You can’t go to a place like Guatemala without being confronted by poverty. It’s everywhere. It’s pervasive and in your face and when you go there as a rich North American (and make no mistakes – you are rich) it begins to gnaw away at you that something about this disparity between you and the people you’re seeing simply isn’t right. That was a fairly universal reaction from our team members both of the years we have gone, but this year it hit me in a more profound way.
I felt like God kept pointing out to me the excesses of my own life and world – the things that I take for granted that these people would never even dream of having, the ingratitude that I demonstrate time and time again for things that could literally change the lives of these people and the happiness that these impoverished children of God have while I am too often bitter and consumed with the things that I want but cannot posses. I felt like God was saying to the deepest parts of my soul that something was very wrong with me.
Have you ever experienced that feeling? That deep seated awareness that something isn’t as it should be – that you’re not who you’re supposed to be? Perhaps it was in a Job that you were working in and you just felt in an unexplainable way that you are supposed to be doing something else; perhaps it was in a relationship that wasn’t redeeming – you were dating someone or were close friends with someone that was leading you down a path that you knew you didn’t want to go down; perhaps it was in school and you were discovering your own self and realising that the path you had marked out for your life wasn’t the right one and you didn’t know what was the right step to take next. In those times I am convinced that the Holy Spirit of God comes and whispers into our hearts the truth of things that we can’t or won’t understand. He tells us how to re-align our priorities and what we need to purge ourselves of to run the race God calls us into unencumbered. But often the call of God is not an easy one.
In many ways that experience gives us a better definition of Lent than the dictionary does. Lent is a journey. It’s an experience of travelling with God down a road toward Christ likeness – You have no map and you’re running low on fuel. The only way you’re going to find your destination is by listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, following his course corrections and jettisoning the extra baggage that weighs us down and hampers our forward progress. Lent is a practical discipline that helps us focus on what’s important – and while in Guatemala God began to call me into a season of Lent with a passage of scripture that became a mirror for me; a parable that Jesus told that reflected back to me the man that I had become. This is the story of the lesser man.
In many ways that experience gives us a better definition of Lent than the dictionary does. Lent is a journey. It’s an experience of travelling with God down a road toward Christ likeness – You have no map and you’re running low on fuel. The only way you’re going to find your destination is by listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, following his course corrections and jettisoning the extra baggage that weighs us down and hampers our forward progress. Lent is a practical discipline that helps us focus on what’s important – and while in Guatemala God began to call me into a season of Lent with a passage of scripture that became a mirror for me; a parable that Jesus told that reflected back to me the man that I had become. This is the story of the lesser man.
And now to today's Transformer:
Continuing through my collection of Classics/Universe /Generations (they are basically the same toy line but every year Hasbro changes up the name to keep the marketing fresh) I present to you classics Astrotrain. Astrotrain is a fan favourite among the Generation One Transformers who along with Blitzwing comprised the original entrants into the "triple changer" family of toys. As his name implies he transforms from Robot to Space Shuttle to Train Engine. In his original incarnation he was dark grey and purple and transformed into an older Steam Engine style train mode, but here Hasbro has updated him in several ways giving him a high-speed bullet train alternate mode and swapping out his dark colours for blinding white.Despite the significant changes to both is form and fashion, Astrotrain remains remarkably similar to his original incarnation in his robot mode - a real achievement for the toy's designers. He was one of the first toys released in this toy line and probably still the best triple changer of the bunch. Farewell Astrotrain, find your home amongst the stars.
And here's one last reminder of this week's auctions which all expire on Sunday. Whether you're interested in bidding or simply keeping tabs on my faithfulness to this commitment, I urge you to check them out.
Blessings,
Chris
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