Preacher on the Run…

I’ve idealized every stage of my life. I ideated myself as the fasted man on earth when I was in elementary school. Racing past all the slower life forms on the playground was my game. Then, in middle school, my ideations shifted to being the next MVP of the gridiron. Catching diving passes to secure the victory for the championship. College came and the dreams shifted to the far-reaching impact I’d make on society as a whole. Imagining all the conferences I’d speak at, books I’d write, and people I’d lead. Idealization is like that…all pomp and circumstance but lacking suffering and consequence.

Life turned out to be a little less than I imagined. Don’t get me wrong I have a very blessed life. I’ve won my fair share of foot races, caught a touchdown pass, and made an impact on people. But reality has a way of humbling the greatest dreamer. It didn’t take long to be the slower life form on the playground, sit on the bench during big games, or have fewer than 1 book title to my name. Ideas are great, but life is real. And reality includes suffering, difficulty, turmoil, and blood.

Humans love the positive and avoid the negative at all costs. Have you ever stopped to question why that is? I don’t think it’s just a comfort thing. The avoidance goes deeper. One could say it goes to the core of who we are and where we live. Our soul and the universe seemingly groan for a place and time without suffering. Yet it surrounds us every day. Why is that? I think Samuel D. James has an excellent and intriguing take on it in his article, “The Universe Demands a Cross“. It is well worth the 4 minutes of your time to read.

We all, present company included, idealize life far too often. In doing so, we can sanitize reality of the very thing it is screaming for us not just to observe, but to accept. Life on earth, right now, in this present day is not as it should be and there is only one way it must be dealt with and set right. That is what Easter is all about. The universe being set right. Realities of life being not just acknowledged but dealt with head-on. An ugly, bloody, necessary, world-altering conflict. That is what Good Friday and Easter Sunday were and are about.

As always don’t forget to be with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s day.

Until Next Time…

_{Photo by Armand Khoury on Unsplash}