Anno Domini

The very beginning of this new year holds two anniversaries I will note: my 60th birthday and two months here in Jerusalem.

60... WHATTHEHELL am I doing here?! I should be home in a recliner making rootbeer floats for the grandkids I should have and watching Oprah. Instead I'm traipsing around the West Bank and Gaza. Still crazy after all these years, I guess.

Both anniversaries seem the blink of an eye and at the same time without beginning. I can barely remember getting here on Nov 15 and now it's somehow or other becoming a kind of home. Settling in.

During the time of preparation and discernment before coming here, there was alot of reflection about being aware of God's presence: "Where did I see God today?" Now, I find that I don't think about God much......oops, can a missionary say that??? What I mean is I don't think about God much. Being here is becoming being engaged, being involved, being aware, being part of what's happening here. Happening in the simplest, most ordinary of ways.

I pay more attention to how Jesus moved around here. Not alot of theological discourse going on there. It seems like he talked alot more about what people should be doing. I love his Kingdom of God stories: "The Kingdom of God is like..." Then an example everyone could grab onto - "Oh yeah, I get that."

I made my third trip to Gaza on December 31. I kept thinking about those stories. The Kingdom of God is like a man in Gaza who has no bread and prays every day that his house isn't missiled tonight, but graciously welcomes a visitor from America to his home for lunch.

At this time early in 2008 when we make resolutions and plans about the coming year, I invite you again to imagine your Kingdom of God. Is this it? If not, make a resolution to do one thing this year to move in that direction. Anything. Write a check to support something you think is right; write a letter to a decision-maker; volunteer; go on mission; give money to someone who needs it; stop being mad at somebody; stop being mad at yourself; say hello to a stranger; give some of the clothes or stuff you don't need anymore to someone who does.

Do something, so your Kingdom of God will be like................................................................