Sunday Speak...

On the first Sunday we were in Colombia

we went to the church

where this food program 

began.

They are the contact church

that over sees things up at the center.

This was my second time at this particular

inner city church

and let me tell you

these people get down with God.

Like many South American cities

the presence of Catholicism is everywhere.

But this church has Christian roots

and offers more of a Pentecostal feel...

Last time I went it was like attending a revival rave...

this time proved to be a little "calmer"

I love that kind of open expression.

*

They had asked us to speak...preach...share.

So three of us did

Julie, Karen and myself spoke 

I wanted to share with you what I shared with them.

As I prepared the couple days before

I asked myself

If I had one chance to share my heart

what would I say?

this is what I came up with:

Jesus said there are two great laws.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart

and love your neighbour as yourself.

These should be reflected in all that we do.

I then read from The Bible

1 Corinthians 12:12-26

^12-13You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.
 ^14-18I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.
 ^19-24But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you"? Or, Head telling Foot, "You're fired; your job has been phased out"? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it's a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?
 ^25-26The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

I continued on to say:

I believe that we are all connected.

I believe that what happens to another affects me-

sometimes indirectly

sometimes directly

But we affect each other none the less.

We are like threads in a great tapestry and together we weave something beautiful,

something hand crafted

by God him/herself.

When one of us is fed

we all are fed

when one of us is rested

we all rest

when one of us is healed

we all heal

to come here is my heart

To come here helps me learn more about the One

I follow

To give of myself here is easty

what I receive from that giving is great.

This is not about saving each other

it is about coming together, 

working together

coming alongside one another as Brothers and Sisters.

When we do this God's Great Love

is shown

When we journey together,

people from different worlds,

we show the abundant Love of the Divine

who does not see us by the country we live in,

who does not see us by the home we have,

who does not see us by our standard of living

Instead we show a Love 

that surpasses all

those things.

A Love 

that sees the heart

the true reflection of a person

And when we come together that Love grows.

It closes miles, countries, continents.

Bringing Hope

Hope to those who are lost

Hope to those who think they are alone

When we fell alone

separate from others

Hope Faith and Love are easily lost.

But when we stand together

we become strong in Hope and our Faith grows

And when Faith grows 

Love flows forth

And it is Love

The Spirit's Great Love 

through us that 

can

does

and 

will change this world.

then I sang this:

"Life Uncommon"

Don't worry mother, it'll be alright
And don't worry sister, say your prayers and sleep right
It'll be fine brother of mine
It'll be just fine
Lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend you strength to that which you wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And you shall lead a live uncommon
I've heard you anguish
I've heard you hearts cry out
We are tired, we are weary, but we aren't worn out
set down you chains, until only faith remains
Set down you chains
And lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lent your strength to that
which you wish to be free from
Fill you lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon
There are plenty of people who pray for peace
But if praying were enough it would have come to be
Let your words enslave no one and the heavens will hush themselves
To hear out voices ring out clear
with sounds of freedom
sounds of freedom
Come on you unbelievers, move out of the way
there is a new army coming and we are armed with faith
To live, we must give
To live
And lend out voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend out strength to that which we with to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead...
Lend our voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lent out strength to that which we with to be free from
Fill you lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon

This is one of my favorite songs

I especially love the line

"no longer lend yourself to that 

which you wish to be free from"

so powerful...

So my lovelies

fill your lives with Love and Bravery

and we shall live

a Life Uncommon

Love and Light