Excess
I am sad to say it has taken me
close to 40 years to realize that I am too comfortable. Jason and I have recently read quite a few
books that pertain to “love thy neighbor as thyself”, Crazy Love by Francis Chan, Irresistible
Revolution by Shane Claiborne, Barefoot
Church by Brandon Hatmaker, and I have also read “7” and Interrupted by Jen
Hatmaker.
On our path to becoming uncomfortable we are making
many changes. We are limiting use of
all devices and game systems, we are selling and giving away a lot of stuff
that we didn’t need, and spending some time nearly every day doing for
others. Even with all of these changes, we
still are not uncomfortable. I think I
have a lot more to give. How much is that? I am not sure, but I think as long
as our basic needs are met, aren’t we still comfortable? We talk about being
uncomfortable when the A/C or heater quits working, yet the poor cannot afford
these things and the homeless do not have a choice. If our stove quits working
we go out to eat until we buy another one, our friends that live in an old shed
cook over a fire outside. When the washing machine breaks we go to the
Laundromat, our friends wash their clothes in a bucket. I realize it comes down
to the fact that I am selfish. I think I deserve all of these things, but if I
deserve them doesn’t everybody else? I
read that Mother Theresa always took the worst pair of shoes for herself from
the donations so no one else had to wear them.
That’s uncomfortable! That is the uncomfortable that I want to be, to
love others enough that I would take the worst shoes so that others can wear
the comfortable shoes. Jesus died a very uncomfortable death, uncomfortable
shoes won’t be that hard to bear.
