March 14, 2007
On the use of violence…
No, this isn’t an “anti-war” post, at least not in the popular sense.
Last night we had house church, like we do every Tuesday evening. During our meeting we were interrupted by the sound of yelling in the street. When we looked outside there were probably 30 people in the street around two guys who were pushing each other around, nothing too serious, or at least it didn’t seem so, there was no punching and it didn’t appear that anyone was injured. We could not understand anything that was being said, or yelled rather, because of the cacophony. The crowd dispersed as quickly as it had formed and we went back to our meeting.
We prayed for the guys who were fighting, that God’s peace and love would invade their life, and our neighborhood, and that we could be a force for good in the neighborhood. We were talking about Romans chapter 3, “all the world guilty / justification by faith.” We talked about how, while it may seem from an initial reading that this passage is about who is “in” and who is “out”, that the underlying theme is that “there is no distinction.”
A comment was made that the guys in the street don’t need “personal salvation” they need the “way of life” that Jesus offers. Brilliant! But what does that mean? What does that look like, and how can we facilitate that?
Should we run into the middle of the street fight and say “guys! there is a better way to live!”? Do we hand out tracts door to door and tell people that “Jesus is the answer”? Do we put up clever signs in our yard that say things like “those who live by the sword, die by the sword”? All of which have crossed my mind, but none of which seems like a good idea. I really don’t want to be a martyr for stupidity.
How do we live out the way of Jesus in our neighborhood so that the “way of life” that Jesus offers is known, and attractive to the guys fighting in the street? Not to sound cliche or cheesy, but, what would Jesus do? Would Jesus hide in the house and call the police every time there was an altercation in the street? Somehow I doubt it. I know what I would do if I were Jesus… I would strike them all blind, and then preach to them and save their butts whether they wanted to be saved or not! But I am not Jesus, clearly, and I know that is not what Jesus would do. The problem is I don’t really know what he would do.
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*************************!!!!Parental Advisory: If you are a parent, stop reading!!!!************************
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So we all went home, feeling good about the fact that we knew that Jesus came to offer a better way of life, and the street fight was barely even in our mind. But we weren’t the guys in the street. I think it is safe to say that they had not forgotten the fight, nor had they been moved by the power of love last night. I think it is safe to say that they were more influenced by the power of hate. The power of violence.
At 2am I woke up to a unfamiliar, yet somehow familiar sound. The street fight was back. This time a little further down the block, and a little bigger. I called the police because it seemed like it was escalating, not breaking up. I had no more than hung up with the 911 operator when two shots were fired. I immediately called back, and officers were there within a minute or so. But, of course by this time most of the crowd had dispersed, some in cars headed every direction, but the majority on foot disappearing between the houses and down the side streets.
How does one live out the way of Jesus in a neighborhood where people use violence as a means of communication? Is that really the only thing that they understand? Is that the only way to make a statement around here?
If you can’t trust the police (which I am told it the sentiment in the community) and you can’t trust each other, who can you trust? The GLOCK stuck in your pants? Doesn’t sound like a great option to me.
I don’t know what the answer is, but I know what it isn’t. Leaving. Bad situations do not improve when the good people leave. I believe that “white flight” (or any color flight for that matter) has moral implications. Ignoring a problem, or leaving it behind, does not make it go away.
While part of me longs to be cynical to say, let them all kill each other and then we won’t have any more problems, the rest of me aches that our world, our city, our neighborhood is so broken that violence sounds like a good option to these kids. Where is the hope? there must be some hope, some glimmer of redemption. There must be a better way. I believe that Jesus is the better way, some how, some way…
You may say (especially if you are a parent who ignored the advisory) that I should be concerned for my own safety, and the safety of my family, but I think that would be a cop-out. In my experience, and from observing life and reading the Word I know that the best way, the way of Jesus, is almost never the easy way, or the safe way, and I am more concerned with quality than quantity.
your host for this episode : dan; 02:43 AM | Comments (2)
March 12, 2007
I did it!!
I did it! I finally got the banner pic to change! Hooray for me 
I find that it really helps if you tell it to “get” the picture from the same place you “put” the picture. Yeah, that helps.
So the above is a picture of Dan, clearly. What is not so clear is that he is sitting on our front steps, surrounded by snow drifts. It really did snow that much LAST WEEKEND, 10 days ago, and today it was 55 degrees here and most of it is gone. Everything between road and sidewalk is gone, except for the piles of sand and salt. The remains of these drifts are still there, but only a remnant of their former glory. But alas, there is a time for everything, even for the melting of snow.
your host for this episode : carrie; 08:44 PM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2007
Colorado Blues???
Sometimes sitting in the study, looking out the back window at our lonesome pine, we can forget that we’re in the middle of the city.
But then we hear the bus at the stop in front of our house announcing in its mechanical monotone: “Route 2. Kalamazoo. Kentwood City Hall.” and we’re brought back to reality. Not that we are complaining, in fact it is a beautiful thing.
With a tree like this in our backyard, a fresh coat of snow and such a Colorado-blue sky, it sure doesn’t feel like March in Michigan!
God is good.
your host for this episode : carrie; 03:13 PM | Comments (1)
March 03, 2007
In like a lion, out like a lamb…
So the saying goes anyway. Actually, the first day of March was rainy and more like slush falling from the sky than snow. But by midday Friday (after a day and a half) the slush turned to snow and by nightfall we a good few inches.
The slush froze underneath and made for really yucky driving conditions but the top sure was purty.
We purchased a new snowblower yesterday. The junker, ahem I mean refurbished, one my dad gave us in the fall weighs about 200 pounds and dan has trouble weilding it. Not to mention that little things kept going wrong with it to the point that dan was spending more time tinkering with it than actually using it. In all of the snows that we had this year, only once did it work properly.
So we had decided to get a new one and man am I glad we got it when we did! There was at least 6 inches of snow on all the walks and drive this morning, AND it had drifted really severely across the steps…
I got to run the blower while dan shoveled… And I was done first! AND I did ours and two neighbors’ walks! Oh, and guess what color it is. As if color should have anything to do with picking out which snowblower to buy.
Orange.
your host for this episode : carrie; 01:48 PM | Comments (0)