When Amazing Grace (the movie) was released I was somewhat interested and I made a mental note that it would probably be enjoyable, but as with all movies that are released now-a-days, I never got around to watch it. So when my prof assigned the class to watch Amazing Grace, I had opportunity do just that.
We were out of sweet tea so I pressed play, went back to the kitchen filled up a saucepan, put a tea bag in it and turned on the eye. I put the perfect amount of sugar into the container and dissolved it in some hot water. As with everything, I was multi tasking to be a better steward of those confining 24 hour time slots.
The movie started off a little slow and a little difficult to understand. But as soon as I turned my internal accent comprehension knob to '18th Century English' things were all good.
Twelve minutes later I'm wrapped in my fleece blanket, discussion questions at my side with a big blue cup of sweet tea in hand.
By the time Wilberforce is being shown the belly of a slave ship I'm in a vacuum and there is only me and the movie. I'm engrossed. Throughout the rest of the movie I'm taking in by the enormity of Wilberforce's goal.
His goal was not to pass a bill, but to force others to reckon with the value of human life. People are created equal, Wilberforce said. Genesis says we are the cherry on top of God's Creation sundae. Our Constitution says it doesn't matter where we're from, the girth of our bank roll, the amount degrees we have framed, how well we can carry a tune or a football, or how many friends we have. Jesus says it doesn't even matter which god we bow before, because people are of utmost importance; even worth dying for.
I recently read that we forget God when we forget the people God cares about, and we remember God when we bless those God cares about. Who does God care about? The orphan, the widow, the naked, the hungry, the lost, the imprisoned, the slave, the broken-hearted, the unhealthy, the the the the...
God cares about everyone, but I think God has a soft spot for those people who received an extra cup of crap in their life's recipe. So I'm hoping to have that same soft spot so I can see need and pounce upon it. Just like Wilberforce did.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
a tiny grasp
I'm 36 years old. When I was about 20 there was a popular song with a verse that said something like,
"There is no other place I want to be
Right here, right now
Watching the world wake up from history."
I remember thinking about all the amazing things that had happened in my lifetime, mostly technological. 1972 to the early 1990's saw some serious electronic gadgets invented, developed, made smaller and cheaper and better.
Now, pushing twenty years later, the world has transcended a new millennium - and survived. As I look back on the last twenty years, the advancements have been humanitarian.
*Disclaimer* I'm looking through the eyes of an American who - with the exception of a few popular travesties - doesn't really know that much about civil situations across the globe.
That being said, America who, just a short generation ago, was slit down the middle with the ravenous blade of racism, is now being led by a black man who was voted in under peaceful conditions.
On a much, much smaller front just two seasons ago the world watched as two NFL teams, each led by a black head coach, played for the title of Superbowl champion.
There are other examples I'm missing, but it's not because I'm overlooking them. My heart has changed a great deal in the last 36 years. There is not one Christian look, action, skin tone, vocabulary, church, dialect, clothes line, lifestyle, or smile. Jesus was not legalistic and his movement shouldn't be either. Both Paul and Jesus said the words of all the prophets and the Law can be summarized into two sentences: Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and Love your neighbor.
At the end of the day, it's all about love. Love.
My favorite change in the last 36 years is the change within me. Unfortunately this is 36 years in the making. Fortunately it's only taken 36 years. Hopefully I have 36 more to do something with it. I now Love God. I now know God loves me where I am. I now Love people where they are.
This change has given me just a tiny grasp on a teeny part of the eternal screenplay that God has written. But it's a grasp and I'm hanging on. Because there is no other place I want to be.
"There is no other place I want to be
Right here, right now
Watching the world wake up from history."
I remember thinking about all the amazing things that had happened in my lifetime, mostly technological. 1972 to the early 1990's saw some serious electronic gadgets invented, developed, made smaller and cheaper and better.
Now, pushing twenty years later, the world has transcended a new millennium - and survived. As I look back on the last twenty years, the advancements have been humanitarian.
*Disclaimer* I'm looking through the eyes of an American who - with the exception of a few popular travesties - doesn't really know that much about civil situations across the globe.
That being said, America who, just a short generation ago, was slit down the middle with the ravenous blade of racism, is now being led by a black man who was voted in under peaceful conditions.
On a much, much smaller front just two seasons ago the world watched as two NFL teams, each led by a black head coach, played for the title of Superbowl champion.
There are other examples I'm missing, but it's not because I'm overlooking them. My heart has changed a great deal in the last 36 years. There is not one Christian look, action, skin tone, vocabulary, church, dialect, clothes line, lifestyle, or smile. Jesus was not legalistic and his movement shouldn't be either. Both Paul and Jesus said the words of all the prophets and the Law can be summarized into two sentences: Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and Love your neighbor.
At the end of the day, it's all about love. Love.
My favorite change in the last 36 years is the change within me. Unfortunately this is 36 years in the making. Fortunately it's only taken 36 years. Hopefully I have 36 more to do something with it. I now Love God. I now know God loves me where I am. I now Love people where they are.
This change has given me just a tiny grasp on a teeny part of the eternal screenplay that God has written. But it's a grasp and I'm hanging on. Because there is no other place I want to be.
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