The Great March in Between

The band of travelers could only think of their thirst as they made their way through the sand-covered lands. They had dirt riding the sweat down their faces, tired eyes, and warm smiles. Every sound of the horses' hooves hitting the sand was the drum of a victory march. It was a job well done... But they were tired all the same.

This part will normally be left out of any good story, but it is for this reason that it should be written. the long journey home after a furious battle is a portion so profoundly human that it should not be overlooked. For even though they will be legends to their children's children, they are humans now. They feel the wind snapping their faces, the dirt itching the back of their necks, their eyes drooping.
The glory of victory will never fade (just as their tired smiles still remain), but it is merely the overarching theme of the journey. The thoughts within that theme consist of thirst, weariness, and a sense of pride to be traveling with such great friends.
Their grateful sighs will be expressed alone and before the Lord once they have wrapped their minds around the experience. For now, they simply ride. The battle behind them and home on the horizon.

*******

This was written after our journey from Nicaragua in 2011. The mission accomplished. The stories (well, most of them) submitted online. And the 34 hour ride home. We smiled. We enjoyed it. We were tired. And we were bonded together in a way that none of us really understand. Just from Atlanta to Boone, the final leg of our journey, we had to split it into thirds (one driver taking each) because we were so tired. 

I think there's something beautiful about that. The sheer exhaustion, to be shared with so many people after a good job, has something deep in it. The final handshake and embrace between a good team that's ready for a shower and a bed (a cool bed, and not a warm one) attaches them together forever in the Spirit. We can only praise God. Amen.

A life that's worth a damn.

We were once just breathing air,

Strolling on without a care,

Our eyes were locked upon our feet.

Asphalt was our shade of green,

The road lines our color scheme,

Mindless to all but our little street.

That street became a wall,

And our forward progress stalled,

We weren’t quite sure where life had gone.

With our newly lifted heads,

We raised up from the dead,

And our weary eyes caught glimpse of sun.

Jesus, Jesus,

We didn’t know that you were waiting

For us, for us,

We didn’t know these colors were made

For us, for us,

We thought that we would always get along…

Just fine.

With some new-found energy,

The Earth’s floral carpeting,

Began to crack right through the street.

And I could feel it too,

With an air of changing tunes,

New life had sprung inside of me.

Jesus, Jesus,

I didn’t know that you were waiting

For us, for us,

I didn’t know these colors were made

For us, for us,

I thought that I would always get along…

Just fine.

And now I’m breathing air,

For a life that’s worth a damn,

And there’s a light behind my eyes

Ventures are fully braved,

Love can be wholly made,

And now my limit is the skies.

Jesus, Jesus,

I now know that you’re wanting to

Transform us, form us,

So we can see the colors you made

For us, for us,

I can’t believe I ever could have thought

“Just fine”

…was good enough.

lll

People assume that the phrase "worth a damn" comes from southern culture; that some older tobacco-spitting man from the great depression must have thought of it. Just like we think the phrase "all for one and one for all" comes from The Three Musketeers.

But i don't believe the phrase "worth a damn" came from the south. or the north. or England or Cambodia. I think it came because our God calls things that are not as though they are.

I was talking with a friend of mine this morning who has just recently moved to a new place with his wife. They seem to be adjusting pretty well to the new climate, new streets, new everything, but leaving a strong community of Godly support is always a difficult thing. He said to me that the people he has encountered that don't know about the exciting adventure of the love of God (yet) just seem like they think they're void of purpose. they don't seem excited about work, or life, or anything. they just try to hide away and get by. "its like we are talking to zombies." he said. When you are constantly surrounded by amazing community that is after the heart of the Lord, it's easy to forget that death is the majority and that we are the weirdos.

But Jesus sees them all together different. he sees US all together different. He, being there at the beginning, when he invented green and plants and oxygen and us, saw the world the way it was created to be. and he has NEVER been able to get that image out of his head. Ever since things were skewed by sin he has been calling creation and its people back to their original purpose, the one in which we are the most fulfilled. He sees a drunkard in the street, or a tax collector (i think that tow-truck drivers are the modern day tax collectors), or a business man, or a young campus minister who is only just scratching the surface of what God is like, and sees them the way they were CREATED to be. He sees the purpose inside of them and loves them fully for what they are.

And he saw that the only way to bring us into the fullness of what we were created to be was to undo the curse that ruined it all in the first place. to come, die, and be damned himself. He sees us for what he made us to be, and he thinks that we are worth a DAMN.

So there's no reason to just keep trucking on, live our hundred years and try to figure out what life means while we're staring at the road. Encounter the love of Jesus, let him transform you, and go live a life that's worth a damn, our purpose is found there anyway.