who we are.

Sometimes I get discouraged because it seems that "Christians" - especially in the media - have become a bit...hokey? Irrelevant? Not Christ-like? We are portrayed as haters instead of lovers, as judgmental instead of welcoming. Maybe we have deserved this (I am far from Christ-like....on a daily basis!) but I hope that the tide is turning and that we might be known for our LOVE.

The following was posted last Sunday during a gathering of some of my dearest friends and family (aka church...but I hate to say that because the Church is really SO much more....), and I am so encouraged because this is a portrait of Christianity that I can understand.

We come from far and wide;

We have our own stories to tell who we are

Stories of places and people and experiences

Tales of discovery and disappointment.

Somewhere between there and here,

God has become a part of our adventure;

Part of our walking and speaking and breathing,

In us and through us and before us.

We have joined our lives with the story of
 Christ,
And begun to act as if it were true;

Taking the words to be gospel,

And the sound of them to be the breath of life.

Sometime between then and now,

God has come to dwell among us,

Breathing the Spirit into our hearts

So that we may see and hear and feel.

With our friends and fellow travelers,

We have measured our days by the kingdom

And our nights by the joy of salvation;

Seeking what is lost within us.

We are the substance of Christ’s dreaming

The first fruits and the foretaste

The small and suffering people

In whom Christ has pleased to dwell.

But we are also the lost children;

The straying sheep and the dishonest servants,

The rich young fools and the rock-bearing elders,

The timid followers and the traitorous disciples.

We often forget the story which came to us,

Preferring order to uncertainty;

Orthodoxy to love,

And religious piety to unmerited grace.

Come to us again, Lord Jesus,

And whisper your words of welcome;

Fill our hearts with reckless wonder,

And our minds with splendid nonsense.

Awake in us the dream of the kingdom;

Resurrect our dead and perished visions;

Alert us to the heaven in our midst;

And quicken us to laugh and love.

Here we have no lasting city;

No temple nor castle nor club;

Here we have no religious refuge

In which to hide from your gratuitous chaos.

So make us to be the dwelling of Christ,

The holy shelter in which the flame may burn;

That the story may go on and the truth be told,

And mercy come to your good earth.
Amen.