Okay, this week you get a petite shakeperience.  It’s best for all involved–and it’s a rarity, so enjoy it.  Well, let us proceed: this brain’o mine has been getting a work-out this week. (It hurts.) There’s this lil’ book called Blue Like Jazz (don’t worry! No commercials this time!), and everybody else in the world read it wa-ay back last year, and I just finished.  There’s a part that examines the usual human approach to relationships: the way we talk shows that we think about loving in economic terms  (”investing” in people, etc.).  It’s common to do this. Although it’s a pretty cold approach, maybe it’s natural for humans to think in these terms (living in a world built on trading valuables to get what you want). The author went on to talk about how, as Christians, we can begin to treat people this way WHILE thinking there’s nothing wrong with it, or maybe without realizing it. We may use our love as a commodity, rewarding people who meet “our” standards (be they Bible-based or personal ethics–hopefully not too much difference) and with-holding it otherwise.  Basically (as you might have guessed) this is a terrible way to live, because it’s the EXACT OPPOSITE of what God did for us and what he subsequently calls US to do.  He brings us to repentance and change, through love.
 Then, at Shoeless Pursuit (that Sunday night worship service), this passage was read:
 “…24And the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome (fighting and contending). Instead, he must be kindly to everyone and mild-tempered [preserving the bond of peace]; he must be a skilled and suitable teacher, patient and forbearing and willing to suffer wrong.  25He must correct his opponents with COURTESY and GENTLENESS, in the hope that GOD may grant that they will repent and come to know the Truth.”  (2 Tim. 2)
 

That’s just it, eh?  There’s no two ways of reading this.  It’s not just a philosophy of what might work.  It’s what God calls us to.  I felt quite convicted, and I thought I’d pass this along, so we can all feel guilty together!  –No.  Just consider it.  The character description in the passage sounds pretty impossible, hey? But if you think about it, you probably already know a few people who love exceptionally well.  It doesn’t come naturally, but it’s pretty life changing when someone does it.  We’re human, yes, but God invites us to be transformed.  So, on that note…
(I just don’t know how to end this…)  Bye!