"From what we get we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life."

--and yes, that is a cow wandering in traffic :).

On a more personal note to Bethyl and myself we were reading from John Henry Jowett’s Daily Meditation yesterday as we traveled. One cogent thought from him impressed me. Jesus is the Bread of Life. We are to eat Him. We are also to drink his blood, according to his teaching. We call this communion. I kinda get that since we Christians celebrate it so often, but it seems seriously cannibalistic if you want to know the truth. Anyway, the corollary thought that goes with this is that we are to become little jesuses. As such we are to be bread and drink to others. We are to allow, even encourage, others to eat and drink us. And the miracle of the loaves and fishes, or the Shunnamite widow, is that we are replenished daily by the Spirit as we obey and allow others to munch away on us. We go to sleep half a loaf and wake up having been made whole. I wonder why we read this on the way to meet with JJ?

Also as we were in transit to this place we read this piece from Eldridge in his book, Desire; later in the evening I read this to JJ as we were unsuccessfully trying to get the internet back up following a lightning storm--by the way, monsoon season begins here very soon, perhaps next week; we’re getting a preview tonight. Here’s the piece:

“Be kind, for everyone you know is facing a great battle. A true community is something you will have to fight for. You’ll have to fight to get one, and you’ll have to fight to keep it afloat. But you fight for it like you bail out a life raft during a storm at sea. You want this thing to work. You need this thing to work. You can’t ditch it and jump back on the cruise ship. (It sank.) This is the church; this is all you have. Without it, you’ll go down. …

Suddenly all those “one another’s” in Scripture make sense. Love one another. Bear one another’s burdens. Forgive one another. Acts of kindness become deeply meaningful because we know we are at war. Knowing full well that we are all facing battles of our own, we give one another the benefit of the doubt. For example, “Leigh isn’t intentionally being distant from me – she’s probably under an assault.” That’s why you must know each other’s stories; know how to “read” one another. A word of encouragement can heal a wound; a choice to forgive can destroy a stronghold. You never knew your simple acts were so weighty. It’s what we’ve come to call “lifestyle warfare.”

We check in regularly with one another, not out of paranoia (“Do you still like me?”), but in order to watch over each other’s hearts. “How are you doing?” But be careful about what you are looking for from community. For if you bring your every need to it, it will collapse. Community is no substitute for God... community cannot live without solitude also. “

We know that Jesus had his rhythm of time with the Father and then time with people. We too need to find ours. As I write this, it’s about 4:30 in the morning India time; 4 pm the prior day California time. “Jesus, today I need you like a man in a sinking raft needs a bailing bucket. Please give me mindful courage to feed on You and be fed upon by others. Through that Power that is at work within me. Amen.”