The Almighty’s Element of Surprise

Anybody can make the simple complicated.  Creativity is making the complicated simple.  Charles Mingus

I’ll one up Mr. Mingus.  It takes genius to make the complicated simple.  C.S.Lewis is my favorite “mortal” creative genius; his Chronicles of Narnia are the Occam’s Razor of biblical metaphor.  Two of Lewis’s quotes – one from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the other from Prince Caspian have become my mental mantras to remind me that God is THE creative genius:

At the end of the story Lucy creeps back to the wardrobe but finds she cannot reenter Narnia.  Unknown to Lucy the Professor is sitting in the corner; take a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCRfyDXitgI

“It will probably happen when you’re not looking for it.”  Absolutely!  It (whatever we want to happen) never happens when we’re looking for it.  God always shows up in an unexpected way, and at an unexpected time with his unexpected solution.

Which leads to my second favorite quote, this time from Prince Caspian:

“Nothing happens the same way twice.”  If it’s true that IT will happen when we’re not looking for it, and IT will be different than anything we have ever experienced or imagined, then we can assume and rejoice in the fact that The Almighty loves the element of surprise.  The only catch is, we’ve got to trust Him that he is in control and knows what He’s doing.

If we believe He’s “all that”, which of course He is, then we can follow the Professor’s advice with my third favorite quote (surprise, there’s three) when he suggests to Lucy that it’s “best to keep your eyes open.”

The Dragon with a Tennis Ball in His Mouth

My son asked an interesting question on our ride to Belmont University last week.  It was the kind of question you ask on an 850 mile road trip.

If you could be any character in any movie, who would it be?

I didn’t hesitate.  I’ve dreamed of assuming Jake Sully’s role ever since Avatar hit the screens last year.  From behind those goofy 3D glasses I pictured for the first time what heaven might look like.  I wrote about my first experience with Pandora a few months ago – Anticipating My Avatar.

One of my emotional “pings” was watching Jake connect with his dragon (called a Banshee) via a neural bond the Na’vi called Tsahaylu.  Avatar portrayed the bond as far more than a master/pet relationship, it was a mutual understanding between rider and dragon.  Both parties sensed his companion’s emotions and anticipated his actions.  I resonated with that relationship.

We always remember our favorite pet; mine was an amazing Black Labrador Retriever named Dude:

Dude was born with personality and talent.  At the ripe age of five months, and without any training, he plunged into a lake to retrieve an item over 60 yards from his entry point.  Three years later, this time with training, he won a national Field Trial (simulated hunting) event.

I was 8 years old when Mom walked in the kitchen wrestling a black bundle of fur and paws.  I was an early teen when Dude met me at the door everyday after school with a tennis ball in his mouth.  I’d wave him to the far side of our yard and then hurl the yellow ball with everything I had.  Dude had an uncanny canine ability to catch almost any pitch, including those far outside the strike zone. He never lost interest and he always outlasted my arm.

When the topic surfaces in our house about acquiring a new pet, I always respond with the same question, “But can it bring me the morning paper?”  Regardless of rain, sleet or hurricane warning (we lived in Florida) Dude would trot to the curb and sniff the air like he owned the neighborhood.  Then he returned to me with the Tallahassee Democrat between his teeth, sans teeth marks.

Dude was more than a performer.  He was, like all great animal companions, a friend who was alert to his owner’s emotions.  Few teens are fortunate enough to experience a Dude, but I wish they could.  When family conflicts reached their zenith, and waves of hormones fueled my confused adolescent neurons, Dude would put his head on my lap and invite me to scratch behind his ears.  He’d look up at me and I felt the connection.  He knew I needed a distraction from reality with someone who cared.  Those moments, in my opinion, were as close to Tsahaylu as it gets in this lifetime.

I’m surprised at the number of theologians who embrace the possibility of animals in heaven, but I appreciate those who do.  I probably won’t greet all of my former pets in the hereafter, in fact I’d be surprised if a few didn’t find residence in the other eternal alternative.  But I do hope to see Dude.

The Avatar Banshees bond with only one rider in their lifetime.  When I arrive in Paradise, and when I assume my new body I’ll look for the dragon with the tennis ball in his mouth.  He’ll be the one who, once upon a time, shared Tsahaylu with a frazzled Tallahassee teenager.  I’ll grab that ball and hurl it down the canyon.  Then my friend… and then… it will be time to fly.

B is for the Basement…. of our Souls

If you wanted to learn how to heal the blind and you thought that following Christ around and watching how he did it would make things clear, you’d wind up pretty frustrated. He never does it the same way twice. He spits on one guy; for another, he spits on the ground and makes mud and puts that on his eyes. To a third he simply speaks, a fourth he touches, and for a fifth he kicks out a demon. There are no formulas with God. The way in which God heals our wound is a deeply personal process. He is a person and he insists on working personally. For some, it comes in a moment of divine touch. For others, it takes place over time and through the help of another, maybe several others. As Agnes Sanford says, “There are in many of us wounds so deep that only the mediation of someone else to whom we may ‘bare our grief ‘ can heal us.”

John Eldredge, Wild at Heart

One’s own self is well hidden from one’s own self: of all mines of treasure, one’s own is the last to be unearthed.

Friedrich Nietzche

Inception is a story of multi-layered journeys from reality to dreams and back again.  The hero Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio knows where his wound is; it lives in the “basement” of his dreams, which he visits regularly via unexplained technology.  He travels in his dream to deeper levels of his subconscious by using an elevator:

Often our wounds are behind bars in the basement of our souls.  I previously posted that my close friend, Dr. Bert Chandler, enjoys a reputation as one of the most highly regarded Pain Management Specialists in the country.  Icon medical organizations like Medtronic pursue him to participate on their advisory boards.   He is innovative, passionate and brilliant in his ability to diagnose and treat chronic pain.  According to a Time Magazine article several years ago, Pain Management has a reputation more for “Narcotic Management” rather than productive therapy.  My friend often sees patients who come to him with a long history of drug dependency inflicted by physicians who were satisfied to scribble a non legible prescription for Vicodin or Oxycontin.

Often Bert’s diagnostic “radar” alerts him to a possible hidden pain that his patient has buried.  He looks at the x-ray, looks back to the patient and asks, “Is there something you’re not telling me?”  More often than not, tears flow and the patient describes a tragic hurt inflicted years prior that disguised itself as chronic physical pain.  The revelation by the patient often results in the release from the pain they so long endured.

It’s not pleasant by any stretch to press the “B” on our emotional and spiritual elevator – but sometimes it’s necessary in order to recognize the baggage for what it is so that by God’s grace we’re not carrying it when we return to the “lobby”.   At that point, we’re free from from what we’ve locked so long in our basement.

The Totem TIF – An Elegant Reality Check

Image via Wikipedia

Please pardon me if I indulge myself in a series of elucidations on my new favorite movie, Inception.  One trip through Christopher Nolan‘s dream epic is not enough to start connecting the dots on its symbolism.  I was just trying to keep up in my first journey; Nolan is truly a writing and directing ninja.   The second time, however, I allowed myself the freedom to participate in Nolan’s multiple metaphors, starting with reality and ending in the “Basement” of the hero’s prison of memories.

My favorite imagery ties into the Totem, an personal item that each dream warrior identified in the real world in order to ground themselves to reality in the dream world.  In Cobb’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) case, it was a spinning top.  If ever he became confused as to whether he was in reality or fantasy, he would spin the top and wait for it to stop spinning.  If it didn’t stop, he knew he was in a dream.

Each traveler’s Totem was personal and confidential.  As stated by several characters:

Arthur: So, a totem. It’s a small object, potentially heavy, something you can have on you all the time…
Ariadne: What, like a coin?
Arthur: No, it has to be more unique than that, like – this is a loaded die.
[Ariadne reaches out to take the die]
Arthur: . Nah, I can’t let you touch it, that would defeat the purpose. See only I know the balance and weight of this particular loaded die. That way when you look at your totem, you know beyond a doubt you’re not in someone else’s dream.

Ariadne state’s later, after she’s created her item that the Totem is an elegant means to ground oneself in reality.

I remember hearing a story about famed basketball coach John Wooden concerning his Christian faith.  When asked why he didn’t discuss the topic more in public he responded that he wanted to live it more than speak it – which of course he did.  Then he added that he carried an item in his pocket to remind him at all times of the example he provided others regarding his relationship with Christ.  The item was a small metal cross with sharp edges.  When, as coach, he was tempted to erupt in response to a bad call in a game he would reach into his pocket and grasp the cross as hard as possible.  As the sharp edges of the cross pressed against his fingers the great coach would remember Who he represented on the court; then he would take a deep breath to control his emotions.  He rarely if ever lost his temper on or off the court.

I have decided to carry my own Totem, but for a slightly different reason than Coach Wooden.  When I’m confused by a particular circumstance or when pressure mounts quickly, and I’m tempted to let my emotions rule – I need a reminder.  I need to remind myself of three grounding principles:

• Truth – what’s the truth here?  The truth is God is in control.
• Illusion - What’s the illusion here?  Is the enemy using something (probably simple) to distract my attention – even by only a few degrees?
• Fear – What and where is my fear in this situation.  Fear is for the most part illogical, not based on reality – what’s the worst that can happen here?

Truth, Illusion and Fear (TIF).  If I can grasp my Totem and ground myself with these three benchmarks – shouldn’t I be more successful in grasping the “reality” vs. the enemy’s “dream”?

But don’t ask me to show you my Totem… I want to make sure I’m not in your dream (illusion) or any one else’s

Treasures of Darkness

Isaiah 45:3

³ I will give you the treasures of darkness,
riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the LORD,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the mind bending, neuro-circuit-blowing film, Inception:

If you haven’t experienced this film and spent the ride home + the next two hours discussing the film with your son-in-law like I did, let me just say it’s based on an unexplained technology that enables someone to invade the dreams of another in order to influence critical decisions.  Leonardo Di Caprio plays the tortured protagonist who agrees to recruit the expert team that will join him in extraordinary task of venturing “4 levels down” into the dreams of corporate executive.

In the course of his journey, Di Caprio intertwines his own dreams into the experience and, as a result, faces his most dreaded, and “buried” fear.  By facing that fear he’s able to free himself from self-torture and pain that resulting from a poor decision years prior.

My close friend, Dr. Bert Chandler, enjoys a reputation as one of the most highly regarded Pain Management Specialists in the country.  Icon medical organizations like Medtronic pursue him to participate on their advisory boards.   He is innovative, passionate and brilliant in his ability to diagnose and treat chronic pain.  According to a Time Magazine article several years ago, Pain Management has a reputation more for “Narcotic Management” rather than productive therapy.  My friend often sees patients who come to him with a long history of drug dependency inflicted by physicians who were satisfied to scribble a non legible prescription for Vicodin or Oxycontin.

Often Bert’s diagnostic “radar” alerts him to a possible hidden pain that his patient has buried.  He looks at the x-ray, looks back to the patient and asks, “Is there something you’re not telling me?”  More often than not, tears flow and the patient describes a tragic hurt inflicted years prior that disguised itself as chronic physical pain.  The revelation by the patient often results in the release from the pain they so long endured.

Is there a connection between the “treasures of darkness, hidden in secret places” and the buried pain so many experience?  Is the revelation of that pain in itself the treasure to release the treasure seeker from bondage?  If it is, even in isolated cases, then it is treasure trove indeed.

A New Adventure in Existence

Image via Wikipedia

Charles A. Lindbergh is another of my heroes.   He was the first person to fly across the Atlantic, a feat comparable today to someone creating their own craft and flying solo to Mars.   Lindbergh was a courageous man in death as much as he was in life.  After receiving the diagnosis of terminal cancer, he wrote these words to be read at his funeral:

We commit the body of Charles A. Lindbergh to its final resting place; but his spirit we commit to Almighty God, knowing that death is but a new adventure in existence and remembering how Jesus said upon the cross, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

I believe down to my cuticles that heaven will be an adventure beyond the craziest fantasies we can envision (The Word for Me is Rescue).  I also support the “concept” that death is not to be feared. I can only hope and pray that I face that moment – if I have the choice – with courage, calmness, and confidence.

My favorite uncle, and the toughest man I ever met, died last year.  C.W. Harbin – soldier, entrepreneur, devoted husband (60 years) and father, and follower of Christ passed after years of debilitating back pain and losing the love of his life a few years earlier.  He left this world with dignity, love and even humor – entering into his new and eternal adventure with – I’m sure -  a laugh, a sly quip and a “Grizzly’ size hug for my Aunt Barbara.

So let’s die with faith.  Let’s allow the resurrection to sink into the fibers of our hearts and define the way we look at the grave.  Let it “free those were like slaves all their lives because of their fear of death” (Heb. 2:15 NCV).   Max Lucado, Fearless

It’s the anticipation of a “new existence” that made the movie Avatar my home-run flick of 2009 (Anticipating My Avatar).  I pray I live today with faith in that future reality.

I also want Avatar to win the Oscar (how’s that for a random thought).

His Hand is Open

 

It’s got to feel as empty as Lake Lanier in North Georgia during the recent drought.  In an unprecedented Olympic sequence, both the US men’s and women’s 4 x 100 relay dropped the baton on the last leg of their qualifying heats.  In less than a few seconds, years of anticipation and hope were over.  Done.

 

 

I can’t imagine the disappointment and pain that both teams must be feeling even now; laying awake and staring at the ceiling wondering how their pass failed.  Tyson Gay, the premier US sprinter who would like to forget Beijing exists, seemed almost dazed as he spoke with the commentator after the race. 

 

Some journalists state it’s a lack of cohesiveness that produced such lackluster performances, others say poor training.  Both seem viable factors to diagnosing our athlete’s maladies.

 

Passing the baton remains one of the best images to illustrate our responsibility as fathers.  Today, more than ever before, we must engage in what author and speaker Robert Lewis describes as “strategic parenting”.   Lewis identifies three options for fathers to raise sons:  abandoned, involved, and strategic.  Some dads abdicate their responsibility altogether, a trend my wife sees everyday as a teacher in the public school system.  Other fathers stay admirably involved by attending athletic events, paying for lessons, helping homework, etc.   A small percentage, however, dedicate themselves to launch their “arrows” (Psalm 127:4) with tactical, premeditated planning – not unlike the  dedicated Jewish fathers of old who prepared their sons to participate as adults at an early age.   Strategic dads instill industriousness, establish accountability, and build character so that their boys can become men.

 

Dennis Rainey, author and president of FamilyLife, describes three junctions in a young man’s life where the father cannot fault in passing the baton, these are:  adolescence, college, and in marriage.  I wrote Teknon and the CHAMPION Warriors (www.championtraining.com) to equip fathers to transition their sons through the first junction and into young adulthood.  Whether it’s Teknon, another tool, or a father’s own creative approach – strategic “passing” through the landmarks Rainey identifies must occur.

 

Don’t look back, like the USA athletes, wondering how and why the baton dropped with your son.  Get strategic and make an effective pass.  He’s already out of the blocks and his hand is open.

Do Hard Things – The Essential Rebellion

 

http://www.generationsofvirtue.org/product_info.php?products_id=757

 

I just finished a book that rocked my world.  I just wished I could have read it 35 years ago.  Brett and Alex Harris, twin brothers of Joshua Harris (author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye) wrote Do Hard Things – a book every teenager (an unfortunate term they explore) and parent should read, now!

 

It all started with a blog that the twins launched a few years ago entitled The Rebelution (www.therebelution.com).  The goal was to create a venue where teens could be challenged and challenge each other to hold themselves to higher expectations, aspirations, and dreams.  The result was viral; it soon became and remains one of the top 5 teen blogs on the web. 

 

Brett and Alex now travel the world with their challenge.  They also tour the Do Hard Things Conference, which is catching fire nationwide. 

I’ll revisit some of Do Hard things principles in subsequent posts, but suffice it to say that this is the message our youth (and the rest of us) should read and heed in order to challenge ourselves to a higher level of expectation and impact in this world.

The Mystery Box

 

This week I watched a video of  J.J. Abrams (director of Alias, Lost, Mission Impossible III, and the upcoming Star Trek prequel) delivering a great talk from the 2007 TED Conference.  He titled his talk “The Mystery Box”.   The talk is 20 minutes, but well worth the time to view (caveat – he curses a few times) 

 

 http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/205

Abrams describes his love for mystery – which is evident in everything he produces.  He also discusses his love for his grandfather, who cultivated his curiosity and love for story.  On one outing, Abram’s grandfather took him to a hole-in-the-wall magic shop in Chicagor where Abrams purchased a sealed package entitled “$50 of Magic for $15”.  

 

 

 

 

 

Abram’s keeps the still unopened box on his shelf as a reminder of 2 things:

 

His love for his grandfather

The hope of unlimited possibilities

 

Abrams also describes how often mystery hides itself in movies like Jaws and Die Hard.  The real story of Jaws is not a shark – it’s about a guy finding his way in a new community and culture.  Die Hard is not about crazy action (however cool the action is), it’s about a divorced policeman trying to reunite with his wife.  

 

Abrams isn’t alone in his love for mystery; God permeates his Story with mystery every day for every individual.  But how often do we trust him for the contents of our “Box”?   I have determined that if I embrace the mystery and trust Him for what only he can do – namely “unlimited possibilities” (as Abram describes it) – then each day can become an Adventure. 

 

The catch is… the box may hold a porcupine or even a live grenade, rather than an all expense ticket to Fantasyland.  We (as Abrams also states) often don’t know what the Story is really about.  I can’t be sure of the contents in my box, pleasant or non, but I do know Who created the package and my Story.  Based on Who He is and what He’s already done, that should be enough.

 

So here’s a suggestion – cultivate a love for mystery, for yourself and your children.  How about this for starters – order a small leather bound bible from Amazon and have it shipped to your house.  Amazon allows you to include a personal note in the package, so write something similar to this:

 

Even though mystery of this box is over, trust the Author of  the book inside this box for His next mystery.

 

When the package arrives, draw a large question mark on the outside and place the box in full view.  Tell your kids the box belongs to them, but ask them to commit never to open the box as a reminder of God’s mystery and infinite possibilities.  If they nag you to the point you feel you are being nibbled to death by a duck – then let them open the box and read the note.  Either way, lesson learned. 

 

The mental image of the above picture provides a constant reminder for me to trust Him, and when I trust – I get excited about unlimited possibilities. 

The Word for Me is Rescue

 

In his book The On Purpose Person, author Kevin McCarthy offers a masterful exercise to identify an individual’s life purpose; funneling down from desires, passions, experience, calling, etc. into a simple phrase – ultimately two words.  Two words.  Think of the clarity that can bring to an individual every morning as he or she wrenches from the pillow.  Chuck Swindoll once stated that it takes little creativity and intelligence to take a complicated topic and either keep it as complicated or make it more complicated.  Making a complicated topic or process simple – so that all can understand it – is genius.  

 

I grappled long and hard with the two-word exercise.   After several weeks of digging deep on my temperament, strengths, passions, and desires – I settled in on these two words:

 

Rescue Hearts

 

I know that probably sounds silly, and at best makes little sense, but to me it brings my purpose to ground zero and initiates the construction of my answer to the “Big Question” (from the previous post).   And if you pressed me to drill further to the core, to the identification of my favorite word in the English language I would respond with:

 

RESCUE

 

Why?  Over the past two years I’ve noticed a recurring theme in scripture, as well as the teachings of a few God appointed surrogate mentors (including Rick Warren, Jim Collins, David Wilkerson, C.S. Lewis, John Piper, and Robert McKee).  These sources have provided seeds to help me think through a potential “context” for our purpose here – and in heaven.  Let me explain.

 

I ask myself, “What is God’s #1 theme in His Story for us?”  

 

I’ve been trying to think through this concept of purpose and service “here”, and how it affects our participation “there” in heaven.  What is reward in heaven, and how does that affect our purpose here on earth?

 

Assumptions:

 

• God is both omniscient and omnipotent – therefore He’s both all powerful and all knowing – He knows everything past, present….and….future.
• God is the Creator of all things
• God created Satan.
• God knew ahead of time (because He’s omniscient) that Satan would rebel and be thrown out of heaven.
• God created Adam and Eve – God also knew, before He created them – that they would rebel.
• God allowed a villain to enter the story of creation (Satan)

• God promises rewards in heaven, based on how faithful we are with the resources he provides us as individuals (good book to reference is Wilkerson’s A Life God Rewards).
• We will lack nothing in heaven. C.S. Lewis describes in The Great Divorce that although we live in a context of “scarcity” here on earth (always wanting more of love, money, relationships, power, prestige, comfort, health, etc.), there is no scarcity of these things that we will lack in heaven.

 

Questions:

 

• There are a billion galaxies that we are aware of. There are also multiple dimensions (identified by leading authorities in physics) that God identifies in Genesis during Creation.  Why so much universe for so few individuals?

• If we lack nothing physically, emotionally, and spiritually in heaven – what then are the rewards, or what type of rewards will we receive in heaven?
• The Bible is full of evidence, and Warner states in “The Purpose Driven Life”,that this life is training, a trust, and a series of tests.  If that’s true, and I’m convinced it is – what are we being trained and tested for?
• If we are in constant training, and there seems to be consistent themes in the Bible as to what our training involves as well as what we are tested on – then what themes will continue from here to our existence in heaven?   Love? Stewardship? Teamwork? Our personalities? Our uniqueness as individuals? Adventure? Perilous situations?

 

Observations:

 

• The Bible is full of “Stories” (real as they may be) that involve God’s children in the midst of adventure, dangerous choices, villains (both physical and spiritual) – and more often than not – RESCUE on God’s part.  Just over the past months I’ve run across this theme numerous times in Psalms as David cries out to the Lord to rescue – and how God does in fact, rescue us.
• God loves, as Eldredge points out in Wild at Heart, to “step in”.
• God loves it when we use our specific gifts and abilities to function as a part of the puzzle within the Body, as part of the team – to “Rescue” the hearts and lives of others. 
• He’s created us with strengths and “unique nesses”, as well as “gaps” that demand the participation of other individuals in our lives to accomplish “Rescue”.
• God gave us the ultimate example of Rescue with Christ – all I could see when I watched The Passion of the Christ was God rescuing – liberating us from death – into Freedom.  Think of how often the scripture refers to, and we have heralded, being “Saved”.
• God allows perilous conditions and situations to occur – even though He always knows the outcome ahead of time.
• Even though He’s omniscient and He knows what’s going to happen ahead of time – we’re not puppets – He still allows us to make choices with consequences. Also, our existence is not a game – the ramifications of the adventure and rescue He creates for us are truly perilous; with potentially perilous outcomes.

 

Suppositions:

 

• God creates and/or allows perilous situations for our benefit – because He loves adventure, He loves rescue, and he knows we do too.  Training “here” and participation “there” are created for our benefit and His glory, that we might experience purpose and adventure with Him throughout eternity.
• God loves stories – Jesus used them for illustration and that’s why we are so drawn to literature, movies, etc. that illustrate truth in our lives.  Stories provide “context” for God’s love and purpose.
• God will reward us with RESPONSIBILITY – the degree we are able to participate in RESCUE throughout His creation for eternity.  Therefore, our willingness to embrace and engage in His purpose here – will dramatically affect our ability to participate there.  As I watched Bill Bright’s (founder of Campus Crusade for Christ) funeral a few years ago, I experienced a strange emotion.  Not loss or sadness – instead I felt envy for what adventure and responsibility I knew was waiting for him on the other side.
• There are many “themes” that we experience here on earth that will continue in Heaven.  Dare I also suggest there will be villains as well as heroes?
• We will still function as part of a team – this is too prevalent a theme not to continue.

 

And as crazy as it sounds, I believe we’ll participate in God’s “Rescue Story” not only in this limited” existence, but also in an infinitely more expanded capacity in heaven.  How exciting would it be to participate in “Heavenly Rescue Squads” for other societies, in other galaxies or dimensions?  What if the themes we experience here – together – are just a “minimalized” foretaste of the adventures we’ll experience – together – in the future?  What if God created and inserted us into perilous stories elsewhere that had real heroes (us) and villains, with real – and potentially perilous – consequences?  In “Desiring God”, John Piper describes that God’s glory makes him “happy”.  What could we do to bring Him more glory in eternity than for us to participate, as rescue squads in a continuous stream of stories involving the ultimate theme He illustrated throughout history

 

 

Is it possible that our willingness to “rescue hearts” in this life directly contributes to the degree to which we will participate in the same theme in eternity?   As men, we especially need a reason to live with purpose, focus, and courage.  We need to believe that how we live here has incredible and exciting consequences in eternity.  I’m excited just at the thought of one day joining arms with my current close brothers and sisters to participate in the liberation of hearts here and throughout God’s creation.

 

I love stories and movies with “Rescue” as a central theme.   In the recent hit “I Am Legend”, Will Smith plays a doctor who desperately seeks an antidote to an airborne virus that has not only eliminates most of the world’s population; it also mutates a number of the remaining survivors.  In this final scene involving Smith’s character – Dr. Neville makes the ultimate sacrifice to save his two companions and preserve the foundation of the antidote for the other survivors.

 

 

What would it be like to participate harmoniously with comrades in saving the hearts of others?  Everyone has a word – the word for me is RESCUE.

 

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.  They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.  He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. 

II Samuel 22: 17-20