Lent:: Abundant Life

"He found that he was often angry...that they were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on. And he was angry at himself, that he could not change that for them." -Lois Lowry

In Lois Lowry's "the Giver" Jonas learns the truth of the world that everyone around him has given up in order to live in the comfort of their mundane lives. The people have given up all memory for the familiarity of a sterile prosaic monotony. There is no war, or hunger, or poverty; for this there is no color, no creativity, and no dreams. Jonas as he discovers the true joy of a life filled with color and promise is forced to flee the flat routine of his worlds uneventful utopia.

The Giver has been one of my favorite books since I first read it. Other books have come and went, but The Giver has maintained it's secure hold as my top fiction title. I am wild at heart spontaneous dreamer and a free spirited radical. I relate the awkward tension between Jonas' world and my own.

My seditious temperament often finds itself deeply pleased by the revolutionary subversion in the interactions between Jesus and his audience. Jesus wasn't safe to invite to a dinner party. I LOVE THAT!!!!

In my personal "pledge of allegiance" John 10:10 Christ contrast his abundant life promise to that of a thief. The thief wants to steal, kill, and destroy. The contrast to the opulence of Christ is not average mediocrity, it is barren poverty.

I am a communicator and yet it frustrates me that so many of the people of God are willing to accept the dearth of complacency despite it's negative effects on their marriages, their children, and their own peace while I am unable to herald a commission to change. Exasperation peaks within me as I look at the requiem of our cars, homes, clothing, and entertainment realizing the routine pursuit of these things are cancerous to us.

I will step off my soap box, put away my bullhorn and "end is near" sign and admit that I need a lot more abundant life too. I am amazed at how opposite the values, challenges, and activities of Jesus from our "norm." I want to be obsessed with His insurgence to a greater measure than I have sought the vacancy of this world's ways. I want abundant life! Here I Am Lord Send Me!