City Reborn?

Is it possible for a city to be reborn? Recreated? Changed at its core? Fundamental characteristics transformed?

In 1990 I visited New York City for the first of 2 times. My most outstanding memory is of the subway ride to the Yankees game. As we approached the stadium the hard external shells that people carried began to crack, break, and fall away. It was as if everyone was drunk on the wine with the Steinbrenner label (or in 1990 was it the Winfield wine? - "Steinbrenner" on Wikipedia). People began to talk and even smile as they shared their passion for their beloved Yankees. Unfortunately, after the game the tone of the city quickly returned to its harsh exterior: living souls with no spark, no spirit.

In 2007 I returned to the city and found it totally different. People were full of life. I heard conversations and saw smiles everywhere: people exchanging life and love. The city had been reborn.

My friends and I visited Ground Zero and I found the spot where, perhaps, the rebirth began. Today its a hole in the ground; a construction sight. But it's more: it's a sanctuary, a hallowed place, a sight where one's life becomes calm and contemplative.

I know a modern city can be reborn; I've seen it, and after all it has happened at least once before. Read the story here.

Pssst! Hey You Behind the Fig Leaf

Why is it that we hide behind our "fig leaves"? I'd say it's in our nature. We've been hiding since Father and Mother Busted began the game in the garden.

I think most of us have told ourselves that hiding is equivalent to healing, but deep down we know it's not true. Others hide because of fear. Because most everyone hides, we think we're the only one who needs to hide. We don't realize that what we're seeing in others is just a thin layer of fig leaves strategically placed to spruce things up a bit.

Dare I say that what we need is a healthy dose of sunlight. We need to come out into the light. We're each and every one busted, so we'll all have lots of company and maybe, just maybe, we'll find healing.

"Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed."
James 5:16

I'll see you further on up the road.

Jim Hill

All Busted Up

I'm all busted up. But it doesn't bother me much because I suspect you think you are busted too. How do I know? Well, everyone I've met so far has been busted and I'm not expecting that to change.

A few months back I sat down on a bench with a homeless bum and we discussed his situation. He was surely busted up. In fact, he was probably so busted that he didn't even notice that I was busted too.

I am sometimes tempted to do a bustedness comparison, but it really just doesn't matter. When you get into the presence of The Unbusted, we're not busted a little and busted a lot; we're all just busted.

"Woe is me, for I am ruined! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!"

Isaiah, the prophet

What kind of love is this?

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

-Jesus of Nazareth-
(The Mountain Sermon)


Whenever I hear a speaker begin to give a sermon or teaching about the "The Sermon on the Mount", I must confess that I'm a bit prejudiced against it. I mean, The Sermon on the Mount is from the Master Teacher. How can you add to or improve that?

In my opinion The Mountain Sermon is mystical. It is full of mystery and it is meant to be read or recited and contemplated. The Mountain Sermon contains enough challenging sayings to provide a lifetime of contemplation and life change.

With that said, I will attempt to publicly record my contemplation of the love sayings recorded above.

The question of love is not, "What's in it for me?"; it's not Covey's question, "What's in it for us?"; and it's not even, "What's in it for the other person?". Love acts out of being, not because of an expected result. Jesus of Nazareth calls us to a kind of godliness that will cause us to be loving toward the ones who will never love us in return. He calls us to exhibit kindness to those on whom it will be "wasted". He asks us to treat as a neighbor those who will abuse us, misuse us, beat us, and curse us and hang us on a tree. The Nazarene calls us to pour out love simply because it is being like the Father is.

Maybe I don't want to be a mystic any more. It reminds be of another "M" word... martyr.

Am I a Mystic?

One definition of the term mystic is "someone who believes in the existence of realities beyond human comprehension". The Compact Oxford English Dictionary defines a mystic as "a person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to attain unity with the Deity and reach truths beyond human understanding". There are many other nuances in the definitions of "mystic" but these 2 will do for this post.

I suppose it's important to understand that my background experience is protestant Christian so my posts will all be ideas that grow out of that soil. So here we go...

I've come to view systems of thinking that leave little or no room for mystery, ambiguity, and paradox as suspect. They are too small, too imprinted with humanness to fully contain, fully describe a being that is the designer and maker of all things. Does this make me a mystic? Maybe.

I'm not on a mission "to attain unity with the Deity". I find this to be a haughty quest. The Deity that I seek is greater than "oneness" could ever describe. I seek the presence of the Deity, but not oneness with Him. Oneness with Him would bring me death and Him pollution. (Wait a minute! That sounds like the gospel. Maybe I do want unity with the Deity.)

As you can see, I maybeamystic. What do you think?