Something there is that doesn't love a wall ...

This line has always stuck with me after studying good old Robert Frost, that and a few other old favourites... One farmer in complete predicament over why he and his neighbour continue to re-build a wall between them each spring..... 'Mending Wall'...


                                        Something there is that doesn't love a wall...

I guess it just gets me to thinking about the 'walls' we create in our lives - the intentional and those that we aren't even aware are present. The thought that these two men meet together in a habitual manner to purposely re-build the barrier between them and enforce the segregation that has just learnt to be, doesn't seem to sit easy with me. But I guess we are all guilty of building superfluous 'walls' with not much justification, -  it definitely feels some what 'safer' with the necessity that we often attribute to the boundaries we find ourselves implementing.  We all do it - even the guy in this predicament is guilty of taking action when the wall is damaged to rebuild.- somewhere inside of him he is only to happy to have that wall..
I guess it comes down to the fragility we hold and how it's not comfortable to feel vulnerable, it's our human tendency to want to protect ourselves to monitor who or what we let into Our lives.
This does bring about the challenge however of the 'walls' we place in relation to the community and togetherness God calls us to. Paul tells us'Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ,' (Galations 6:2), there is no denying how we are meant to let people help and support us, that it is in fact God's desire- Love is God's way. Not only to let people in but to be people ourselves who relate and get along side people and truly love and support.
There is no ignoring the fact however that many of us struggle in not letting our defensive mechanism have gates, that we avoid the entire process. I wonder if we realise however, the magnitude of walking in and out of someone's heart felt issues, to recognise what it is to share with them- although I am aware that many people do not find this an issue at all. The issue is deeply wrapped in trust, reliability and honesty - to step up and know that we can't just plunder in and out - every experience has a lasting effect. I strive to not only acknowledge these needs around me but to ultimately set out to grow to the opinion of Something there is that doesn't love a wall ... It is necessary to grasp the ultimately satisfying love and acceptance that comes from Christ and to make this Our first place of safe dwelling - that being totally open and honest with Him is something so precious and amazing. One totally wants to eradicate completely any risk of becoming self reliant, distant or unaware of others - yet on re-evaluating stance on things it  is more than comforting to know the truth of the Gospel.

As we wressle with issues such as this and knowing ourselves in relation to others and being wise in that , at times I am admittedly left wondering the level of truth behind ,  “Good fences make good neighbours.” ?
                                                   -The humanity of defence and protection tackling the up most desire to love and become closer to God - it's time to get our hands dirty- in realising our challenges and not remain apathetic !

The Vision ......

So this guy comes up to me and says "what's the vision? What's the big idea?" I open my mouth and words come out like this… The vision?

The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism.

They laugh at 9-5 little prisons. They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday. They wouldn't even notice. They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won. They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport.. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence. They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying. What is the vision ? The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation. It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games. 

This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause. A million times a day its soldiers

choose to lose that they might one day win the great 'Well done' of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night. They don't need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground The whisper of history in the making Foundations shaking Revolutionaries dreaming once again Mystery is scheming in whispers Conspiracy is breathing… This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed.

Young people who beat their bodies into submission.

Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms. The tattoo on their back boasts "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain".

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes. Winners. Martyrs. Who can stop them ? Can hormones hold them back? Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them ?

And the generation prays

like a dying man with groans beyond talking, with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and with great barrow loads of laughter! Waiting. Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.

Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mould them. Hollywood cannot hold them. Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive inside.

On the outside? They hardly care. They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide. Would they surrender their image or their popularity? They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,

they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.) Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus. Their words make demons scream in shopping centres. Don't you hear them coming? Herald the weirdo's! Summon the losers and the freaks. Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes. They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon. How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God. My tomorrow is his today. My distant hope is his 3D. And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great 'Amen!' from countless angels, from hero's of the faith, from Christ himself. And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Guaranteed.

I have always been aware of the great purpose that prayer has in living in relationship with God, it was in fact the amazing revelation that prayer had within my own life that further attracted me to wanting to know God more.

 I feel unavoidably challenged however as to letting this passion dim, how can I refrain from continuously recognising the total blessing of being able to talk to God?

The undeniable gift that prayer is, not only within our personal relationships with God but as a community of believers exceeds anything beyond imagination, none the less I seem to fail in grasping this.

Personally I feel such a privilege when someone allows me to be a part of their journey, the special nature of being able to hear their heartfelt emotions.

 I wonder if I take enough time to realise how precious people are, how valuable and of the much worth they hold, that they are continuously being battered from every angle by the opposition that they need people to pray and let their hearts be broken on their behalf, to not only feel their pain but to bring before the Father in heaven.

 The realisation that when we pray for others that we are able to bring them back to the reality of God, to know His truth within their lives is what we hold to.

I feel incredibly aware of the possibility of bringing people myself, when God is the greatest comforter, ever.

 I am blown away that the Creator of the Universe not only wants to listen to me but that He answers my prayers! 

 Do I put my whole trust and total belief in God- who does hear me, whose sovereign nature will prevail and who is the ultimate winner!