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Monday, April 30, 2007

Wisdom from Chuck Wesley

I stumbled across this in A Guide to Prayer for All God’s People.

Forgive my foes? it cannot be:
My foes with cordial love embrace?
Fast bound in sin and misery,
Unsaved, unchanged by hallowing grace,
Throughout my fallen soul I feel
With man this is impossible.

Great Searcher of my mazy heart,
A thought from thee I would not hide,
I cannot draw th’envenomed dart,
Or quench this hell of wrath and pride,
Jesus, till I thy Spirit receive,
Thou know’st, I never can forgive.

Come, Lord, and tame the tiger’s force,
Arrest the whirlwind of my will,
Turn back the torrent’s rapid course,
And bid the headlong sun stand still,
The rock dissolve, the mountain move,
And melt my hatred into love.

Root out the wrath thou dost retain;
And when I have my Savior’s mind,
I cannot render pain for pain,
I cannot speak a word unkind,
An angry thought I cannot know,
Or count my injurer my foe.

More here.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Return from the Holy Land

Well, I’m back. My mind is still reeling from all I saw and experienced. Here are some photos, though, which will give you some idea of where we went and what we saw.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Restless

So I’m up again at 4:00 AM, for the third or fourth time in a row. I’ve been over the packing checklist several times in my head, now. I’ve had the usual melodramatic early-morning fantasies of what happens if I get lost or lose my luggage and money or miss my flights or get kidnapped and killed. I’ve thought of all the things I have to complete before I go. All the speeches and witty comebacks I would make in a dozen scenarios involving airline personnel or roommates or terrorists.

I’m also kept awake by ridiculous wonderings: People live in the Holy Land. Does it seem mundane to them? Does walking where Jesus walked seem no more astonishing to them than going to McDonald’s? Or is part of the problem in the Middle East that the land is too rooted in holy histories? On Friday, as we walked the Way of the Cross, stopping at each station for reading and prayer, my eyes filled with tears and I thought, “I’m going to be there. In less than a week, I’ll be there.” And it seemed odd to me that this route I drive every day should be so holy to me, at that moment. Do people there have those experiences where the mundane becomes holy, or is it the reverse?

Do I have enough life insurance? Have I done my taxes properly? Why does it feel like I’m forgetting something? Passport? Sunscreen? Am I sure I’ve got the departure time right in my head? Does my family know how much I love them?

Then my four year-old son comes padding into the bedroom. I ask, “what’s up, buddy?” “I need a friend to snuggle with me,” he says. He climbs in bed next to me and scoots close. Pretty soon he’s asleep again and I can smell his hair against my face. He laughs in his sleep and kicks me in the leg.

God has ways of answering prayer even when we don’t pray.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Happy Easter

He is risen.
He is risen indeed.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

One Week Away

This time next week, barring any travel snafus, I’ll be on my way to New York to catch a plane to the Holy Land. I’ve actually started packing my bags.