A year ago good friday I was in Cordoba, Spain checking out the Mezquita. It might as well have been lifetime ago. A lot has happened since then and I am really grateful for this online record that I have from which I can remember the twists and turns that life has given me.
Normally, I would try and deliver some sort of status update on Friday, but today and this week have had a very different tone for me and warrant a different more journal like entry into my public thought space.
In the last weeks I have been reading through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (I haven’t made it up to John yet) and just today I again watched The Passion of the Christ and I’ve just been struck by the love and compassion of Jesus. Jesus indiscriminately performed miraculous healings, he ate and hung out with his societies lower caste, and above all bore incredible pain as an innocent man on our behalf. I find it impossible not to be moved by the Gospel account of his life.
But he didn’t just die on the cross, he resurrected himself. And it’s that detail that commands me to action. Christians are to be the salt and the light but even more so Mark 16:17-20 says that miraculous sings and wonders should accompany believers. As a matter of fact, as far as I can tell from my reading of the Bible, it should be unquestionably clear when someone is a Christian.
Yet it’s so hard. I struggle taking even small steps of faith and am easily distracted by the lure of affluence. How can I eat so much more than I really need to on a regular basis when there are so many hungary people? How can I justify the purchase of new clothes when it wouldn’t take me minutes to locate someone dressed in tatters? I really feel compelled to be more personally involved in the lives of those in a state of physical need.
Anyway, it’s nearly past the hour at which I no longer permit myself to proof read and publish and I want to conclude saying that in accordance with God’s imperative given to the Israelites on countless occasions I really feel compelled to begin a (personal) Spirit Revelation Journal/Faith Portfolio of sorts. Providing me a firm historical reference of how I’ve seen God active in this world.
