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Scot,
Two things struck me as I read today's chapter:
- Most of the people who are at the center of wounds in my memory are supposed to be my friends, not my enemies. It is an important thing to bring "enemy" closer to home, just as it is an important thing to bring "sin" down to not choosing to love. This is where the rubber meets the road.
- As we look at the faces of those who have wounded us, we must recognize the image -- the cracked Eikon -- of God. I was immediately taken back to the book, The Shack, where Mack is shocked to hear that Papa is also "especially fond of" the man who murdered Mack's precious daughter. How heartbreaking it is for Papa to have an Eikon who has so forgotten his identity that he can do these despicable things. And how much Papa yearns for the day when this broken Eikon might come home.
...the road home, both for the killer and for Mack, had to begin with Mack's choice to forgive and trust Papa's justice to truly be just -- to make things right -- for everyone.
Tall order, this!
Here's to extreme love, brother! May I have the courage, first, to call the name "enemy" where, in truth, it lies ... and then to ask the Holy Spirit to do a work in my heart and memory that results in power for forgiveness of and love for and restoration of the name Eikon where Enemy once sat ... sometimes in the same pew!
Christ, have mercy.
* * * * * * * * * *
And sometimes, the name "enemy" needs to be applied to ourselves -- to our inability to see and hear what we're doing and saying that inflicts harm to our minds and hearts. And this is the enemy that we especially need to love and forgive and restore.
Lord, have mercy, indeed.
5 comments:
thanks for this piece. glad i found your blog. there's a book club mtg tomorrow night at the local b&n to discuss The Shack - i think i might get a copy, read some of it, and go. all thanks to you lining up the planets... :)
mike rucker
fairburn, georgia, usa
mikerucker.wordpress.com
Welcome, Mike! I've noticed you over at Jesus Creed lately. Glad to have you visit me here.
Hmmm ... don't know about lining up the planets, but I believe you have rather experienced what my friend Brad calls "Divine Dominoes" ;^)
Be careful what time of day you pick up the book ... when you get to chapter four, you can't put it down until you finish! :^)
I hope the person leading the discussion does a good job! It is a wonderful piece of parabolic fiction -- if folks will let it be what it is and not make it into something never intended!
Be blessed.
phew ... it's hard to separate. Are they friends? Or enemies?
I get confused alot. The people who I thought were my friends are the people who hurt me the most.
So were they an enemy to begin with? Or a friend who had a bad stretch of time? How do I go about figuring it out? How do I get my hands from around their necks? That's the hard part isn't it ...
woah. seems to have stuck a nerve...way down in this heart. thanks? yes, thanks.
Sonja,
Reminds me a bit of your most recent post about justice.... About the two camps -- holiness and social justice -- who can't be civil to each other!
Lord, have mercy!
It is a challenging thing to love our enemies and forgive; but it is an absolute requirement!
Only by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit can it be done....
Annette,
Woah, indeed, sister. You're going to have to read Scot's books ... or as least get your hubby to read them ;^)
Blessings, all!
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