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Posts Tagged ‘Christian’

Where are you walking?

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , , , , on March 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This Is Spinal Tap has some awesome quotes.  One of my favorites is “this one goes to 11.”  But another one of my favorites is “I’m just as God made me, sir.”  True.  And that ain’t bad.

This evening, several good and thought-provoking questions were presented to me.  Wonderfully philosophical questions that brought me back to my college days.  No matter if you went to college or not…it’s more about that time of life when the quest is about understanding where you fit in the world (go ahead, sing a bit of “Corner of the Sky”).  Do you remember spending hours pondering questions?  It is a great time of life.  I see people having the conversations about life every day and I wish I had more time for it, but where I am in my life, based on the choices I’ve made, I don’t have as much time for the daily ponder.

So I love when I get challenged with some great questions.  The ponder of the evening is where I am walking?  Or more importantly, how am I walking in my life?  How am I representing and demonstrating my faith in my daily walk?  How do I challenge the negative stereotypes often associated with being a Christian?

In my life, my priorities are my relationships with God and Jesus, my husband, my sons, family, friends.  I spend time walking with Jesus each day and I try to walk through each of my days as He teaches me.  Through spending time with Him, I am the best I can be for the other special people in my life.  Part of being the best me for them is acknowledging that I will never do it all correctly.  I have struggled and continue to struggle with this part of my existence.  I will never get it all right.  Though each day I try anew, like Phil Connors.

I show this to my sons.  I hope through my many examples of not getting it right my sons will learn that it’s okay to not always get it right sooner than me.  I know they won’t-they’re only human.  They get so angry about little things.  I’m trying to thwart that response.  It’s okay to make mistakes, hopefully with some learning happening after.  Demonstrating my faith for my sons to witness is truly important for me each day.

I walk with Him at work, on my commute, in my daily interactions with people.  This is all good…but it’s small.  It’s not global.  We all know the saying, think globally, act locally.  Still, how can I help shape the global perception of Christians?

I don’t know any clear answers but I know how not to shape it.  Not with a bullhorn (tip of the hat to Rob Bell), not with anger, not with defensiveness.  Not with ignorance, stubbornness, or impatience.  Not by refusing to listen to the other perspective.

The first step to shaping the perception everyday is love.

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In the right place at the right time

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , , on January 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Obviously I would love to write that the right place and time involved meeting someone like Kenneth Branagh or Uncle Stevie.  No such luck.

However I was in the right place at the right time for a person at work today.  She had some concerns about a topic and, in my humble opinion, God sent the Holy Spirit on down to make sure we connected.  Our conversation turned to some works by Edwidge Danticat.  Well, I got excited right away.  I’ve known of her work for about a decade and had just read an article written by Danticat that a friend had posted on fb.  I go on fb to share the article with the person and then we chatted for a bit.  The person then shared that one part of the situation was about Haiti and her experiences, peripheral though they may have been, that have shaped her thoughts, negatively, about the country.  Also, she was faced with the dilemma of dealing with some materials that go against her beliefs as a Christian.

Well, bust my buttons, I thought to myself.  The person who had posted the Danticat article had spent time in Haiti.  I shared that my friend had spent three weeks in Haiti a couple of years ago.  She returned from her three week trip about three days before the earthquake hit.  She was impacted by the country and then the earthquake so much so that she is in the middle of spending a year there through Beyond Borders.

Together this person and I looked at some of the pictures of my friend in Haiti.  I asked her to think of what could have shaped the lives of the people she had interactions with that could have made them hurtful to other people.  We talked about the materials that seemingly go against her beliefs.  I told her I was not trying to make her do something she didn’t feel comfortable doing, but think of Jesus.  He’s called at times a rabbi, a teacher.  Isn’t part of following Him learning about people and cultures in order to better understand and in turn enrich our own beliefs?  Didn’t He embrace the tax collector, the sick, the “undesirables”?

Our conversation was rich and deep.  We ran quite a gamut of topics and perspectives.  The person said I am in my job for a reason.  When I shared the story with my boss, she said that I had evoked an emotional response.  She knows I’m a junkie for that.

Right place, right time.

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