Life's Journey

A Student's Lament

I was studying Hebrew lament in my class, and I had them write their own laments. They could choose something personal or some injustice in the world. Some of them chose lighter issues to lament. I liked this one and asked if I could share it with my friends.

 

Sanctus Real

Hear us, o faculty of Harding

You who inspire wisdom to your students

Who sit enthroned in the faculty lounge

 

See how the spring becomes summer

The sun warms the earth

Yet we remain your captives

Why must we be imprissoned

Behind walls; beneath shingles

 

The day becons; calling forth

Yet you delay us till dusk

 

Come quickly summer, bring an

End to these days of slow suffering

Release us from our

Debts of homework, Release us

Into the day; into the sunlight

Of summer's warm embrace

Isaiah 32: Righteousness and Peace

I came across a verse in Isaiah on Sunday, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. It doesn't seem to be on the top 10 list of favorite verses for churches these days, but it hit me hard. I don't claim to be anywhere close to an expert on Isaiah, so I will just put this out there and let anyone correct me if I need it. However, it seems very simple and powerful if you just take it at face value.

Isaiah 32:16-17

16 Justice will dwell in the desert 
       and righteousness live in the fertile field.

 17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace; 
       the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.

I read verse 17 first by itself and it hit me hard when read alone. Then, I backed up and read verse 16. First, I was hit by the fruit of righteousness. The fruit of our righteousness is not blessings from God, more money or other physical rewards. It's also not a sense of being owed anything. Righteousness brings about peace. There are a lot of implications from that, but I will stop there as I continue thinking about that. 

When I backed up and read verse 16, I was hit extra hard. I have been known to talk about brining people to justice. This is especially true when I was involved in foster care. I always wanted the parents to be brought to justice for what they have done. However, justice is not in a good place. Justice leaves you alone and feeling empty. You can never be satisfied if that is your only goal, maybe because we will never have true justice on this earth. However, if we pursue righteousness, we will be filled (Sounds like something else I've read before. Matt 5:6). We will never be without what we need, and the fruit that grows in that fertile field is peace that results in quietness and confidence.

I could keep going, but I will stop for now. I plan on keeping these verses in front of me for a while. I think it's obvious to see why we might overlook these verses in much of our reading and study. They seem to go against most people's world views. If anyone has any further insight, please share. 

My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

In Bible class yesterday, we talked about this statement. We talked about times in our lives when we have asked the same question. However, in every discussion we have, it always seems to be assumed that the answer to that question is that God did not really forsake us. We just feel like God has forsaken us. This is what I have been taught since I was little, and it is what I have always thought as well. 

So, today I just want to start at the beginning and ask the question, "Does God forsake people"?

I know, I know, we're not supposed to ask questions like that, but I think it's worth asking. 

It seems to me that, at times, people are forsaken by God. Let me explain further what I am thinking by talking about my kids. If I have the power and ability to prevent harm from coming to my son or daughter and I withhold whatever it is they need, am I not forsaking them? If Claira is holding my hand and walks out into the street and I choose to leave her there even though I see a car coming and have plenty of time to get her out of the way, would I not have forsaken her in that moment?

I know analogies break down, but does this same thing happen with God. He always has the power to prevent death, sickness, abuse and any other evil I could list, yet, he often chooses to not intervene. I believe that God is often looking at the bigger picture when he chooses to do that, but, in that specific instance, is he forsaking his people?

The implications of this are that when I am going through times in my life like this, I can make this statement my own without trying to justify it or beating myself up for even thinking something like that. The emotion is not only just as raw and real as David experienced when he first said it in Psalm 22 and when Jesus said it hanging on the cross, but it is also just as true.

I've left out a lot on this I know, but I am just hoping to get started here. 

Haiti Relief

Kids_in_tent

I thought I would start by sharing what I've been doing for the past couple of months. Our office, along with the SA, has been responsible for handling Harding's response to the earthquake in Haiti. So, since the earthquake, I have been managing the daily operations of this project. I've done anything from fund raising campaigns, travel management, purchasing, project planning, and who knows what else that I don't remember right now. For the first month after the earthquake, that is all that I worked on. It was exciting to be a part of, but I also learned a lot that I will be sharing later. Basically, we need to rethink the way we do relief. But, enough on that for now though. 

Immediately after the quake, we sent two people down to survey, and they came back talking about the overwhelming need for tents in Haiti. So, we decided on Tents and Tarps for Haiti. The idea was to purchase as many tents and tarps as possible and get them to Haiti as quick as possible. The goal all along was to avoid the bottleneck that most of the aid was stuck in and get there ourselves as quick as possible. 

The student body raised somewhere around $80,000, and then we received over $200,000 from other organizations. We were able to send almost 4,000 tents to Haiti. We personally oversaw the distribution, so we know that they made it where they needed to go. Even after all of the frustrations, it is still great to see what the student body, with the help of other organizations, was able to accomplish. 

This would not have happened without my good friend Philip Holsinger. He has a heart for Haiti that is probably bigger than the island itself. We worked on this project together and shared so many joys and frustrations together through this project. We saw God working in mighty ways as well as people getting in the way and preventing aid from flowing. If you don't know Philip, be sure and read his blog. We are working on a couple of projects together that I will write more on later. We are starting a non-profit organization: Witness Mission. I am very excited about that, and I can't wait to see where that goes. 

Like I said before, I am going to use this space to reflect on our experiences in Haiti, but for now, I am thankful that babies are now sleeping in tents, and I am thankful for what I was able to learn through the process and how I grew.

Time to Start Blogging

I've decided to start a blog. I actually decided a couple of months ago and just got around to doing it. That should probably be a warning of what is to come. I have had a lot going on in my life this year, and I think writing will be a good way to help process what is going on. This will include things such as religion, politics, education, personal life, technology and who knows what else. If you read this and decide to comment, I welcome the discussion. Most of the time, I am still trying to figure things out myself. I realize more and more each day that I don't have all of the answers, so I will keep searching.

By the way, I'm trying out a different blogging platform. It's called Posterous. I am using it on a website that I built for a company, and it is working great. So, we'll see how I like it for myself.

Thanks for reading.