Lives That Matter

The events of this week reminded me that we in the West seem to cheapen the lives of those that are deemed expendable. This week hundreds of people lost their lives trying to escape brutality and towards a better life and 2,300 people lost their lives in a horrendous earthquake in Nepal. But most of the media attention was on the two hour special on Bruce Jenner. It seems almost daily we ignore large events like these in favor of tabloidism and titillating pieces of news.

I was reminded of this when I visited Rwanda in 2005 and 2009 that 1 million people lost their lives and at that time we in our country were fixated on O.J. Simpson. I am saddened by this. Our country still does so much to help those in need, but I sometimes question how much we really know and appreciate that these are real people. God cares about the poor and disenfranchised. That is very clear from His word. Every life matters to God.

This was brought clear to me as last weekend I was in San Antonio and on my way from the hotel to the convention center, I ran into Michelle, a homeless woman who asked me for money.  Many times I just keep walking but when the Holy Spirit really pricks my consciousness, I simply ask them "What is your story".  Michelle says she was beat up by her boyfriend. I asked her if she has spent time at a shelter and she told me she had but someone tried to rape her. I asked her if she had been to a church and she said that the church wouldn't welcome her. She said she trusted herself in the streets. My heart breaks.  Where is the church for this woman?

On the plane back from San Antonio, I sat next to Kariston (I believe that is how she spelled it) who was on her way to her fiancee's funeral who lost his life rolling his truck the previous week.  She also told me she was pregnant with his child. I hope I was just a brief bit of grace for this young woman.

I find myself convicted of my extreme callousness towards the lives of others.  Oh God, remove my heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. Give me "baby skin" that I might see others in their time of need and be ready to give just a small bit of your grace.

Heed the Signals

One of my favorite bike routes takes me up Route 82 to the Summit Bike and Hike Trail. You can then take that south where it connects to the Portage Bike Trail or north where it connects to the Cuyahoga Bike and Hike trail. Route 82 is quite busy and the speed limit along that road is 45 miles an hour. The trail actually crosses Route 82. There is a crossing signal that you can initiate as a walker or cyclist which issues flashing lights to the traffic. However, I have learned a long time ago that at best 1 in 3 people will actually stop for the flashing lights to let the people cross. Some probably don't know they are supposed to stop, some may not care and proceed anyway, and then there is the group that actually lets people cross.

I was reminded that God issues warning signals throughout the Scriptures. It is not good for us to violate those signals. They are there for our own good. Like the crossing signals however, we can be ignorant of them (not know they are really there and for our own good), we can choose to ignore them (in which case, beware because they are there for a reason) or we can obey them. I find in my own life that I have to have a willingness and even a yearning to obey the signals. I have to trust that they are there for my good. I have to trust that they are there for me to be everything God wants me to be. And then I have to take the step of obedience.

It is not enough to desire to obey the signals. I am sure some who pass through probably think they should but they don't. Maybe they are in a hurry. But intent simply is not good enough. We must desire AND actually take the step of obedience. Our life depends on it.

The Zamperini Story After Chapter 37

After seeing the movie Unbroken, I felt compelled to read the book. It is the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete who endured incredible hardship as a survivor of a plane crash in open sea and then as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese. After seeing the movie, I could not believe what he went through but the book tells even more of what he had to endure. To emerge a survivor is truly incredible.

About 95% of the book is dedicated to the horrors that Zamperini experienced. But the title is misleading because Zamperini could not possibly have endured what he endured without being broken in some way. Every man has his breaking point. Zamperini post-war was a shell of a man. We learn of his alcoholism and recurring nightmares of his lengthy abuse at the hands of the sadistic Japanese guard "The Bird" beginning in Chapter 34. We learn of his overwhelming desire to find and kill "The Bird". We learn of his marriage falling apart. This is a man that is really broken. We would not have a movie if the story ended after Chapter 37. Zamperini would have been one of the many racked by the ravages of Post Traumatic Stress.

In Chapter 38, we learn of his coming to faith in Christ and in Chapter 39 we hear of him going to Japan to purposely forgive his captors. He even was willing to forgive "The Bird" who was determined to be alive but did not show up to face Zamperini. The book ends after Chapter 39 although there is an Epilogue that describes Zamperini's  life post-conversion. The movie celebrates this man's endurance and so that is truly special. But it is false to think that this man was unbroken.

Time and space could not heal the deep wounds of his soul. God had to heal him.The opposite of broken is not unbroken, but healed. Zamperini was healed! What healed him was grace. Jesus Christ was broken in an even greater way. His undeserved breaking resulted in our healing.  We cannot will ourselves from our brokenness - we have to be healed. Healing is being changed from the inside out and that is what Zamperini experienced. And that is why we have the movie.

The Feel of Death

When I was in Rwanda, we visited a site of a technical school where more than 50,000 people were slaughtered during the genocide. As a memorial, the bones were excavated and laid out in the open. Debbie made a comment when we visited that place that she heard absolute silence - no birds singing, no sound of children playing, just utter silence. I have been told the wind that whips threw the trees makes a sound in a minor chord.

We just returned from Good Friday service and they did a great job of having us feel the literal sting of death. But not just death, but the death of our Lord. At the end, they simulated in some small way the revulsion of nature at the death of the Lord. Death has a sting Paul says - we feel that sting. It is the sting that is caused by sin.