Friday, January 26, 2007

subversive

imagine a world that functions upon different principles, values and ideals than our own. imagine a world in which dogs do not eat dogs and the fittest need others to survive. imagine an upside-down economy in which the accumulation of wealth was seen as a means to bless others and power was in one's ability to give it away. imagine necks always sore from "turning the cheek" and love as our standard foreign policy. you've experienced it before- in the form of an unexpected gift, a gesture or a comment from someone so full of grace, you are left completely disarmed. you've glimpsed glory in such a way that your life was infused with Life. those moments make us believe... again. we need moments and events like those to be true, because if they are not then life is not. if this is as good as it gets... i'm out. but if the gospel is true, hope infuses every aspect of living... and the news which is truly good might surprise you today. it did me.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks for this phil. i really resonate with this idea of hope due to concept of 'the love' existing in our world through the gospel lately. it seems there can be no missteps, it feels like the things you speak of i've been seeing and the ones i haven't feel strangely possible. the way in which lennon wrote about the future in 'imagine' wasn't so much about the way things are, but rather inviting others to see what could be if they'd let go and dream a bit. this 'letting go' of ourselves is absolutely revolutionary in the way we view god and that which keeps us from change.

"Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one"

elnellis said...

right on chuck.
i've been wildly in love with hope lately- it's so foolish, subversive, audacious, playful... lennon was right on with that theme, we have to be dreamers in order to not throw in the towel today.

Nathan Smith said...

flippin ridiculous awesome bro. I wish there was a song like this to listen to instead of "I'm not a bullet-proof girl, blah blah" This is our orientation, our direction, our hope to shape the already not yet. We have to believe the impossible is possible in order to be followers of Jesus, without that hope we non-existent. Our definition as followers of Him is the "hope-driven life". It looks good bro. Do you think when David spoke of salvation in the Psalms that He was actually thinking of a world like this? I automatically go to the "salvation" we are used to but what was the extent of what he was thinking when he was writing?