Last night (June 27), Chaplain Steve talked about how Christian leaders need to live compassionate lives. He used the phrase, "It's amazing what we don't see when we aren't looking," to talk about how compassion is a process in which we learn to see people and the world around us, are moved to go into the world, and to be (have a presence) in the world. In this way we show and tell others the compassionate love of God for us and our world. Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
Steve's talk got me thinking about many things. One, is the lyrics to a U2 song. In college I lead a Bible study, exploring how being like Jesus is trying to see the world the way God does. U2 expresses it nicely in the song, When I Look at the World:
When you look at the world
What is it that you see?
People find all kinds of things
That bring them to their knees
I see an expression
So clear and so true
That it changes the atmosphere
When you walk into the room
So I try to be like you
Try to feel it like you do
But without you it's no use
I can't see what you see
When I look at the world
When the night is someone else's
And you're trying to get some sleep
When your thoughts are too expensive
To ever want to keep
When there's all kinds of chaos
And everyone is walking lame
You don't even blink now, do you
Or even look away
So I try to be like you
Try to feel it like you do
But without you it's no use
I can't see what you see
When I look at the world
I can't wait any longer
I can't wait till I'm stronger
Can't wait any longer
To see what you see
When I look at the world
I'm in the waiting room
Can't see for the smoke
I think of you and your holy book
While the rest of us choke
Tell me, tell me, what do you see?
Tell me, tell me, what's wrong with me
This song expresses so nicely why it is so hard to be compassionate in our world. Amidst the chaos, grief, terror, and hurt of our world, it is often hard to see it as a work of redemption. Often we just see it as a continuation of the fall, a furthering of the fractured relationship between God and us. We need new eyes to see the world the way the God of John 3:16 does. For God so loved the entire cosmos...
Which made me think of a question my mentor (Steve Garber) asks often and honestly: "Can we know, really know, the world and still love it?" When we are on a mountain top, or a beautiful beach, the answer seems an obvious "yes!" But if we dig deeper, go further, and reflect on our experiences of life; pain, death, grief, hurt, hate, lies, and the finitude that often frustrates our longings and desires, can the answer be "yes." Steve laments the fact that very few people make it to 40 and can continue to say yes to this question. It takes a serious person to take up the vocation, to reject cynicism, to faithfully embrace the hope that is available in the death and resurrection of Christ, yes even for a presidential election, yes even for the victims of HIV/AIDS in Africa, yes even for the victims of genocide in Rwanda, yes even for those who lost their home in Haiti and New Orleans, and yes, even for us surrounded by so much privilege and wealth, who still long for the redemption of our souls, for the lightening of our burden of responsibility, for our vocation and lives and relationships to make sense...
I pray to say, "Yes, I want to know; really, really, really, know the world, and love it, to work for its redemption, to revel in the resurrection that is only a moment away, around the next corner, that emerges out of the ground as garden's and trees." I want the awe to turn into a deep hope that drives me on to love and care for the people and place that surround me. In a world set on choosing death, I want to stand up and choose life, a life of compassion, simplicity and abundance.
Lord, in your mercy and love, I pray that you would set my heart toward you, give me the eyes to see and the ears to hear. Help me love the world as you do. Come Lord Jesus, Come.
Steve's talk got me thinking about many things. One, is the lyrics to a U2 song. In college I lead a Bible study, exploring how being like Jesus is trying to see the world the way God does. U2 expresses it nicely in the song, When I Look at the World:
When you look at the world
What is it that you see?
People find all kinds of things
That bring them to their knees
I see an expression
So clear and so true
That it changes the atmosphere
When you walk into the room
So I try to be like you
Try to feel it like you do
But without you it's no use
I can't see what you see
When I look at the world
When the night is someone else's
And you're trying to get some sleep
When your thoughts are too expensive
To ever want to keep
When there's all kinds of chaos
And everyone is walking lame
You don't even blink now, do you
Or even look away
So I try to be like you
Try to feel it like you do
But without you it's no use
I can't see what you see
When I look at the world
I can't wait any longer
I can't wait till I'm stronger
Can't wait any longer
To see what you see
When I look at the world
I'm in the waiting room
Can't see for the smoke
I think of you and your holy book
While the rest of us choke
Tell me, tell me, what do you see?
Tell me, tell me, what's wrong with me
This song expresses so nicely why it is so hard to be compassionate in our world. Amidst the chaos, grief, terror, and hurt of our world, it is often hard to see it as a work of redemption. Often we just see it as a continuation of the fall, a furthering of the fractured relationship between God and us. We need new eyes to see the world the way the God of John 3:16 does. For God so loved the entire cosmos...
Which made me think of a question my mentor (Steve Garber) asks often and honestly: "Can we know, really know, the world and still love it?" When we are on a mountain top, or a beautiful beach, the answer seems an obvious "yes!" But if we dig deeper, go further, and reflect on our experiences of life; pain, death, grief, hurt, hate, lies, and the finitude that often frustrates our longings and desires, can the answer be "yes." Steve laments the fact that very few people make it to 40 and can continue to say yes to this question. It takes a serious person to take up the vocation, to reject cynicism, to faithfully embrace the hope that is available in the death and resurrection of Christ, yes even for a presidential election, yes even for the victims of HIV/AIDS in Africa, yes even for the victims of genocide in Rwanda, yes even for those who lost their home in Haiti and New Orleans, and yes, even for us surrounded by so much privilege and wealth, who still long for the redemption of our souls, for the lightening of our burden of responsibility, for our vocation and lives and relationships to make sense...
I pray to say, "Yes, I want to know; really, really, really, know the world, and love it, to work for its redemption, to revel in the resurrection that is only a moment away, around the next corner, that emerges out of the ground as garden's and trees." I want the awe to turn into a deep hope that drives me on to love and care for the people and place that surround me. In a world set on choosing death, I want to stand up and choose life, a life of compassion, simplicity and abundance.
Lord, in your mercy and love, I pray that you would set my heart toward you, give me the eyes to see and the ears to hear. Help me love the world as you do. Come Lord Jesus, Come.
No comments:
Post a Comment