"one life, you got to do what you should"

everything in my soul is screaming these days. everything in my body is physically uncomfortable. everything in my brain is working faster than my means. and everything in my heart is broken.

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
-Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter- when you see the naked- to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
-Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
-Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I. 'If you do away with the yoke of oppresion, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, -and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like noonday.
-The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
-Your people will rebuild ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."

God dropped this scripture in my lap about a month and a half ago. as He was really starting to stir my heart more and more towards the true meanings of love and justice and compassion, this passage came to life. i re-read it all the time, and i still can't read it without my eyes welling up a bit. i would love to sit here and write everything that touches me about this passage but i can't. i would simply repeat it again and again. but that last verse... and here's where i sit at work and cry at my computer... that's the money line, ya know? just think of what this world was intended to be... from the beginning. and think of all that's been lost and broken and dishevelled since "the fall". but you and i, by bringing the oppressed up and bringing ourselves lower, we have an opportunity to rebuild ancient ruins and raise up age-old foundations. we can be called "Repairer of Broken Walls" and "Restorer of Streets with Dwellings"! so that's all we are trying to do.
lindsay orr, a saint who i am convinced God gave to me as a gift, and i sat at intermezzo one friday night. we shared our hearts for people, and our simple desire to love. so as i explained that my small group girls had to talk me out of going downtown by myself to seek out the oppressed, she said "let's get a big group to go, then." and i looked at her as though she was living inside my own brain. and so we called our friends to come with us that sunday night. and something caught on fire and hasn't gone out since then. in all my years working in ministry, i've never seen individuals catch vision so quickly, and make it their own. so we've kept doing it. on sunday nights we get our friends together at someone's apartment, cook food, and drive downtown with it. and we find people to love. and that's simply it. and it's grown and grown in so many ways. ways that amaze me and have drawn me deep into the heart of Christ. i write emails that are far too long, and i guess it's time i give in to this whole "blogging" idea. so i have. here's a place where we can share these dreams and encourage each other in them. let's use this space to share our stories as we encounter the church!