Church, The good, the bad and the ugly

Oftentimes, especially in the past, I've gotten very cynical about the Church as a whole.  There are so many abuses committed behind closed doors, so many scandals, so many cover ups.  Add to that how many times the Church is no different than the culture around her and it's tough to stay positive about her.

But there is beauty within her.  In spite of all her misgivings, Christ loves her and calls her to Himself.  The Church is the Bride of Christ.  I used to bad mouth her and still struggle doing that sometimes.  Then I remind myself, if someone spoke about my bride that way I'd be irate with them.  Probably not a good idea therefore to bad mouth Christ's Bride.

We're given a picture I believe in the Old Testament of how Christ views His bride now perhaps.  In the Old Testament it's a metaphor for how God views the Israelites but I think it applies to the New Testament Church as well.  A prophet is told to marry a prostitute.  He does and doesn't hold her past against her.  Then she cheats on him and runs away and he's told to go and get her again.  I don't know of too many people who would do that, but God says that's how He treats His people the Israelites.  He forgives them of their many sins and buys them back and pursues them.  He does it again and again and again.

Like the news in general, our minds are attracted to the negative, to the worse things that happen in churches.  There is good news though.  People are introduced to Christ and He saves them.  Churches put up tiny home villages in their parking lots.  Churches take the money they were going to spend on advertising campaigns for Easter and instead spend it on forgiving people's medical debts.  Those were two stories I read yesterday that about made me cheer out loud.  Churches send out missionaries around the world who do good work and help the poorest of the poor.  Churches send people on short term trips around the world to encourage missionaries and help them serve the local people in different countries.  Not all missionaries are great btw, I know that full well as there have been recent scandals in that area too.

The Church should be a reflection of Christ.  Oftentimes it isn't but man is She beautiful when she is.  If you've been disappointed in the Church which most people have if they've been around a while, I pray you give Her another chance and realize the Church is more like a hospital of sick people taking care of other sick people.

Livin' the dream

Life has been really good lately.  We've visited almost all of our family and friends the past few months and have spent the last couple weeks getting settled down into life in Louisville.

A few years ago, a friend of mine told me "This is the best time of my life!"  I couldn't relate to him at the time but I can now.  I have an incredible wife, a beautiful baby boy, and I'm living my dream job.  Things are really good now.  

Hard times make the good times so much more worth it, don't they?  They make them that much sweeter.  I know when people think of Spain they think of where Americans go to vacation.  For us though it was hard.  We didn't have much of a community which is what makes life worth living no matter where you are.  My plans for an entrepreneurship school over there fell flat on their face for various reasons.  Our pueblo was incredibly isolating.  We were an ocean away from family when we had our first child.  

I'm not ignorant or naive enough to think we had it worse than others.  Of course not.  There are always people who have life worse off than you do.  It was hard enough though that this time is much more appreciated than it might otherwise have been.

I truly love my life right now, and I'm incredibly grateful for it.  I have a dear friend in Florida who always responds the same way when I ask how he's doing.  "Just another day in paradise living the dream."  He lives in Sarasota which is a beautiful location, but most people still wouldn't call it paradise or living the dream.  It's more a state of mind, of counting your blessings and realizing just how much one has to be grateful for.  

I lost sight of that for a while during this last chapter of life.  I pray I can keep perspective the next time things get hard.  May we all find times of respite and rest and purpose where we feel we're living the dream.  It won't be all the time of course, but we can all hope for a few along the way.