Month: May 2005

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would anyone really notice?

If we weren’t here
would anyone really notice?

If our city set on a hill became overgrown with trees and vines, would it change the way people thought in the valley?

Is the measure of our effectiveness
bodies in pews
successful programs
comfortable budgets?

Or do we measure success
one person at a time?

If we weren’t here,
would anyone really notice?

Would they feel a bit less condemned
a little more respected?

If we weren’t here
would people miss
our television preachers?
our moral majority?

Is it possible that people be able to see God a little more clearly
if it weren’t for his followers?

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

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may you walk in the light you have

to you who live in a world
filled with darkness

may you walk in the light you have
yearning for understanding
seeking
questioning truth.

may you be drawn
to the one
who is all
light
and truth
finding both
in his presence.

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walk by the light we have

a quick thought inspired by this morning’s class:

we all walk by the light we have.

very profound when you think of it. perhaps there will be more expounding later.

for now there is bed.

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a little bit of human in every one of us

It was wonderful to watch them put aside the suspicions and fears they carry with them so often and just have fun being kids. It was a good reminder that there is at least a little bit of human in every one of us, and sometimes the conditions just have to be right before it comes out. As I look at these guys, I see lives that have been dehumanized so much – forced into situations where the good that is inside of them is repressed and forced into some dark corner, only to be let out at rare intervals. But as I’ve told so many people on the outside who ask, I think that these kids desperately wantnothing more than to be kids. – to be accepted, to be human.

In ways, it’s nothing more than any of us want. We all want to be accepted ant to be able to be ourselves. We all, I think, find joy in service, and in having fun. I think that a lot of us enjoy casting aside the cares of the world for a while. I think that the difference between them and us is that we are able to do it so much more often. These guys have such a deep desire to be accepted and appreciated that I think they would give up anything for it, if indeed they had anything to give.

eastleigh
nairobi, kenya
28 July 2001

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o fortuna

o fortuna
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;

o fortune
like the moon
you are changeable,
ever waxing
and waning;

from carmina burana

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may your life be a blessing

may your life be a blessing
to countless people
known and unknown
seen and unseen.

May you walk with purpose
each step guided by the light of God
illuminating your path.

May God shower you with endless blessings –
family, friends live,
hardship, struggle, pain,
peace, love, joy –
each a perfect gift from Him.

May he use you in each moment.
May you be an instrument of reconciliation in His hand
May you constantly reside in the splendor of his Glorious plan for your life.
May you trust in his provision both in good times and bad.

May your journey take you to places
strange and wonderful –
places where you shine brightly
by loving extravagantly.

May you return often
to mileposts in your life –
God’s reminders of your journey –
blessings in uncertain times.

And may the hand of God
cover and protect you
all the days of your life

until you find everlasting rest
in His grasp.

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may you walk an uncertain road

may you walk an uncertain road,
drawn by Christ into a place
of confusion and pain,
administering justice,
giving mercy,
showing love.

may you journey
not only with those who serve you,
but those who need you,
broken,
hurting lives,
in need of comfort
and hope.

may you see Christ
in the darkest places,
knowing
that the light shines in the darkness,
and darkness can not overcome it.

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as you stand expectantly

As you stand expectantly in the darkest night,
awaiting the dawning of a glorious morn,
God’s light breaking over the world,
may you be filled with strength,
knowing that in your time of doubt and uncertainty
Jesus stands at your side,
ready to light the way,
to carry you from darkness
into the eternal sunshine of your new home,
never ending life in Glory.

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if we have the opportunity to walk away

Here’s the deal: if we’re going to have this relationship with each other – if we’re going to be intimate and close, which I want, then you have to be able to hurt me. Because unless you can hurt me, we can’t be intimate, I would just be a control freak.

This is really true in all our relationships, isn’t it? If you’re dating a girl and you’re trying to manipulate and control and keep her from seeing this other guy or worried about whether she’s going to fall for this other guy, or you’re worried because she seems interested in your friends – it’s just not the sort of relationship that God has with humanity at all.

God just says this: I’m going to be really, really good. If you want this, I want this too. If you don’t, you can go. He’s not a control freak. He’s not a manipulator. He’s not co-dependant. And the only way that He’s saying we can be close to Him is if we have the opportunity to walk away and we don’t do it.

~don miller