pen pal
“We do not look to the things that are seen but the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are passing away but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
This is a quote from the bible (some where after the four gospels but where exactly I’m not sure anymore) that has haunted me for years, infact, it has become a guide for my life. We live in a post enlightenment age where we think of the physical substance of our lives as real, more real than the mysterious whispers that flutter just beyond our peripheal vision. The bible is packed with wierd unexplainable shit like when Jesus told his close friends that where in his inner orbit to feed all the people collected on the hill side that numbered into the thousands when they really didn’t have anything near what would be needed to perform such a task. What they had to work with was what they found in the lunch sack of one single young boy. That’s what they had, that’s what they used and every one got fed and there was a ton left over. What part of that equation makes sense to you? It is impossible and yet it is the path God choose. That story is not the only one like it, the whole fucking bible is built like that. Ordinary people doing impossible things because God pulls them into impossible situations where they are forced to go way beyond themselves and into God’s checking account. Our family is currently living like this and it is kicking the shit out of me and I am OK with that because the less shit in me the better.
I have been launched out into an incredible adventure with Brenda and the children and all the people that come in and out of our life like busboys and actors. All we can do every day is to remain present to the moment we are presently in. This is really living, this is really happening and it is as scary as heaven.
August 12th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I am deeply moved by this painting.
I am moved by your willingness to be vulnerable.
Thank you for sharing.
August 13th, 2008 at 8:58 am
That painting and your insight are absolutely beautiful.
August 14th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Thanks for this…a good reminder to have faith that God will provide. My freelance work has dried up and we’ve sat down to our now meager budget, trying to plan how to feed a family of 4, soon to be 5, the story of the fishes and loaves is a good one to remember. I only wish we had planted a garden in the spring, as you did! I pray you are enjoying the bounty now and can find a way to the other things you need. Your family is a constant inspiration and role model for me.
August 17th, 2008 at 6:34 am
I’ve read through your blog this morning and found it encouraging.I admire the way you and your family have chose to live, creativity, faith, and sustainability, none of which come without a tremendous amount of work.
August 23rd, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I was shocked and appalled at the language in your blog August 12, 2008. I was led to believe that this was a Christian site and was sadly disappointed at the use of sh** and F*****.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Dear Rick and Brenda:
I wish I could have visited your recent family show. As you know I loved dropping by and encouraging friends and coworkers to do the same. Your reflection about the unseen and unforseen is very intriguing to me. The passage you are referring to is 2 Cor. 4:16-18. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
What Paul and his brothers and sisters with him experienced in the first century you are embracing and living out today. The reality is painful at times as you make public through the blog. The reality also is transforming–”the less shit in me the better.”
Mary Oliver is one of my favorite poets. In one of her most recent volumes titled THIRST she writes a poem called
The Uses of Sorrow.
(In my sleep I dreamed this poem)
Someone I once loved gave me
a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand
that this, too, was a gift.
May you continue to know the grace and peace of God. Love to you and your dear children.
John