Living Loved or Feeling Worked

  

  By a brook somewhere near the Jordan river sat a man. This man looked to have nothing, there was no roof over his head, and there was no U-Haul full of belongings in sight, just clothes on his back and possible a satchel of belongings. However, he was a prophet named Elijah, and God had told him to come here for a time, so while he was here, he drank from the brook, the water was ok. Ravens brought him bread, and meat. So he had all he needed. (1 Kings 17:1-6) 

  Thousands of years later....John Doe sits in his recliner, he has a roof over his head, he has a fridge and a freezer full of food, a tv on the wall, where he can watch football or Nascar on the weekends. Outside he has a grill, and a big beautiful yard. John Doe is plugged into the local economy with a solid day job, so he has things to do, things that keep him healthy, work, productive activities that stimulate his mind and give him a sense of belonging. He turns a faucet and fresh clean water comes out into his glass. He can go to his ice box and chill it if he wants, or he can put it in his coffee maker and get a little energy kick. Ultimately it's because of a good God, who meeting his basic needs for food and drink, also went ahead and gave him things he wants, and things to do, to keep his body and mind sharp and active. John Doe doesn't have to deal with boredom or all the problems that come with an idle mind. So, God has been good, but as John Doe sits on the recliner tonight at 6pm in his time zone, what's on his mind? "Oh God, I hate my job." 

  It looks to me like John Doe should be a fictional character, but this AM, it came to my attention that in some ways, I was John Doe. Note, I said "was", that is the gift of repentance, also from God. I don't know what to call this entry, but, I went with a thing of perspective, "Living Loved" means, I see what God is doing for me, and I am loved exceedingly. "Feeling worked" means, I see my need to work to maintain all this stuff in my life, and if I stop then what? Living Loved has God in the center, meeting needs, giving things that I should be content without. "Feeling worked" has me in the center, I am working because I got to survive and keep up with the Jones's if possible....

Crown of Thorns

 

 A young Napoleon Bonaparte showed himself to be a military genius with his various conquests. He then positioned himself as advantageously as he could to seize the maximum power avail. organized a huge assembly in the Notre Dame Cathedral in France. The pope was there with a crown, a crown that would signify Napoleon as the emperor of France. Napoleon entered the cathedral, he allowed the pope to anoint him with oil, but then he took the crown from the pope and crowned himself. It is thought that this was to demonstrate how he saw himself, as a man of ultimate authority in France, not taking any orders, or guidance from the Pope or anyone else. For Napoleon, with his crown of emperor, he would claim all the accolades for success. This started off a long bloody period, where most of Europe was at war with Napoleon at some point. Even Russia got involved. Various different alliances were formed in an effort to defeat Napoleon, and eventually it all came to a head, Napoleon was held captive by the british, and France needed to move on. Who then took the blame for the failure? Napoleon did. He attempted suicide, it didn’t work, and he was stowed off on an island and kept there for the rest of his life because it was deemed that he was to dangerous a man to be allowed back into France. There were many things that transpired to bring Napoleon to this point, but to get through all of that would take days, so I won’t. I want to pivot and talk about someone else now. 

 Another being, one who already has power, enough power to speak all things into existence, and the power to fashion humans from dirt; a being who has authority over time, and is not bound by it in any way decided to come in Human form and receive a crown. He received a crown of thorns, pressed into his skull, searing pain, probably even into the brain. With angels looking on all around, and the ultimate power to torch the whole universe with just one word, he accepted the crown voluntarily. A crown that contained pain, represented shame, and defeat. This being wore his crown to his death. He didn’t stay dead though, because his name was, and still is Jesus Christ.

 Which crown do you want to wear? Do you want a crown of worldly power? Do you want a crown of pain? Do you want a crown that makes you look good or do you want a crown that kills the human and lets God show up? 

 

Something More Valuable than Success

 

Franz Stigler sat at an airport base, he was a fighter pilot for Germany, and it was world war 2. Franz was an ace, he had been credited with 27 victory points. Some of these were 4 engine American bombers, which pay 3 victory points each because of how well defended they were and how hard they were to knock out of the sky. Franz had not gone home with his squad, he had landed here for fuel. He was only 3 points away from the prestigious Knight's cross award. He wanted to get back up there and knock out another bomber. Even though there was a bullet in his plane's radiator, he would go back up.

 Charlie Brown sat in his cockpit, fiddling with his throttles, he was an American bomber pilot, flying a 4 engine bomber plane called Ye Old Pub. He had gotten separated from his squad and then German fighters had ganged up on him. He knocked down a few of them but they had riddled his plane with bullet holes and destroyed the tail section. Only one engine was running right, one engine was dead, and the other 2 were hit and miss. The tail gunner had died when his section was destroyed. Most of the guns were out of action. Another gunner was bleeding and needed medical attention. Then another bullet came and knocked out the oxygen supply. Charlie and his co pilot passed out. Ye Old Pub went into a dive. Down went the pub, below the clouds, 10'000, 9'000, 8'000, 7'000, 6'000, 5000....and at some point, with oxygen rich air Charlie regained consciousness, he woke his copilot and they fought the controls. The Pub leveled off just in time as it's engines blew the leaves from the trees. The German people in the town just below gazed up at them in amazement. His navigator found the closest course to England and the wounded pub flew along, low to the ground and very slow, right over an airport base. 

  Franz Stigler's plane was just about finished when suddenly, an American bomber roared just overhead! Franz jumped in and took off. He caught up with the plane and saw the bomber with the words Ye Old Pub on it's front. He saw the nose section was shot up and open to the outside, he saw the sides had so many bullet holes in it that he could see through it and see the crew attending to their wounded. He saw the tail section was destroyed, the gunner there was dead, he saw one of the rear wings was shot off. He flew alongside the Pub and their wings overlapped, he looked in at the pilots, they stared back like they new their time had come. Something welled up in Franz, he found himself unable to shoot. He tried to communicate with the pilots through hand signals, they refused to land and surrender. So he flew with the Pub, when they came to flak guns, he pulled out so that the German gunners on the ground could see his plane, and would hold their fire, it worked. He flew out into the Atlantic with the Pub. When an American gunner onboard the Pub, pointed a gun at him, he saluted, and left. 

  Franz went on to shoot down many more planes, but he stopped counting victory points, it no longer mattered. Now he was just trying to protect the German people from the bombs. He survived the war. Charlie flew more missions, and also survived the war. He never forgot the German and wondered why, why was he still alive? The men found each other, and Franz found in Charlie another brother, Franz's own brother had died in an accident while taking off in a German bomber. However now, late in life, in Charlie Brown who he had spared at a time when the American did not have any way of defending himself, he found another brother. 

You know, sometimes the things we do not do are just as valuable or even more so than the things we actually do.

-Loren

Source Material: A Higher Call -Adam Makos