Dear God,
This is Kelley.
You say through the prophet Amos, "Seek me, that you may live." (5:4; NAB). Plenty of people are living --and seem to be living -- just fine without seeking You. What do You mean by this?
Is living without You like inhabiting a mansion and living only in part of it, some rooms off limits and darkened? Since our bodies are Your temples, is there something our bodies could even do with You that we cannot without You? And our minds, Lord, what part do You play in their development, and what is lacking when we limit Your role?
The differences aren't all that obvious, Lord. I see him and he seems just fine without You. He's found a truth in Buddhism, quite an impersonal force, but his discipline is striking. And look at her; she, too, seems to be just fine without You. Her work ethic is strong, and she cares for others deeply. Are You there in them, Your true identity concealed? Have they found You in some part, and a rose by any other name is still a rose?
There are some, Lord, who say if they do not profess Your name, they will not be saved. What I know of love does not profess this. If these would never do harm to another, if these love and give, then it does not make sense that they would be tossed aside because they did not run into an expression of You that caught them. Is that their fault or the fault of us Christians who are doing the evangelizing?
Oh, Lord, what kind of evangelizing are we doing? We who lack discipline and are more prone to point at and condemn than we are to reach out and accept. We who are Your hands, Your mouth, Your feet, Your heart while we remain in our narrow view of things -- what, who are we giving witness to?
Rouse us, Lord, in these deeper things. I want to know what Your presence within us does -- I want to know what it can do. May we remove any obstacles we put on You and allow You free reign within! May we all get to see what a human being fully ignited by You looks like and sounds like. And may we realize, then, that we can be that way, too.
"Seek me, that you may live."
This is Kelley.
You say through the prophet Amos, "Seek me, that you may live." (5:4; NAB). Plenty of people are living --and seem to be living -- just fine without seeking You. What do You mean by this?
Is living without You like inhabiting a mansion and living only in part of it, some rooms off limits and darkened? Since our bodies are Your temples, is there something our bodies could even do with You that we cannot without You? And our minds, Lord, what part do You play in their development, and what is lacking when we limit Your role?
The differences aren't all that obvious, Lord. I see him and he seems just fine without You. He's found a truth in Buddhism, quite an impersonal force, but his discipline is striking. And look at her; she, too, seems to be just fine without You. Her work ethic is strong, and she cares for others deeply. Are You there in them, Your true identity concealed? Have they found You in some part, and a rose by any other name is still a rose?
There are some, Lord, who say if they do not profess Your name, they will not be saved. What I know of love does not profess this. If these would never do harm to another, if these love and give, then it does not make sense that they would be tossed aside because they did not run into an expression of You that caught them. Is that their fault or the fault of us Christians who are doing the evangelizing?
Oh, Lord, what kind of evangelizing are we doing? We who lack discipline and are more prone to point at and condemn than we are to reach out and accept. We who are Your hands, Your mouth, Your feet, Your heart while we remain in our narrow view of things -- what, who are we giving witness to?
Rouse us, Lord, in these deeper things. I want to know what Your presence within us does -- I want to know what it can do. May we remove any obstacles we put on You and allow You free reign within! May we all get to see what a human being fully ignited by You looks like and sounds like. And may we realize, then, that we can be that way, too.
"Seek me, that you may live."
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