LOOK AND LISTEN...LOVE AND LAUGH

He is telling his followers, 'You’re going to be persecuted the way the prophets were before you.'  -- Brian McLaren in Fr Richard's Daily Meditation, December 27, 2023

I must admit upfront that the word "prophet" causes me pause...it brings images of street corner fanatics and religious zealots, some of whom have been fairly close relatives of mine. So, off-putting to me but true, McLaren's description of the prophet fits my identity of myself:

The prophet is somebody who goes deep into themselves to hear the message that’s being birthed in the midst of their pain and their burdens and their frustrations and their sufferings and their questions and their perplexity and their disillusionments. In the foment and ferment of that inner journey, something begins to emerge, and they bring it out and they say, 'I can’t just say these words. I have to demonstrate them. I’ve got to find two or three other people who see what I see so that we can do something about it.'

I was hooked at the sentence, 'I can’t just say these words. I have to demonstrate them.' 

I realized with my first blinding flash of the obvious that I had to make it mine. My personal admonition with each new BFO has been, I must prove this...I can't share it until I have made it mine.  

It seemed that each BFO, each little understanding, why "little" is the necessary descriptive for me had become one. I recalled the snubs and snarks I have received for just being me...I feel the overwhelming love and acceptance I receive for just being me. I knew wonder and joy intertwined with trepidation and doubts. 

I must consider if this insight coming at the end of the year...coming at the beginning of a new year...is God's reality for me or my wannabe fantasy?

This I know from my own experience: God's reality for me is a wannabe fantasy until I quit talking it and start walking it. I will be cleared for landing in my head after I've landed...loving and laughing at my wannabe fantasy or basking in the inexplicable glory of God's love. 

More will be revealed.  Look and listen...love and laugh. 

Thank you.