And the truth shall set you free...

I rarely say what I mean... Think about it, how often do you truly say the first thing that crosses your mind in response to a situation- now double that and that is probably how much I censor what I really think.

So much of what of what I say and how I respond to situations is just watered-down versions of what I really feel. I'm afraid of offending someone or coming off wrong or sometimes just scared of what I am feeling that the safer option is just to say sort of a half-truth or a partial portion of what you are thinking or feeling.

However, I have these few select friends who have really reached the point where I feel like I can truly say what I feel and to the extent of what I feel. In these friendships I feel secure enough to just say whatever my initial reaction is without censoring it.

There is a power in that...there is sincere freedom in being able to be who you are...to the full extent of yourself. And I've found that's incredibly rare...

Genuine and authentic friendship...where there is freedom to be how you and who you are.

One of the most real moments I've had in my life recently came from a friend on particularly bad night. It was a night where the world and all of its complexities had overwhelmed me and I couldn't seem to make the pieces of my life fit togehter. I was emotional and feeling more than a little desperate... I was really trying to keep it togehter, keep the mask on, hold back the emotions and I simply just burst into tears. While crying, I just kept apologizing. I felt so bad for "falling apart"....

My friend took my hands and told me "You never have to apologize for what you are feeling. You simply have to feel it."

The freedom in that moment was immense. I felt that the walls could crumble, the barriers could come down, and the masks could be off and that it would be okay.

What would it look like if we started allowing people (ourselves included) to be real, authentic, and emotional? What if we left our masks at the door and broke down the walls?

What if we stopped making people feel guilty for genuine sadness or absolute joy?

Then maybe people would start saying what they mean and really meaning what they say. They would respond to things with authentic feelings and not be afraid to share their thoughts the first time they think them? Maybe the channels would open for healthier and deeper conversation and we could really start to get to know each other...

What kind of community would that build? What kind of freedom is there in simply being able to be yourself? Without conditions or apologies....

Of Yolks and Yokes

I've always loved Easter! There is something so significant about the day we collectively as the body of Christ stop and celebrate the fact that God is alive. I realize that this is something that we should recognize daily, but there is power in the specific recognition of the redemption for us within the resurrection.

This year I've been experiencing Easter in a new way. Since the year began, my life has been full of tragedy and death. It seems each week there is a new piece of my heart that is breaking for or with the people who fill my life. I have truly felt heavy and weary laden lately. Usually I am a extremely hopeful person...hopeful sometimes to the point of being obnoxious. But this year that same hope has been harder for me to hold onto.

As I work at a church, Easter preparation began for me in February. As I began processing all the lessons, devotions, traditions, and liturgy that had to be prepared and done this Easter season, I was reminded of the Easter story and the joy. I felt that overwhelming joy of Easter, long before the "holiday" actually arrived. And this made me think that maybe I have been missing the point or possibly just failed to articulate it to myself in this way before...

What if Easter isn't so much something we are supposed to celebrate but a way of life?

Jesus, after his resurrection, told his disciples to "go into all the world and make disciples..."

The end of the Easter story, the finale was Jesus commisioning his disciples to find and help make more disciples... Jesus didn't say- elect disciples, appoint disciples...no Jesus said make disciples. Which is an incredibly apt description.

In 1st century Galilee (where Jesus taught and lived) to be a disciple meant that you were "one being taught in the way of a rabbi". It meant that you had gone to school and excelled to the point that a rabbi had specifically chosen you to be his follower, to learn his ways, to walk with him.

You didn't become a disciple of a rabbi overnight. It took time. It took study. It took effort. It mean incorporating the rabbis beliefs into yours and living life in a way that reflected that.

It meant taking that rabbi's teaching upon yourself. Now a rabbis idea of thought or collected group of beliefs and teaching were called his yoke. So as a disciple your job was to take up his yoke and live that way. It was also to teach other people the way of his yoke.

So when Jesus tells the 11 original disciples to "go make disciples..." what he is telling them is- "Go! Teach people my way of life! Give them my yoke to carry (remember him telling up his yoke was easy and light?)... Give them this new way to live!"

Easter is about sharing Jesus' yoke with people. Its about reminding people that death holds no victory.

Its about helping people find that in the Risen Lord-
where there is hurt, there is comfort.
where there is heaviness, there is relief.
where there is sickness, there is healing.
where there is questioning, there is also peace.
where there is death, there is life.

So Easter is something we merely celebrate, Easter is something we do. It is something we are called to bring to people and is an essential part of the yoke of Jesus we are to share with others and incorporate into our own lives.

We are Easter people every day of our lives! He is Risen, indeed.