Let Them Eat Cake

"My Dear Wormwood,
. . . You will notice that we have got them completely fogged about the meaning of the word 'real'. They tell each other, of some great spiritual experience, 'All that really happened was that you heard some music in a lighted building'; here 'real' means the bare physical facts, separated from the other elements in the experience they actually had. On the other hand, they will also say 'It's all very well discussing that high dive as you sit here in an armchair, but wait till you get up there and see what it's really like'; here 'real' is being used in the opposite sense to mean, not the physical facts but the emotional effects those facts will have on the human consciousness. Either application of the word could be defended, but our business is to keep the two going at once so that the emotional value of the word 'real' can be placed on one side of the account, now on the other, as it happens to suit us. The general rule which we have now pretty well established among them is that in all experiences which can make them happier or better only the physical facts are 'real' while the spiritual elements are 'subjective' . . . Thus in birth, the blood and pain are 'real', the rejoicing a mere subjective point of view . . . The creatures are always accusing one another of wanting "to eat the cake and have it"; but thanks to our labours they are more often in the predicament of paying for the cake, and not eating it . . .
Your Affectionate Uncle,
Screwtape"
-C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

mr. insomnia stopped by for a visit again

reminding me to make good use of our time together

urging me to give up sleep for more needed reflection

time to paint the reality of the last two days

as You hold out the pallette, letting me choose the colors
first instinct is to sit up and wince

at some lost dream of perfection

cues missed, technology ghosts, that look in my volunteers eyes

that said . . . "but we practiced it perfectly . . . "

and that embarrassing moment my mind keeps turning over

like those loud industrial dryers at the laundromat

I've never had a screaming coach, a sarcastic heckler,

or a stage mother who counts calories

and uses starch on everything

but You and I both know--it's worse

it's the monster inside my head

and I rub my eyes a little too hard

like trying to erase the wrong answer on a scantron

and you rip a hole in the paper

and I cry out to you as my hand shakes

holding the brush to the canvas

but then

there it is

Your gentle whisper reminders of the beautiful reality

that in my mourning over flawless plans

You had something better in mind all along

something better than perfection

something real

a sticky holy spirit humidity

everyone in the room could feel, touch, breathe in

and take home with them

still soaking in way beneath the skin

the thighs of our jeans trickled with tears

as time had stolen the dreams of Your promises

but we chased them down today mob style

to reclaim our rights to the joyous burden

of that great commisssion

and it's simplicity

that can feel so complicated

so we get back in the game with new passion

passion that is real

as real as paint on a canvas

or a cake that crumbles and sticks to the roof of our mouths

as real as the lyrics we heard with more than our ears

Because "after night

comes the light

dawn is here

it’s a new day

everything will change

things will never be the same

we will never be the same

Oh, The glory of it all is

You came here

for the rescue of us all

that we may live

for the glory of it all."

"Balance is not a goal. Someone who is balanced is standing still. You don't want to be balanced, you need to be leaning. Lean into your marriage. Lean into your relationships. Lean into God. People say, 'But if I'm leaning, I might fall down.' Yeah, that's right. It's risky. You might fall down sometimes." Mark Beeson "Stop Talking" Innovate Conference 08

"Between the promise and the payoff, there is always a process. We forget the promise, and forfeit the payoff because we’ve fainted in the process. But what if the process is what it's all about?"

Steven Furtick, "Innovative Impact" Innovate Conference 2008

"We have point of view. God has view."

Madelaine Le'Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

“The Gospel is not only to save souls…it is to save ‘wholes.’ The Gospel is not only verbal proclamation. That is not incorrect; that is incomplete! We must bring up there down here! Demonstration proclamation transforms! We don’t just give a hand-out…we give a hand-up!” Rob Wegner, "Missional Moves" Innovate Conference 2008

"Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-10 (Msg)