from the Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning page 189. On the prodigal son:
"I am moved that the father didn't cross-examine the boy, bully him, lecture him on ingratitude, or insist on any high motivation. He was so overjoyed at the sight of his son that he ignored all the canons of prudence and parental discretion and simply welcomed him home. The father took him back just as he was.
What a word of encouragement, consolation, and comfort! We don't have to sift our hearts and analyze our intentions before returning home. Abba just wants us to show up. We don't have to tarry at the tavern until purity of heart arrives. We don't have to be shredded with sorrow or crushed with contrition. We don't have to be perfect or even very good before God will accept us. We don't have to wallow in guilt, shame, remorse, and self-condemnation. Even if we still nurse a secret nostalgia for the far country, Abba still falls on our neck and kisses us."
Prodigal son is one of the most preached on topics but I think it is because we all identify with it in the different phases of our lives.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
portrait
we try and paint
life as we see it
our self-portraits look like Picasso's--
distorted, twisted, mangled.
we couldn't ever capture
You on canvas, so
our brush strokes say--
fields of swaying gold,
kaleidescope sunrises,
untameable seas--
they are reflections
of the origin of beauty,
hidden signatures.
Yet,
our self-portraits are telling
of what we truly see
For,
if we are the image of the unseen
then my Picasso
is You.
a reflection on how we allow our imperfections and sin to weigh us down, to mar our self-image, to live in that darkness when that is not what God sees when he looks at us. he sees that we are hidden with Christ in glory, our wrongs are forgiven. we are redeemed, we are renewed. this comes in response to times where you feel as if you loathe yourself, as it is hard to see change or growth even as you strain for it and pray for it. yet, if we cannot look at ourselves in light of redemption then we are dishonoring our Creator, for we are in His image. we ultimately project ourselves on Him.
life as we see it
our self-portraits look like Picasso's--
distorted, twisted, mangled.
we couldn't ever capture
You on canvas, so
our brush strokes say--
fields of swaying gold,
kaleidescope sunrises,
untameable seas--
they are reflections
of the origin of beauty,
hidden signatures.
Yet,
our self-portraits are telling
of what we truly see
For,
if we are the image of the unseen
then my Picasso
is You.
a reflection on how we allow our imperfections and sin to weigh us down, to mar our self-image, to live in that darkness when that is not what God sees when he looks at us. he sees that we are hidden with Christ in glory, our wrongs are forgiven. we are redeemed, we are renewed. this comes in response to times where you feel as if you loathe yourself, as it is hard to see change or growth even as you strain for it and pray for it. yet, if we cannot look at ourselves in light of redemption then we are dishonoring our Creator, for we are in His image. we ultimately project ourselves on Him.
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