the loudest voices
We have less than 5 weeks from my due date. I think this calls for an existential crisis, right? Haha.
A few weeks back, I wrote an old college friend and said, “How am I going to do this? How am I going to teach my son about faith and life and pain and beauty and grace? I get so frustrated with the Church some times. I am so broken myself. What in the world am I going to do?”
This friend reassured me beyond all doubt that I was going to do just fine. Because God has given us faith and life and pain and beauty and grace. He did remark that he could understand, though, how daunting it would be to think of bringing up a child when we don’t have the answers, when things are broken, when you look at the world today.
His response made me realize two very, very important things.
First of all, I think it has always been daunting to think of the world we are bringing children into. I don’t really think there’s ever been a “good time”. Peace on earth isn’t a reality and never has been. This historical fact actually makes me feel better about the whole thing. People have brought new life into the dying world for all of our existence.
Second of all, I do not need to fear the things I fear. When I hear that the loudest voices are often the ones proclaiming hate, injustice, or distraction, I worry our son will listen to those {and to country music, but that’s another problem}. But my friend reminded me that our son has something bigger than those voices on his side – us. He has parents who do not listen to the voices, not because they don’t hear them, but because they know better. I don’t have to be louder than all those voices. I just have to be his mother. This will be enough, and it was enough for Jesus. When I look at Jesus’ life, I realize he didn’t spend all his time trying to argue, or be louder, or raise some kind of cause. He answered questions with questions, he challenged our hearts, and when he got overwhelmed by the world, he pulled away and went to the Father. When he wanted to make the biggest statement in history, he did so by dying.
That message drowns out all the other things. That is the message I want my son to hear above all else.
{And to hip hop, please Lord, let him like hip hop over country music.}
And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. – 1 Corinthians 1:20-25
“If you preach hate at the service those words aren't anointed
That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned” Macklemore
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