Quote for the last post

SIDE NOTE: MY LINKS ARE WORKING NOW =)

I just read this and I HAD to add it to the last post....(it will make sense if you've read the last one)

The vision that Jesus gives us is this: That I am unconditionally loved, that I belong to God, and that I am a person who can really trust that. When I meet another person who also is rooted in the heart of God, then the spirit of God in me can recognize the spirit of God in the other person, and then wew can start building a new space, a new home, a house, a community. Whether we speak about friendship, community, family, marriage, in the spiritual world we are talking about spirit recognizing Spirit, solitude embracing Solitude, heart speaking to Heart. And where this happens, there is an immense space.

- Henri Nouwen
Lecture at Scarritt-Bennett Center

you are Named

-“You memorized the names of the all the stars—how many are there?”
-“What difference does that make? I know their names. I don’t know how many there are. It’s their names that matter.”

“A Namer has to know who people are, and who they are meant to be.”


One of the truths that has been taught to me through Madeleine L'engle is that we, as image bearers of God, have the capacity to Name people; to convey to them who they are, who they are meant to be; to call out the true creation inside of them. To tell them for the first time or to remind them that they have been named; that they are known (truly- deeply and intimately); that they are worthy of love and that they are loved.

And that is precisely how we name them: we love them.

And we all know that we love in many ways. Sometimes naming them (showing them who they really are) means we sue audible words, sometimes we even have to scream it at them; many times it means forgetting the wrong that they've done and pouring out grace to them, no matter how much it hurts and goes against what we feel is just; sometimes it means searching inside them to find the good, the lovable (and this can be very hard sometimes) and only thinking about when you think about that person and only talking about that when we Name that person to others, a.k.a. talk about that person. Sometimes (most times) it means fighting for their identity in intense warfare called prayer. Most times you can do it in subtle ways-- with the tone of voice you use to talk to that person, by consistently encouraging their uniqueness (even when its not you're favorite) indirectly. There are many more ways that will come to mind if you simply stop and think about it.

Our society is in the middle of a tragic identity crises (you could argue that it always has been) and there are "forces" out there that are telling people that they are nothing; that it doesn't matter what they do or think or feel--just do whatever feels good. We see some of this is disorders like schizophrenia and depression and bi-poler disorder and many others. You also see it in the way people talk about being honest, being fair, loving, etc, yet they dont practice it themselves in the corporate world, the political world, the day to day world in their relationships. We have different realities of work Bob, bar Bob, internet Bob, family Bob.
And the one everyone can relate to--> We have the person that everyone knows and then the real self with all her hidden sins, sad thoughts, confusion, and all the other darkness that we hold inside. So we have to pretend. Pretend that everything is ok. Pretend that you are great; that you're not sad, that you didn't do anything wrong, that everything makes sense to you, that you have everything together, that you're not broken.

Pretending implies two realities.

And we get tired of pretending.

So we choose which one is real to us.

Pretend world vs. Real world.
Knowing who you are with all the crap that comes along with you (because you're broken, lets face it, everyone is. Everyone has something dark and ugly. EVERYONE. promise.) or think that everything is okay; think that working through the hard stuff inside you is pointless and stupid and painful, so lets just seek ease and pleasure; thinking that you are not connected to anyone else; that you are not connected to the whole world, the whole universe; thinking that you're thoughts and actions do not affect anyone else.

Thinking that it just doesn't matter.

(this is where we, as Namers come in. We tell each other and show each other how we really do matter. We remind each other that we were KNOWN before we were conceived. We are KNOWN right now. That we are CONNECTED. That every little thing we do matters. We, as Namers, tell each other what is a lie/what is not real. And we tell each other the real things about our life, about who we are. We tell each other the Truth.)

We can believe "nothing really matters so therefore, I am the only one that matters." Or we can accept what is real. Take the crap , forfeit the pleasure, but know that the crap is REAL and it can be worked through, because IT IS REAL. Nothing in pretend world can be worked through. And we know that. . .

No growth = no beauty.

No brokenness= no beauty.

Expose the dark = the light shines through = we see the beauty.

"Reality in its essence is unified; is one.

God is one.

God's work is to unite things that were created to be ONE, but have fallen apart." (rob bell)

Do you live in two realities? The internal truth and the external person who's trying to be what you think everyone expects of you. We sometimes live in that external "reality" to protect us from what is really true.

"The work of the cross is to unite those realities,

so that you don't have to say 'I'm tired of pretending.'"

Because you don't have to pretend.

You can be united, whole, complete.

And that is His beautiful work. He invites people to become one.

To unite you're two realities.

You are known.
"You are created matter. You are part of the great plan, an indispensable part. You are needed; you have your own unique share in the freedom of creation.”
You are fully and completely known by your creator.

And you're creator wants to make you known to everyone you know. Truly known. With all the crap.

If he knows every name of every single batrillionjillon star in our galaxy, plus many others, don't you think he knows you're name and what that name represents--who you are, truly? When I let that sink in, it is pretty intense.

Let's let him unite our realities.
Let's let him make us one. Inside and out. Brokenness to beauty.
Let's let ourselves be known to the universe (other people).
Let's Name each other for who we really are.

Imitator

To be an imitator of Christ. . .. .

just kidding. im not getting all spiritual just yet.

I am an imitator.
I am not a very creative or imaginative person.
But I do have a gift of being able to look at other people's art, music, books, writings, thoughts, etc. and go somewheres else with it; learn from it; grow; go deeper, etc.

So I will go forward in true Juliette fashion.
Everyone seems to start their blog with a similar set of things:

I finally caved and got a blog.
I'm not very good at this blog thing.
Don't expect much from this.
No one is going to read this.
I'm not very clever or funny.
you know the drill.

so isn't that what i'm supposed to say?
whatever, i wrote it. there.

I do have reservations about actually blogging myself. Come on, i am a christian sociology major--blogging implies much about the state of our society right now--and its mostly not good.

But I broke for a few reasons:
1) I know only my good friends will read this so i'm not pushing the brokenness of communication (that we're experiencing more and more) too far

2) I find myself thinking out a sort of blog-like thought/rant often times. Most of the things that I actually take time to write/journal are not meant for just me or God. (if they are for me, then i'll just keep them with me in my mind and if they're for God, I do nothing but think and be and he takes it all in) They are meant for others. And most of the things that I take time to write are my "heavy" thoughts (meaning they weigh heavy on my heart) and they are things that I want to scream to all of the world. So this is the closest I could get.

3) It is summer. I find that people have more time to read blogs over the summer so maybe I can assist people in their boredom with some material to read. Also, I have more time to think, process, soak in, and spit out more "heavy" thoughts during the summer. And this will be my most restful, "stop and soak it all in" summer EVER to date--> so I'm hoping this will be part of that process.

One disclaimer:
I am still hesitant to actually start this because, like I said, only my good friends will read it, which seems silly for me to even do this because why can't I just share these thoughts with them in person or even in email where its cordial for them to reply with their thoughts??? Isn't that the whole point--> a response. T'is communication. Basically, I do not except acquaintances or people I don't really know to respond to this (i would LOVE for every single person to respond, but we are part of this generation that gets to know people with out giving ourselves, so I'm just being realistic), but i DO expect people who know me fairly well to communicate with me over these thoughts. Not because I want to talk about my stuff-- quite the opposite--i want to talk about your stuff and your thoughts that come from my stuff that came from someone else. It will kill me to know that someone read this, had thoughts to share, but simply pushed them away and moved on-- cause if we would have discussed it in person, i would not have let you move on! You know I want you're thoughts and your communication!

That's what we're all about. Being. Together.