touchy feely
Jesus was a touchy person. in his most incidental interactions, he was touchy. and it was intentional. when the woman with bleeding touched him, he knew it. when he met the lepers, he touched them. when he healed people, often he touched them, particularly when their ailment had some sort of social stigma attached to it.
i didn't touch the guy outside of burger kind. i dropped some change in his hand, wished God's blessings upon him, and walked away. but i didn't touch him.
i hung out with john and maki this weekend. john and i went to the evangelical church - centroamericana. we had communion and even went to bible class. then sunday night we went to see the movie "motorcycle diaries." it's in spanish with english subtitles (note: there is much foul language in the movie) it's based on a true story. fuser, the main character, was a touchy guy of great compassion. he refused to ignore the injustice he saw around him. he touched people that noone else would touch.
but fuser had the wrong goal. he missed the big picture. life, justice, is not found in political revolution. life and light and justice and love are found in Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God.
i want to be a touchy person. i want to be aware of injustice around me. i want to be filled with compassion. and i want to always have my eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith.
next time i will touch the guy outside of burger king.
i didn't touch the guy outside of burger kind. i dropped some change in his hand, wished God's blessings upon him, and walked away. but i didn't touch him.
i hung out with john and maki this weekend. john and i went to the evangelical church - centroamericana. we had communion and even went to bible class. then sunday night we went to see the movie "motorcycle diaries." it's in spanish with english subtitles (note: there is much foul language in the movie) it's based on a true story. fuser, the main character, was a touchy guy of great compassion. he refused to ignore the injustice he saw around him. he touched people that noone else would touch.
but fuser had the wrong goal. he missed the big picture. life, justice, is not found in political revolution. life and light and justice and love are found in Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God.
i want to be a touchy person. i want to be aware of injustice around me. i want to be filled with compassion. and i want to always have my eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith.
next time i will touch the guy outside of burger king.
posted by kentbrantly at 4:20 PM
5 Comments:
i have learned so much about God and his goodness and his action towards his people and towards all people since i have been here. recently i finished the book Blue Like Jazz, which I highly recommend to everyone. It talks about living for Christ in the world, putting yourself out there and actually relating to people who believe differently or don't believe anything at all.
I have been dumbfounded recently at the Lord's ability to touch, but not in the same way as you, Kent. Jesus was the ultimate person. He could/can make any person (ANY PERSON) feel comfortable, loved, and accepted. I long to be that to the people I meet. And I can't help but think in our society that person would be the homosexual, the pot smoker, the crack addict, the prostitute, or the mother on welfare.
I want nothing more than to act and be as he was.
that was from Dearing (i'm new at this!)
Hola, mi hermano. Okay, that's it. I thought I would try to write you in Espanol, but my last class was 27 years ago, and I'm a WEE BIT rusty. Besides, I don't know how to turn on the Spanish letters on my computer so I can spell with the correct accent marks. Anyway, it seems to me that learning another language is in itself an effort to touch people. But I can relate to your feelings here. How many times have I attempted to do good only to discover how deeply I have failed? Thankfully the Lord delights in mercy!
Just wanted you to know that MANY people are praying for you while you are having an amazing adventure. Few people get to experience the humiliation of being "deaf and mute" outside their cultures. Fewer still learn from that experience to welcome the alien and stranger when they return home. Thanks for changing your life so God can use you to change others. Love you!
Hi Kent. I think that I have just read ALL of your blogs. Of course, I enjoyed each of them! ( Mama clued me in last night on how to get to your blog. I was doing it wrong before.) I do not know why your new shoes make your feet smell :-) Let me know if you figure it out. You are wearing socks, aren't you?
Regarding today's thoughts. You know in Abilene how homeless people stand close to the stoplights or at the corner where you exit Wal-Mart--well, I have a hard time passing by and doing nothing when I have money in my purse or groceries in my car or I'm eating a fast food meal. Anyway, on the occasions when I have poked a dollar or two out my window to one of these "less fortunate" individuals I have thought about that "touch". I guess it never occurred to me until recently that the touch of my hand might be just as important to him/her as the dollar I am handing them. I think I used to be afraid to get germs or something if I happened to touch the hand. But now, when I hand a homeless man or woman a dollar or two I intentionally touch their hand and look them in the eye. I guess maybe it helps my conscience or something. I could ramble on about the subject of helping the beggars--but I won't. I will be contemplating this once again today though.
We are praying for you and love you! I'm proud of you, Kent.
--Carole
That is good! I see what you mean.
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