Strangers

'To God's elect, strangers in the world. . .'

I love the opening of this letter from Peter. It reminds me that we are not made for this world. From the beginning God has planned that we, as Christians, will join Him in heaven some day. As a consequence, we should fix our sights not only on our day to day concerns, but on the eternal consequences of our earthly lives.

Later he says, 'Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.'

On message boards I often use Basha as my screen name. In Hebrew it means 'Daughter of God', and in Greek and Polish it means 'stranger'. It is a tangible reminder to me that I am a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven and that it is proper that I should be a good ambassador for my 'nation' and that I shouldn't get too comfortable here. The city is currently flooded with religious orders in their long cowls and habits. Wherever you look you see this visible symbol of seperation from the world. It would be ridiculous for a monk to attempt to hide his faith when his dress so clearly proclaims him as a christian. There is no hiding place for him. Every time he says or does something it reflects upon the Church he proclaims to serve (for better or worse). In the same way, it seems that those of us who do not have this outward symbol of seperation should live lives that proclaim our difference just as clearly.

A quote I came across today:
"Let the Church go underground. . .As it lowers its profile, let it raise the ante for membership. We are the Church. Let us present to the world the image of a servant community and let us preserve the beauty of the gospel not with showy defensive fervor but with an intense interior life of prayer and worship, service and a manner of living that only can be explained in terms of God". ~Brenning Manning, The Signature of Jesus