Monday, July 18th, 2011
Sixty nine dollars and twenty three cents. This was the sales at noon on a hot, humid Summer Monday.
In order for Kneadings to make it, we need $ 1,000 in daily sales. But we were making only a $ 600 average through the 3 years of our operation.
Personal and corporate bankruptcies are fast approaching at the writings of this piece. The reality of losing the house, losing job (not income – that has been lost for three years counting) and losing a lives that have been built through the half century of its existence.
Reflecting back the journey for the past three years; it has been an adventure, a heartbreaking ride, soul crashing venture, body bending slavery, mind twisting insanity but a reality of simply walking a journey towards Jesus.
Are there any regrets? Perhaps not.
Are there any lessons learnt? Perhaps not.
Are there lessons to be learnt? Perhaps not.
Then, what is left?
Stories.
Experiencing God’s story from a 3D perspective (as to reading stories and books about God, which is 2D).
As the Kneadings journey seems to slowing come to an end, with much prayer, I would like to write a long essay titled (with the chapter titles):
Kneadings Bread: a story of:
· Surfing
· Displacement
· Showers of Blessings
· Companionship
· Community
· Believe to Relive
· Mosaic Baptist Church
Monday, July 18th, 2011
“Doing great things for God” is a motto of contemporary Christianity. It drives the lives of pastors and churches. The visible results can be seen in the success of the mega church movement and perhaps the missional church movement as well. There is no doubt of truth that God has blessed these churches and ministries. They are also of God’s vessel in dispensing grace to a broken world.
“God has called you out to do great things for Him!” is heard in sermons.
I believed it. I thought I preached such a sermon as well.
Purpose driven. Organization. Church growth. Church health. Missions. Urban missions. All in the name of doing something great for God.
Then it came this little saying by St. Therese of Lisieux:
“Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.”
Read it again: “Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are very little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.”
It is a lesson that many of us “type-A- do-not- waste- our-life- must- do- something- big- for- God” kind of Christ follower must heed.
A builder / consumeristic society has programmed us to live our lives on a grandiosely scale. “Big” and “Big Numbers” is right and good; “small” and “small number” is failure and wrong. It permeates into Christianity. We think and do “big” to the extent of ignoring the “small”. Large congregations are good and small ones are not; large projects can benefit more people and small ones are ineffective; the only way is up for a small congregation of people gathering each Sunday, if not, it is a failure.
St. Therese disagreed. Her disagreement lies in the fact that she is forbidden. “Great deeds are forbidden me”. Instead she took a different approach to her faith journey – doing the small things. She smiled at those who would give her a difficult time. She would not rebuttal even when she was right but perceived wrong. She kept her life simple. She never had many disciples when she lived. She was of a smaller stature and unnoticeable; certainly not to me if I had not given one and a half hour of my time to watch a very slow movie about her.
Yet I discover her devotees are some of the most influential people that lived after her: Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Jean Vanier and Mother Theresa. The last one had even taken her name.
Do little things to bless those who cross paths with you. Leave the rest up to God. See how this will bring renewal to your journey of faith. Most importantly, discover how it will affect those people around you.
“And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.” Matthew 19:29-30
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009