Face to Face

A few years ago I was in the middle of a worship service, telling God how much I wanted to see his face.

"Open your eyes."

I did.

"Look around. See all these people? There I am."

This happened a few more times over the course of the next year. And each time, I could see it more clearly.

We are all made in God's image. Your brothers and sisters shine with it. The face of the most miserable of the lost shows at least a glimmer of it.

I do not seek to make the created the creator. Rather I seek the image of the creator in his work, an image the creator tells us is there. Seeing the beauty and majesty in a great work of art is not idolatry; it is honor for the artist.

Yes, seek to see God face to face. But seek to see God in all of creation, and especially in the only bits of creation we know are made in God's image... people.

The kingdom is here. What will we do with it?

Inspired by a conversation with Pamela Nishimoto when she quoted Les Miserables: "To love another person is to see the face of God."

Are You My (Spiritual) Mother (Father)?

In his book, Jesus Culture, Banning Liebscher talks about how important it is for generations to work together. One of the main ways he discusses it is in terms of Moses holding up the rod (with the help of Aaron and Hur) while Joshua and the army fought the battle. For whatever reason, God wanted both of these to happen for his children to be victorious.

One of the ways I see the need for the generations to come together is through spiritual parents. I'm not talking about discipline or rules here. Far from it! I'm talking about people acting as parents, to pour their hard learned wisdom into younger people, their love, their strengths. This requires the younger people to be open and vulnerable, to trust. It can also help you to grow so much faster, run so much harder, climb so much higher, than you ever thought possible.

The spiritual children have a lot to offer the parents as well-- it's easy to get too settled, too comfortable, ossified even. Youthful vigor, inquisitiveness, passion, these are all things the older generations need.

You're never too old to have spiritual parents, You're never too old to have spiritual kids.

The parents in this scenario may not be physically older; they just need to have more experience and maturity in some areas. It's even possible for the roles to swap in a relationship depending on the topic!

It doesn't stop there, either. This works for any sort of family. People need spiritual grandparents and grandkids, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters. It takes a family. And Jesus says we are family. We need to start acting like it. And I don't mean fighting!

You don't need to be formally trained in this. You just need to care, and to refuse to be afraid or intimidated. If someone has no parents, even if you do a poor job, they're still better off than they were. If you have a loving heart, a humble spirit, and a passion for God. you're qualified.

If you want help, just ask. If you don't know who to ask, ask me. I may walk with you through it or I may help find someone in your area. We'll work something out. But get busy. Somewhere around you is a hungry child.