a country or king of a nation. He came to be a savior to a condemned world of hard hearted, selfish people...us. We were in need of love then, and we are now. When we face opposition, let us look to his revolutionary love to move mountains, to protect and provide.

In the meantime, love God with your life before him. Love others as you do yourself.

Seeing Beauty in the Mundane

It is incredibly tempting to dream fantastic dreams while neglecting the small responsibilities we have before us. What has God given you and me, and are we prioritizing these people and things above our dreams of more? Someone else put this is such a stunning way. It left me feeling just that, stunned.

This excerpt is from No Greater Love by Mother Teresa:

   "Always be faithful in little things, for in them our strength lies. To God nothing is little. He cannot make anything small; they are infinite. Practice fidelity in the least things, not for their own sake, but for the sake of the great thing that is the will of God, and which I respect greatly.

   Do not pursue spectacular deeds.  We must deliberately renounce all desires to see the fruit of our labor, doing all we can as best we can, leaving the rest in the hands of God. What matters is the gift of your self, the degree of love that you put into each one of your actions.

   Do not allow yourselves to be disheartened by any failure as long as you have done your best. Neither glory in your success, but refer all to God in deepest thankfulness.

   If you are discouraged, it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers. Never bother about people's opinions. Be humble and you will never be disturbed. The Lord has willed me here where I am. He will offer a solution."

A lot is being said there. Might want to go back and read again..I know I did.