Whatever is Pure, Inspiring Christian Poetry, Devotionals and Testimonies August 2008

Since early childhood, I viewed the world with severe nearsightedness. Although I sat in the first row of desks for the first two years of schooling, I had difficulty reading the chalkboard until I received my first pair of glasses. As my vision continued to fail, I no longer could read road signs and whenever possible, I relied on landmarks to navigate. I became accustomed to taking off my glasses and bringing the paper, bottle or package closer in order to read the fine print. Friends and family understood that if they saw me walking down the street and wanted my attention, they would have to come closer in order for me to see them. Unconsciously, I adapted to my vision limitations and lived a normal, ordinary life in my nearsighted world. Even when cataracts began to form and cloud my vision, I was able to adapt until surgery became necessary. Through the miracle of modern medicine, I received special lens implants that turned my world upside down.

The moment the bandages were removed from my eyes, I was disoriented. I reached for my eyeglasses but they were of no use to me; I was no longer nearsighted. It appeared that I entered the world of slight far-sightedness. I reached for my cane to follow the nurse into the examining room and missed it twice; it seemed a lot closer to me than before. The hallway corridor seemed narrower and I wondered if I would bump against a wall by accident. As I sat waiting for the doctor to examine me, I picked up a magazine and lifted it close to my face, as was my habit. I could not make out a word; it was all a blur. I blinked, then blinked again to clear my vision, then tried to read the same passage to no avail. After a quick trip to a drug store for a temporary pair of reading glasses, I was glad to be home in the comfort of my familiar surroundings. Over the week, I timidly ventured out, exploring my new world, doing a little grocery shopping, dropping off a letter in the mail.

The crunch came on Sunday as I walked into a crowded gymnasium for Sunday Services. Children appeared to run at breakneck speed directly toward me. I felt that people barely avoided brushing against me as they edged past me to find a seat. Why were my friends unnecessarily entering into my personal space to talk to me? The lights seemed too bright; the lines on the floor seemed too distracting, the curved layout of the chairs made me dizzy. As the service began and the dancers waved their worship scarves and banners, it was all too much. I put on my sunglasses and for much of the service I shut my eyes and half-wished for my old eyes back. Sure life was a bit fuzzy, maybe a little cloudy at times but at least it was familiar!

Through surgery, I had a truer picture of the world around me and I had two choices; I could stay in a darkened room the rest of my life or I could learn to align myself with that picture. By the next Sunday, my brain had reprogrammed enough that I could no longer visualize my old worldview. And so it is with the ways of God. When a new revelation comes to us, whether it be the first few months of a life now dedicated to God or through repentance brought by deep conviction of specific sin in our lives, it can be disconcerting. Our world looks different! We are not sure how we fit in any longer. Our view of our friends and family and the world we live in is no longer the same. Often, we need to learn new ways of doing things. Old habits and patterns have to be set aside. We no longer can relate to our environment in the same manner we did before. Fresh revelation brings new clarity. More often than not, new clarity demands a heart change.

The results of my eye surgery are permanent and I have no choice but to adapt to my new worldview. With the ways of God, we must embrace this newfound clarity with deliberation and active intent or we will slowly return to our old ways, allowing our old sinful filters to once again distort and cloud our minds and spirits. However, the good news is that as we continue to seek after God, asking God to open our eyes to his ways, we will look back and marvel. How did we ever cope living in our world with our old limited sight?

Hidden in the darkness,
Not knowing what we seek
But searching,
Endlessly searching.

Drawn out of the shadows,
No longer belonging to the darkness
We are light.
Children of the light.

Now a task we have been given
That will take our lives to achieve.
We must face our fears
And look again at the darkness,
That seemingly endless darkness.

Our task is dangerous for the darkness reaches out to us
Trying to regain what it has lost.
We must resist.
Cling to the light
While facing down the dark.

Our task:
To find those hidden in the darkness
Not knowing what they seek
But searching,
Endlessly searching.
We must guide them to the light.

Children of the light
Must be beacons,
Guiding lanterns for those trapped in the endless night.

Guide gently, children of the light.
The darkness muddles and distorts
And the hidden will be distrustful.
But when they find the light
The JOY!
The end to hopeless searching
And the creation of a new guide.

We are an army of the light
Facing down the darkness.
One day, our task shall be complete.
One day,
The darkness shall depart.

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Growing up among the pews of a charismatic church, I always thought I knew the Lord. When we sang out praise songs and pounded the beat of bass and percussion with our hands raised to the sky, my heart thumped with the thought that if it were not for Jesus, I’d be condemned to hell. I gave little thought to the world outside the walls of our church so I didn’t miss that aspect of my life when it silently dwindled to almost nothing. My family failed to notice how lop-sided our subsistence had become with church as the main event several times a week. I also had no way of knowing that somewhere out in that world, there was a girl my age living a very different experience, who would one day, years later, prove instrumental in changing the course of my destiny. While I was learning that a woman’s place was in the home, education meant little, and doubters offended God, she was in another town being taught to reach for the stars and to question everything. We would grow up to beco
me fast friends.

Our worlds rotated slowly until we were two strangers moving in across the street from one another. The fact that she was an agnostic with a psychology degree and had a full-time sales position with a pharmaceutical company seemed to indicate on the surface that we would not be spending very much time together. But something unexpected happened; a flash of peculiar coincidence illuminated our commonalities and propelled us into the depths of a soul-searching friendship. We began by asking ourselves what lessons we must have missed; her from the professor, me from the pulpit. We forged ahead knowing there had to be a better way to approach each of our lives.

Hours of study, discussion, and screaming debate, over coffee and pre-packaged biscuits, led us both to the spiritual treasure trove of life-changing faith in a living God. Through peeling back the layers of past experience and old thought patterns until we both released the broken ideas holding us back, we found an understanding that sent us soaring from lives of empty struggle, to living with soul-value.

There was more for me than believing in God and trusting that Jesus died to save my soul from hell. I had to receive that love and live out its ultimate purpose as a unique individual. There was more for my friend than spinning around in a successful, but anxious life looking ahead to her next accomplishment. She had to find that her worth was not wrapped up in those endeavors, but in the essence of who God had created her to be. Together, when we dug down, with psychology in one hand and faith in the other, we found the power to change, the courage to let go of our pasts, and the freedom to fully live. We found a truth so profound, it brought a liberal agnostic to her knees and a conservative Christian to her senses; neither of us will ever be the same.

Our transformation began in a simple friendship, but has been affecting the people close to us in many ways since. Through the overflow of excitement and grounded, practical application of all that was learned, we spent years developing a presentation of the Gospel that would appeal to others – like us – who knew there was something missing. We are humbled by our profound experience and pleased to share it whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Have you ever noticed the "Jesus and me" mentality that clings to much of Christian America like cobwebs to a door jamb? Is "Lone Ranger" faith biblical? Is it how the early Christians thought?

Take another look at Matthew 6:9-13 for instance, the model prayer the Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples. Pronouns are key:

"Our (not my) Father… Give us (not me) our (not my)… Forgive us … as we … lead us …"

As Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (A.D. 250) observed, "Our prayer is public and common, and when we pray we pray not for one but for the whole people, because we, the whole people, are one."

Likewise, the Apostle Paul doesn’t seem consumed with "Jesus and me." Again, it’s all in the pronouns. In his epistles to the early church Paul refers to Jesus as "Our Lord" 53 times. He uses the expression "my Lord" just once (in Philippians 3:8). What does this say about the priorities of the great apostle?

For one thing, it says that Paul’s central concern wasn’t his own spiritual journey or that of his individual converts. Instead, Paul’s passion was to establish what Talbot School of Theology NT Language and Literature Professor Joseph Hellerman calls "spiritually vibrant, relationally healthy communities of believers in strategic urban setting throughout the Mediterranean world" (emphasis added).

Jesus and me vs. Jesus and we. A divine blueprint for the 1st century as well as the 21st. It’s all in the pronouns.

She said, "My friend this path is not easy."
But take a walk on the streets and there you will your answer receive

There are millions like these on the streets
Who are starving with nothing to eat

I am blessed because I have a home to go
There are millions who are homeless and nowhere to go

I am blessed I have a family to love
There are millions who are orphans and starving for some love

I am blessed because today I woke up feeling fresh and healthy
There are millions who are sick don’t know if they will ever live

I am blessed because my son has parents to love
There are millions of children who hunger for love

They are called the children of this earth
They know that today there is no food to eat and

So they have to just drink water and sleep
I am blessed because I can live peacefully

There are countries fighting over their boundaries
People killing each other in the name of religion

I realized I had reached the end of the road
And now I was ready to go back home

I promise that I will always count my blessings
And thank my SAVIOR Jesus Christ our King

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As of May 2012, "WHATEVER IS PURE" ARCHIVES will no longer be seeking submissions. As most authors and poets now have their own blogs, we noticed a significant drop in submissions over the past year and felt it was best to move on to other endeavors.

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