Follow The String

Sometimes I imagine that carry a ball of string with infinite threads that I wrap around everyone I meet, then they take it on their own way. We are all intertwined through these connections. Last summer, I took the spiderweb to Kenya, and passed it off to some beautiful people. Come on in. Watch it grow. Help me learn something.

1.26.2007

Praise Be.

I've been blown away by this blog (Daily Life in a Homeless Shelter) and I. AM. AWED. by this post (pasted in full and linked below).

The 'Following Jesus' Manifesto

1. Stop talking about Jesus. Just stop. If we loved the people around us half as much as we say we love Jesus the rest of this manifesto would be entirely redundant.
2. Live a secret life. Invest the time, effort and vulnerability necessary to delve deeply into the scripture and prayer. Spend long periods of time in stillness. There is no shortcut to this, there is no other way. Without a deep and secret life we soon find ourselves talking about Jesus instead of being like Jesus.
3. Stop pretending. I'm a Christian, and I suck. So do you. Let's get that out of the way, shall we?
4. Give more than you get. There will always be more than enough.
5. Be present for those around you. Following Jesus has nothing to do with your work, your resume or your income. In fact, nothing that matters does.
6. Treasure broken-ness. Our broken places are sacred spaces in our heart. Honour them. Value them. In doing so you love the unlovely, publicly declaring the beauty of God's image in everyone. Greet the broken with comfort and cool water.
7. Throw a party.
8. Know Jesus well enough to recognize him on the street.
This is rather important, because he can always be found on the street - and he usually looks more like a pan-handler than a preacher.
9. Accept ingratitude and abuse as a fixed cost. Embrace them, and then go the extra mile.
10. If you follow Jesus, you will anger religious people. This is how you will know.

Readers, I am humbled. My hat is tipped. I wish I could have articulated my thoughts this well. This just DRIPS with Jesus and I'm going to tape it above my desk at work.

Today's Soundtrack: Spinning - Zero 7 - Simple Things

3 Comments:

At 2:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

it's so awesome I'm stealing it for my blog :) hey, when is the KC birthday party? or did I miss it?

marlies

 
At 11:49 AM, Blogger noha said...

So good. I mean, if I just say God where you've said Jesus, I'm totally inspired. It's amazing how despite our differences, we're really all the same...
Wow Ally, you make me want to write much more meaningful posts every time I read yours...

 
At 12:26 AM, Blogger little jeter said...

Wow...need I say more. I pray that this would be my life and not my words. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

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