I believe that there are two important things you can do right now. Well, maybe not at 9:45 on a Wednesday night, but starting tomorrow.

You can give blood and you can recycle.

That’s it. This is your assignment.

There’s always such a shortage of blood, so you are really making a difference and saving people’s lives. This truly is life blood you’re giving.

My dad had surgery a few years ago that required a lot of blood. Thankfully, he had what he needed, thanks to donors who gave willingly. Some others may not be so fortunate.

You can recycle. We throw away an obscene amount of garbage. We also throw away plastic and aluminum cans that could be recycled.

We don’t have an infinite amount of landfill space. One day, sooner than later, we will run out. When you choose to recycle, you are at least taking something out of taking up space and further polluting the environment.

Remember, give blood and recycle. Give blood and recycle.

“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are” (‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:15, ‭MSG‬‬).

A few years ago I learned a simple little prayer from Brennan Manning. 

As you breathe in, you say, “Abba Father,” and as you exhale, you reply, “I belong to You.”

That’s it. It’s a short mantra that you can insert into the margins of your busy life or something you can repeat over and over when you have nothing else to pray.

Tonight at Kairos, Pastor Chris Brooks reminded us that we not only can but will cry out, “Abba Father,” a term that merges the intimate nearness of Abba with the infinite otherness of the Heavenly Father. We need both to truly know and reverence God.

This little prayer can become as natural as breathing in and breathing out. Lately, I’ve come back to praying this Abba Father prayer when other words fail.

It works for any believer from a newbie all the way to a seasoned and tested saint. 

Abba Father, I belong to You.

Amen.

“Lord — yeah, and even if today didn’t go as planned,

and if it’s not at all what we hoped, 

and if “we’re* not yet quite what we hoped, 

and if life’s not unfolding to our Plan A

and if it’s not even close to Plan B

and if the diagnosis is not great

and if the forecast is not good

and if not… and if not… and if not… 

*You still are.* You still are Good & You still are God.

And we will be the people who will still… 

The people who will still rest in it & sing it into the dark: 

“and if not — He is still Good. He is still God… so we can still & be & be at rest.” #HonestPrayers (Ann Voskamp)”

It’s more of that open-ended hope seems to be showing up everywhere these days.

This hope perseveres no matter what, even if my expectations don’t come to pass, because it knows God has something far better in store for those who keep believing.

I will hold on to hope because the God of all hope is holding on to me.

“May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts. 

May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace. 

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we may reach our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy. 

And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done” (Old Franciscan Saying).

I like to post this old blessing periodically to remind myself what my faith is really about. 

I’m not blessed so I can grow fat and lazy and complacent. I’m blessed so that I in turn can be a blessing to someone in need just as I was once in need (and still am).

May we all be blessed with enough foolishness to believe that not only can we make a difference in the world but that by the grace of God we are making one.

I won’t go long tonight because I’m weary. I think this t-shirt expresses my current feelings, which aren’t all that deep apparently.

Enjoy.

I still remember the very first person I met my first time at Kairos. Her name was Amy Bradshaw, and she was a volunteer.

I remember that she made me feel welcome, like I belonged. She always was willing to listen to me and ask me about my day and how it went.

I believe she moved to Knoxville and got married a few years back. I also believe that if I live to be 101, I will never forget that feeling of welcome and belonging.

I think one of the greatest needs in this day and age is to be seen. People long for someone else to notice them and validate their existence, saying in essence, “You are not alone. You will not struggle alone. I will be a witness to your life.”

Too many feel invisible and unwanted. It’s tragic that many will live and die with no legacy to leave behind and no one to leave it to. 

Maybe the most powerful thing you can do for someone is to see them. All it takes sometimes is a smile and a friendly word as simple as a “Hello.”

Thanks, Amy. Your simple act of kindness did not pass unnoticed.

I had the chance to catch up with a friend and his wife. They’re with CRU (formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ) in Romania. They’re still navigating the brutal terrain that is known as the English language, but their English is about a thousand times better than my Romanian (which is non-existant).

It all started at the Tower of Babel. We lost the ability to communicate with each other when our arrogance made us deaf to the voice of God. Instead of spreading out over the earth like God wsnted, we thought we could build a monument that would put us on equal footing with God.

I was thinking today that not only did we lose our community with each other through a common language, we also lost the ability to voice our hearts’ deepest desires in a way others could fully relate to. We lost the gift of being able to fully discern our own voices within apart from all the outside noise.

Calvary was the moment when everything that had gone wrong started righting itself again. When Jesus started putting this upside down world right side up again.

My friend and I might not always communicate clearly, but we have the same Spirit within each of us and a bond that goes deeper than words.

I find the deeper into God I go, the more He reveals my deepest and truest self and how to get to it and share it with the world.

The curse is coming undone as the Kingdom comes into view. Soon we will all know and see everything clearly, and we will know our God as fully as He knows each of us.