Every Time We Reach for Gold . . .

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Every Time We Reach for Gold . . .

Monday, February 10th, 2014 by Lori Roeleveld 2 Comments

We’re all so sure we know what we’d do if we were God.

I’ll admit,

I’m always ready to advise Him on how to run my life

and the lives of those I love.

He must feel so lucky to have my ideas and pleased that I’m comfortable sharing them with Him.

After all,

we’re made in His image

and we’re an amazing lot.

The airwaves testify to our greatness, do they not?

Our strength and strategy-genius on display at the Super Bowl.

Our beauty, art, music, and storytelling celebrated at the Oscars.

Our skill at governing, diplomacy, and politicking applauded at the State of the Union.

Our ability to achieve athletically and to best our own records, the story of the Olympic games.

Yes, we are great and we are good.

Understandable that some of us have evolved beyond our need for God.

Nevermind, that in darkened rooms surrounding the football venue, children were trafficked for selfish profit and pleasure.

Don’t think about the creative genius, loving father, celebrated actor, loved son discovered lifeless, a needle in his arm, none of his many awards capable of freeing him from the draw of addiction.

Avoid any questions after the blue-tie speeches about betrayal in Benghazi or desertion of life in the womb or broken promises from last year’s speech crushed beneath the boot of this year’s trending cause.

And don’t ask the displaced poor of Sochi where they’re sleeping during the festivities, only know there will be no photos of those digs on your Twitterfeed.

This, this is what makes me marvel

that so many people dismiss the Biblical narrative as history, as our story, as truth!

Every time we reach for gold,
we retell the story of the garden,

for even in our finest moments,
when we can glimpse our former glory,

our feet still land hard in the clay of Adam’s fall.

The truth is:
we’ve never managed to evolve beyond the urge to take the first forbidden bite.

Which is only a depressing truth

If you don’t know the whole story.

For we are not the end

just as we were not the beginning.

There is an Alpha and Omega

who is not us but became one of us

and nailed it, perfectly,

descended to earth and stuck the landing,

transcending our humanity with His divine purpose –

to deliver us from evil

and save us from ourselves.

We testify to the truth with every tale we tell on ourselves.

If only we were listening.

2 Comments

The Conversation

Judith Robl says:

February 10, 2014 at 1:20 pm

Yes, listen. He says “you are not perfect, but I love you as if you were my only child.”

We disappoint Him when we fall short. And if we are wise, we disappoint ourselves and vow to do better with His help.

Lori, I love your transparency and your grasp of the gospel and your ability to bring it home to our really flawed world.

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Anonymous says:

February 10, 2014 at 2:23 pm

Powerful, thought provoking, honest, brutal, truth. You’ve done it again, girl. MOMMA

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