oh..... oh... OH!!!!
http://blogs.salon.com/0001772/2003/10/15.html
Why don’t I tell you the story of how ministers come to think they’re Jesus and what happens when they hit bottom.
It all starts so innocently.
First, you decide that you’re not going to be that cheesy minister with the expensive suits and the store-bought smile. You’re not going to work the room, tossing hugs and lovey-dovey words into the crowd like Mardi Gras beads. You want real relationships. You’re not going to call all the little boys “bearcat” and all the little girls “cutie-pie.” You will know the children as individuals. You will know all their names.
Then you decide you’re going to be “authentic.” What you mean is that you intend to tell the truth. You aren’t going to sling bullshit religious slogans around. You aren’t going to give easy answers. You aren’t going to worry about whether you sound conservative or liberal. You’ll take whatever comes your way as a result.
You also want to be just the bestest pastor ever. You want to be insightful and wise, but tastefully self-deprecating. You will work very hard to preach good sermons, but at the same time you won’t take them too seriously. You plan to challenge without judging and inspire without seeming inspirational. You will be smart, well-read, and articulate, but you’ll only let the hem of those garments show.
Finally, you decide that you want to love everyone, even the visitors. You watch the room to make sure that no one is left alone. You will drop anything to talk to anyone. All they have to do is call you, and everyone has your number. Love is the main thing, and you hope that God might seem real to people because your love WAS real to them.
You’re serious, too. Really. You’re not false about this stuff. You are a lot of things, but false and manipulative you are not. You don’t want money. You don’t want fame. You just want to make God happy and be there to help people on their journey to discovering God.
See how it happens? See? You’re going to be everyone’s servant, and your love will bring people back to God. Suddenly, you’re Jesus. You had the best of intentions, but good intentions don’t mean shit if you start thinking you’re Jesus.
The crazy thing is, it’s the good ministers who end up thinking they're Jesus. The TV preachers who are trying to get your money and the fancy ministers who are building little kingdoms for themselves - they know they aren’t Jesus. Everyone knows they aren’t Jesus. Look at their haircuts, for pity’s sake.
No, it’s the good guys who fall into this trap.
And it IS a trap, because I got news for you, preacher. You ain’t Jesus, and you better figure that out right quick.
http://blogs.salon.com/0001772/2003/10/20.html
This is what you’ve come to. Putting people out of your mind so you can finish the sermon. Is this what you call love, preacher?
You see, when you start forgetting blessings and names, you’ve lost the language of love. You can forget a lot of things, but you cannot forget a woman’s name and claim to love her. You cannot.
You tried to build a tower to the heavens, so God took away your words. It had to be this way. This was the only way you would learn.
Now you understand. You're not Jesus after all. You're a man who is good with words and who feels things very deeply. You’re a dreamer and a silly person, like all the other silly people at church. You cannot love everyone, and you cannot be all things to all people.
Welcome to the human race, preacher. Now you're ready to begin.
You will love some people deeply. Others will receive lesser kinds of love. Some will get a handshake and a kind word. Their journeys are their own, and they may have to get what they need from someone else.
Love the ones you can. Touch the ones you can reach. Let the others go. If you run out of gas, sit down in the pew and point to God. That might be the greatest sermon you ever preach.
You can't love anyone until you understand that you can't love everyone.
You can't be a real live preacher until you understand that you're only a real live person.
...
so, i finally figured out what the freak is wrong with me.
"be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect" has finally caught up
there's a beautiful resolution here, too
when there is true NEED, it will be vocalized, demanded, granted in the right spirit:
>http://blogs.salon.com/0001772/2003/10/31.html
Jesus was stunned by her words, and then wonder flooded his face. He bent closer and looked deeply into her eyes.
"Do I know you?" he asked.
And then he saw it. She had the Rabbi's eyes. Same color, same shape, same gentle honesty. She was not condemning him; she was seeing him and speaking the truth to him.
"Rebbi," he whispered.
The Math of God
At that instant, in a flash of enlightenment, Jesus understood the mathematics of God. In that moment it was given that he should stand outside of time and know a deeper truth. Sometimes it is right that everything should stop for the smallest person in all the world. Sometimes one person is worth as much as all the people. Sometimes the least is the greatest and the first is the last.
And maybe, in just the right moment, one person could carry the sin of the world on his shoulders.
..
"Woman, I had no idea. I didn't know such faith existed outside of my own people. I did not know until now. Yes, absolutely. What you want will be done for you."
He bent and held the little girl's head between his hands. He kissed her forehead, holding his lips there for a moment. Her eyes closed, and then he drew back. When her eyes opened again, he saw that she had the eyes of the rabbi, just like her mother, full of intelligence and curiosity.
Jesus took one look at her, smiled, and walked away. The disciples were stunned and trailed after him. They did not know what they had seen.
(from comments:
Well said preacher. I'm used to thinking of Jesus as the Christ, as divine. You present him in his divinity, and also in his humanity. That's hard to imagine - he's of one being with the Father, but also having truth revealed to Him as he matures over time. Jeepers. There are some ramifications to that. Your expansion of the Gospel here has given me some good stuff to chew on. Thank you. Plus you made me cry at work again.
ps • 10/31/03; 6:44:47 AM)
Why don’t I tell you the story of how ministers come to think they’re Jesus and what happens when they hit bottom.
It all starts so innocently.
First, you decide that you’re not going to be that cheesy minister with the expensive suits and the store-bought smile. You’re not going to work the room, tossing hugs and lovey-dovey words into the crowd like Mardi Gras beads. You want real relationships. You’re not going to call all the little boys “bearcat” and all the little girls “cutie-pie.” You will know the children as individuals. You will know all their names.
Then you decide you’re going to be “authentic.” What you mean is that you intend to tell the truth. You aren’t going to sling bullshit religious slogans around. You aren’t going to give easy answers. You aren’t going to worry about whether you sound conservative or liberal. You’ll take whatever comes your way as a result.
You also want to be just the bestest pastor ever. You want to be insightful and wise, but tastefully self-deprecating. You will work very hard to preach good sermons, but at the same time you won’t take them too seriously. You plan to challenge without judging and inspire without seeming inspirational. You will be smart, well-read, and articulate, but you’ll only let the hem of those garments show.
Finally, you decide that you want to love everyone, even the visitors. You watch the room to make sure that no one is left alone. You will drop anything to talk to anyone. All they have to do is call you, and everyone has your number. Love is the main thing, and you hope that God might seem real to people because your love WAS real to them.
You’re serious, too. Really. You’re not false about this stuff. You are a lot of things, but false and manipulative you are not. You don’t want money. You don’t want fame. You just want to make God happy and be there to help people on their journey to discovering God.
See how it happens? See? You’re going to be everyone’s servant, and your love will bring people back to God. Suddenly, you’re Jesus. You had the best of intentions, but good intentions don’t mean shit if you start thinking you’re Jesus.
The crazy thing is, it’s the good ministers who end up thinking they're Jesus. The TV preachers who are trying to get your money and the fancy ministers who are building little kingdoms for themselves - they know they aren’t Jesus. Everyone knows they aren’t Jesus. Look at their haircuts, for pity’s sake.
No, it’s the good guys who fall into this trap.
And it IS a trap, because I got news for you, preacher. You ain’t Jesus, and you better figure that out right quick.
http://blogs.salon.com/0001772/2003/10/20.html
This is what you’ve come to. Putting people out of your mind so you can finish the sermon. Is this what you call love, preacher?
You see, when you start forgetting blessings and names, you’ve lost the language of love. You can forget a lot of things, but you cannot forget a woman’s name and claim to love her. You cannot.
You tried to build a tower to the heavens, so God took away your words. It had to be this way. This was the only way you would learn.
Now you understand. You're not Jesus after all. You're a man who is good with words and who feels things very deeply. You’re a dreamer and a silly person, like all the other silly people at church. You cannot love everyone, and you cannot be all things to all people.
Welcome to the human race, preacher. Now you're ready to begin.
You will love some people deeply. Others will receive lesser kinds of love. Some will get a handshake and a kind word. Their journeys are their own, and they may have to get what they need from someone else.
Love the ones you can. Touch the ones you can reach. Let the others go. If you run out of gas, sit down in the pew and point to God. That might be the greatest sermon you ever preach.
You can't love anyone until you understand that you can't love everyone.
You can't be a real live preacher until you understand that you're only a real live person.
...
so, i finally figured out what the freak is wrong with me.
"be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect" has finally caught up
there's a beautiful resolution here, too
when there is true NEED, it will be vocalized, demanded, granted in the right spirit:
>http://blogs.salon.com/0001772/2003/10/31.html
Jesus was stunned by her words, and then wonder flooded his face. He bent closer and looked deeply into her eyes.
"Do I know you?" he asked.
And then he saw it. She had the Rabbi's eyes. Same color, same shape, same gentle honesty. She was not condemning him; she was seeing him and speaking the truth to him.
"Rebbi," he whispered.
The Math of God
At that instant, in a flash of enlightenment, Jesus understood the mathematics of God. In that moment it was given that he should stand outside of time and know a deeper truth. Sometimes it is right that everything should stop for the smallest person in all the world. Sometimes one person is worth as much as all the people. Sometimes the least is the greatest and the first is the last.
And maybe, in just the right moment, one person could carry the sin of the world on his shoulders.
..
"Woman, I had no idea. I didn't know such faith existed outside of my own people. I did not know until now. Yes, absolutely. What you want will be done for you."
He bent and held the little girl's head between his hands. He kissed her forehead, holding his lips there for a moment. Her eyes closed, and then he drew back. When her eyes opened again, he saw that she had the eyes of the rabbi, just like her mother, full of intelligence and curiosity.
Jesus took one look at her, smiled, and walked away. The disciples were stunned and trailed after him. They did not know what they had seen.
(from comments:
Well said preacher. I'm used to thinking of Jesus as the Christ, as divine. You present him in his divinity, and also in his humanity. That's hard to imagine - he's of one being with the Father, but also having truth revealed to Him as he matures over time. Jeepers. There are some ramifications to that. Your expansion of the Gospel here has given me some good stuff to chew on. Thank you. Plus you made me cry at work again.
ps • 10/31/03; 6:44:47 AM)
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