Day Ten: Everything They Forgot

I know I said we would talk about servant-leadership this week, and we will, but this is any old poem I just rediscovered today, and I thought I would share it and the admonition to keep serving because one day it will be worth it all.
Everything They Forgot

They told me Christ should be everything and me nothing;
They forgot to tell me it hurts to be invisible,
They encouraged me to give up anything--- everything,
But did not mention that it meant all and then some,
They told me God loves a heart that’s kind and humble,
But missed the embarrassment and annoyances there too,
They forgot to tell me all these things I know they knew.

The preached the beauty of fasting alone with God,
But didn’t warn me I would get distracted and hungry.
They said I should live for heaven’s praise and laud,
But forgot my earthly ears can’t hear heaven’s sounds yet.
They taught me to fight the good fight valiantly,
But never ever said I would get tired there too.
They forgot to tell me all these things I know they knew.

Why? Why did they never tell me all these details?
Was it cleaver advertising--- a salesman’s story?
Did they only take them out to make it a better tale?
Or was it because when they looked back on their lives,
Glanced over their shoulders from heaven’s unending glory,
None of those things they know they once knew mattered at all,
From their view, everything it was worth was all they saw.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Christian Response to Church and State

Image
In Matthew 22, a group of Jews asked Jesus if they should pay taxes to Caesar. For the Jews, this was a religious question. There was no separation between religion and government. Until the unwanted rise of Herod the Great, the Jews had been led by the priests--- they were the clergy, the Congress, and--- when uncircumcised Greeks tried to desecrate their Temple-- the generals. Romans also blended religion and government--- Caesar was Lord, Emperor, and God. The Jews thought they had Jesus backed into a corner. If he said to pay taxes, that was blasphemy against Yahweh God who should be the head of the Jewish government. If he said not to, that was blasphemy against the man-God Caesar. Either one was punishable by death. Instead, Jesus rejected the premise that loyalty to a government was a religious requirement. He told them to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (Mt 22:21). This is one of the first times in western history that someone attempted to separate
Read more

A Christian Response to the Enviornment, Part Two

Image
         Although the Bible is bookended by the creation and rebirth of creation and God’s concern for his world is woven throughout its story, a shocking number of modern Christians see environmentalism to be extra-biblical (something the Bible simply does not seem to care about either way) or anti-biblical (contradicting some biblical text). While many of this reactions come from a blending of environment concern with other liberal concerns rather than dealing with it on its own, there are two other assumptions that must be addressed.           The first assumption is related to the position that this world will be destroyed by fire; therefore, humans need not worry about conserving it. This is a biblical image found in 2 Peter 3 where Peter talks about how the “heavens will pass away with a roar and the earth with be destroyed with fire” (2 Pet. 3:10). However, fire is not simply to destroy. In this passage it is a part of rebirth process that will produce the new heaven and ear
Read more