We are the Church. We are the bride of Christ. We are a light to the world, a nation of priests, a royal people who were brought out of darkness so that we could share the light with other people. We are God’s people, we are the children of Abraham, we are the co-heirs of the Son of God, we are the ones who can see in Christ the very image of the invisible God.
Yet how far short we fall! Continue reading “on what christians are best at”
Recently I watched a Chinese soap opera portraying a spoiled little imperial prince. He treated all the servants like dirt and had no respect for his elders’ authority. I was thinking how different he is from kids in our era, who are expected to be nice and multicultural and polite. But then I thought it must’ve been because these princes were raised for a specific purpose: their education consisted in how to rule the kingdom and stay alive. Their education had nothing to do with getting along with other people. They literally had no reason to be nice.
Which made me think back to my niceness vs kindness debate, which I’ve briefly touched on before. Why are we nice? Is niceness for its own sake worth it? Often we are nice because, let’s face it, you won’t get far in life if everyone hates you. Continue reading “on being nice”
Jesus, you are warm, warm like sunshine on the grass at the park, warm like a nice coat on a cold morning.
You are playful, like a light drizzle in the winter, like the birdsong in the middle of the night, like a little kid taking his first steps.
You are sustaining, like a packet of biscuits on a very empty stomach.
You are gentle, like the older brothers who sit me down and listen.
You are dashing, like a warrior marching to battle.
You are soft, like the breeze on my face.
You are fierce, like a bear defending her cubs.
You are constant, like the smooth surface of the third pillar from the right at the entrance to All Souls Church Langham Place.
You are just, like the constant sunrise.
You’ll come back, like you said you would.
A friend of mine was telling me a while ago about the sacraments: The obvious ones are the communion, the many sacrifices outlined in the latter half of Exodus. There are also less obvious ones, he said, such as the rainbow: It is a weapon of war (wrath) that is strangely pointed toward its wielder, prophetic of God’s atoning self sacrifice.
At that moment I was convinced, but less so now. Still, it was interesting. How about the sun? Continue reading “on the sun”
Remember, My Lord 