Changing Perceptions

Finally, this morning I felt a gentle peace for the first time since being back in the USA. I went to my Waco church home, Church Under the Bridge, where I was greeted by many warm faces and words saying I was missed. For the first time, I felt not like a foreigner here in America. For the first time, I could breathe a sigh of gladness to be here.

I have been really sad being back here in America. Sadness is the best word I can come up with to expain how I've been feeling.

Things that last Spring I would have laughed at or merely ignored make me cry...

*In my Economic Development class on Monday, the first day of school, I was fighting to hold back tears in the middle of the hour and thirty minute class. Our teacher was talking about the numbers and statistics of poverty in third-world countries...he was using humor to intrigue the Baylor students with matters of Economic Development...he was poking fun at the rural working poor in developing countries. And, frankly, the joke was funny and it was not mean-spirited. This teacher has such an obvious heart for helping poor countries.

However...I couldn't take it. I couldn't stand the students giggling behind me. I couldn't stand how methodical the class was sounding. These weren't numbers of illiterate women...these weren't numbers of deaths due to AIDS.

HE is Emilio. SHE is Linda. HE is Kingston. SHE is Bernadette. HE is Makendy.
They are people and some of them are my family.

I am way too sensitive...but, the sadness has just been overwhlming.

*On Thursday night at Common Grounds, a trendy college coffee bar, I was sitting outside on a really cute patio with one of my friends. We were talking about her life and her new, exciting semester ahead...

...A girl who worked at Common Grounds was outside cleaning up empty cups and straighening up the tables and chairs...One chair was kinda losing the armrest....and, she came up to my friend and I and said something I will never forget. She said..."Man...it's like a third-world country out here." I couldn't believe her comment. WHAT?! I didn't know what to say...I just kinda looked down...very uncomfortably. There is nothing at this hip, upper-middle-class coffee bar that reminds me of a third-world country. What a disgusting comment.

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This morning at church, I finally felt at home.
I finally felt like I was surrounded by others who saw the Kingdom of God with similar eyes.

Jimmy Dorrell, the pastor of the church and a man whom I admire soooo much, spoke today from James Chapter 2:1-13. He talked about the beauty of Jesus and how so many churches and Christians in America do not understand the simple concept of unity under Christ.

Christianity is revolutionary because it is counter-cultural.
Jesus Christ draws crowds because it is so apparant that he is different from popular culture.

In Christianity, we are all equal. White, black, brown, rich, poor, middle-class...We are all the same under God. Church Under the Bridge is such a beautiful place to be. The church is so diverse and we can stand united under Christ is a way so revolutionary to today's capitalistic culture.

Any type of segregation within the church rapes the Gospels of God's Word. Any type of segregation...racial, socio-economical, cultural, gender based...

Today at Church Under the Bridge I saw a man and his wife (Jimmy and Janet Dorrell) living out the Kingdom of God. They live what Jesus preaches. They broke away from the middle-class mentality into a new way of living. They dedicate their lives to bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth in Waco, Texas.

When I first went to Haiti, I was with Jimmy and Janet. They have both had such a huge impact on my perspectives on the world. I look up to them so much.

If only we can just share what we have.
Isn't that so easy to say? If God gives us, we need to share. We must share the things that are given to us, generously, by God.
But, that is so hard to do. We like our things, and in fact, many people would argue that they-themselves worked to achieve those things on their own. (Myself often included)
But, for Christians, that is robbing God of His glory.
And, I desire to give glory to God.
I want so bad for Him to smile when He looks at my life.
I want to experience Him.

Lyrics I'm Humming:
Viv Gloria Viv (Haitian worship song)