Claiborne and Haw collaborate for the Magnus Opus of Social Justice. Whimsical, delightful, profound.
The 'Following Jesus' Manifesto
- Stop talking about Jesus. Just stop. If we loved the people around us half as much as we say we love Jesus the rest of this manifesto would be entirely redundant.
- Live a secret life. Invest the time, effort and vulnerability necessary to delve deeply into the scripture and prayer. Spend long periods of time in stillness. There is no shortcut to this, there is no other way. Without a deep and secret life we soon find ourselves talking about Jesus instead of being like Jesus.
- Stop pretending. I'm a Christian, and I suck. So do you. Let's get that out of the way, shall we?
- Give more than you get. There will always be more than enough.
- Be present for those around you. Following Jesus has nothing to do with your work, your resume or your income. In fact, nothing that matters does.
- Treasure broken-ness. Our broken places are sacred spaces in our heart. Honour them. Value them. In doing so you love the unlovely, publicly declaring the beauty of God's image in everyone. Greet the broken with comfort and cool water.
- Throw a party.
- Know Jesus well enough to recognize him on the street. This is rather important, because he can always be found on the street - and he usually looks more like a pan-handler than a preacher.
- Accept ingratitude and abuse as a fixed cost. Embrace them, and then go the extra mile.
- If you follow Jesus, you will anger religious people. This is how you will know.
[rhymes with kerouac]
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Response: A reminder
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#10 reminded me of something Archbishop Oscar Romero said (and I'm sorry I have to paraphrase): If my church is being persecuted, that must mean I'm doing something right.
I hope you're coming out from under the flu. Blessings, sir.
In a way this is what we Catholics mean when we refer to ourselves as sinners in prayer and elsewhere.
As a Protestant {three decades} I was always big on calling myself a saint. I am both. I am saved, so I am a saint, but I am being saved and know well that I "suck." I also know that I will be saved, fully one day when I will "suck" no more. To say "I'm a Christian, and I suck. So do you. Let's get that out of the way, shall we?" is a refreshingly Catholic thing to say. :)
The whole post is good.
::thrive!
O
oh and thanks for telling me I suck. I had a hunch.
i wish i had written this
actually, i wish I could live this
i'm giving it a go, and you're so right, the religious people get mad as hell ...
I posted the exact same sentiment, word for word a few months ago which you can read at
http://godmessedmeup.blogspot.com/2006/09/i-suck-at-being-christian-but-so-do.html
(I hope I put this url in correctly. I'm not familiar with this blogging format)
ok, just scroll to the Sept 06 archive and you'll find it.
besides sucking at being a christian i apparently also suck at inserting links on other people's blogs. argh.
feel better.
so i go - Always play the hunch.
Ryan - It's sounds better in King James English: "...and thou, rwk, who doth truly sucketh..."
Kel - I wish I could live it, too.
Pam - I went in and fixed the link. You said it much better than I did, btw...
~m2~ - Thou dost truly rocketh, sister.
John B. - I wouldn't dare compare this to the Beatitudes - that's some serious chutzpah. Writing this blog is pretty much like the rest of my life... I just make it up as I go along.