moved and shaken

One of our trip leaders, Corrie, has spent considerable time among the poor, especially for a few years as a missionary in Caracas, Venezuela. During our final prayer one as a group, age used the phrase, "the moved and shaken"... It needed no explanation as I knew exactly who she was praying for... the people who have undergone injustice in tho world.

As I write now on the plane, I can visualize the moved a shaken that we met - I can see their homes, their gardens, their valuable pictures, their smiles... It the last that really sticks with a person. When to see someone who is only on their 40's who has an additional 30 years on their face, you do not forget their smile. It is precautionary and skeptical, yet still connected to a heart which bwhilds certain areas of their life with joy. It is that joy, particulalry when connected to Christ's ongoing transformation in their lives, which shines through the prematurely aged eyes, weathered cheeks and smudged nose.

When we would walk away from these unforgettable encounters, we were immediately humbled by the overwhelming sensation that we were the ones who were just blessed... That these moved and shaken had somehow invited us deeper into the heart of our global Christ, that we thought we had known so well. I believe they would have offered us whatever bed, food, clothing or drink they had, should we have even inferred some kind of thirst or hunger, or need for shelter or clothing. It was people like these that our Savior bore in mind when he said we are to give water, bread, clothing and shelter... I just never thought he meant that we would somehow be the ones who were poor... But there we were... Given a blessing by the moved and shaken, as if we needed it...

But we did. And I did. And I am grateful for it.

I needed to be humbled.
It is only is only in true humility that true strength can rise.
And goodness knows I need some strength.

So now I am tired, but somehow stronger... and I pray more humble.

As John the Baptist knelt down I humility, he also discovered the strength of God's Spirit, an the was able to life up the eyes of those he served to gaze into the eyes of Christ.

May it be so...

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]