::Good::

I have a shelter-friend.
She reminded me again, that Good is something you live . . .

Back at the beginning, when God was speaking everything we know into being, he pronounced it all good. The light & darkness was good. The fruits and plants were good. The birds and fish were good. And then He shaped the man and the woman, and gave over all of the things that came before into their care and said; Go use them. Go flourish and thrive with the help of these good things. Is this not good defined? The marvelous things God crafted were called good in direct relation to the glorious use of them in our hands. How will we spend the bounty?

And spend we must. Good is active.

⁶"Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked,
to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸ Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
⁹Then you shall call,
and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.'
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger,
and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰ if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹And the LORD will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
~Isaiah 58~

We love to be invested in-- to be spent on-- but do we love to spend ourselves on others? I know you all know the way your heart flutters after it has discerned a need, and sacrificed for the Joy of another. There is an inherent sense of fulfillment in giving without strings attached. Is your mind conjuring up warm pies and meals, still warm, dropped at the doorstep? But there are other kinds of good that can't fill a belly. There is the giving of your Story.

When we are in the depths, we convince ourselves that we are alone. We think we are unwanted, and an only resident on this particular map of misery, (or sin). And then another comes to you and tells you that she has a place on that map. She has experienced this same despair. And the raw vulnerability of the words flood you with a security of belonging. So, why do we hide?

Is it just me, or are more and more people walking around in plain daylight, completely walled up and invisible? No one wants to reveal a chink in their armour. No one wants to be seen on their knees. No one wants to be thought of as weak.

"The more we play this "hiding game" the less people feel they belong".
~Beth Moore~

Strangers walking in a crowd of strangers are still alone.

Heard this new Jars of Clay on a drive. It fit.
In the shelter on each other we will live.


{::Photo Credit::}