This morning, I'm a mom filled with worry and fatigue.
This morning, I'm a magazine editor facing a wall.
This morning, I'm a little girl afraid to go outside.
This morning, I'm a daughter who does not do enough for her aging parents.
This morning, I've sent my husband to fend for himself at his new job without a note of encouragement from me in his lunch.
Lord, who are YOU this morning? If I could ask to be anything this morning.... I was going to say I'd ask to be teachable. But that was just me trying to pray something honorable on a blog.
I think this morning, I'd just like to be yours.
I Cor 1:22-24 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Can I just say that typing out "I Corinthians" every morning is weird. It feels so ... so what.. so "Biblical" or something. And by that, I mean old, dusty, boring. AND YET, every time I come here I find it any BUT old, dusty or boring.
I'm trying to imagine what Corinth was to the people. It wasn't Rome (Washington, DC) from where all the political decisions ultimately spewed.
I'm going to break down and look at a map. Ewww... SO making me feel scholarly. OH GOD,
Puh -lease don't make me be dusty, old, boring...
-----------------http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isthmus_of_Corinth#mediaviewer/File:Corinth_Isthmus.jpg--------(If you want to see an arial view, and a cool picture of the canal)
OK, I'm back. Corinth is gone now. The ruins are 50 miles away from Athens, which means almost nothing to me. But here's what I did learn. It was on the water which meant shipping and beaches. A lot of money flowed in and out of Corinth. So I'm thinking Wall Street, Merrill-Lynch... A lot of cool architecture..... Lots of art, lots of world cultures flowing in and out. ...so I'm putting this together to say lots of fashion originating here.
Being a Southerner, I think of Atlanta. Knowing that if I wanted to fly south to Florida I'd first have to fly North to Atlanta to get a connecting plane makes me think Corinth might have been like the Atlanta of the South. After all, we grew up knowing the phrase:
"Whether you're going to Heaven or Hell, you'll still have to change planes in Atlanta."
But now I'm thinking Corinth was more like NYC? Not known for having a lot of Christians, proud of it's immorality, oozing with raw creativity, skyscrapers full of people making lots of money who will be buried without it. New York. Very exciting and fun place to visit, but I wouldn't really want to live there.
CORINTH! (NYC? BOSTON? ATLANTA? DALLAS? TACOMA? SEATTLE?) Where Paul got so frustrated, he walked out and God made him go back and not give up for another year and a half. (Acts 18)
Simple truth looks so boring to the fashion forward, the entrepreneur, the next Broadway headliner...
The Jews looked for a sign..... something BIG! Something exciting! Something CNN! Something that rocked the headlines.
The Greeks looked for something that made sense, that would be Harvard, Princeton, Yale worthy. Something experience and age could back up.
And God didn't give it to them......... and yet he did. It's like looking at the surface of the water and saying there's not life under that surface because a) it's not jumping up out of the water like a dolpin spiraling upwards out the ocean or b) I can't see it from where I sit on the shore therefore it is not either useful to me nor necessary for anyone else.
....but to those who are called, both miracle seekers and wisdom hunters, Christ the powerful miracle and the wisdom of God.
Dive, dive, dive!!!!
Lydia, Thank you for your honest, beautiful words. God is using you to speak important truths to people. I think that sometimes people are afraid to say how they really feel and then we become all "religious" and wanting the approval of people. Keep on diving! I love it!
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