Luke Parrott

"Born", A Christmas Morning Poem

This poem was written by Bob Webb out here at KIVU.  This is the final reflection of our KIVU Advent Devotions.  Have a blessed Christmas!

BORN... of a woman, a virgin torn
…blessed comfort for those who mourn
…bold to fulfill all that was sworn
…a he-child, a free child, a lion unshorn
…a seed, a root, of salvation, a horn
…a boy, a man on whose shoulders the government is worn
…acquainted with grief but fount of joy, peaceful healer but object of scorn 
…a light, a love rejected, beaten, emptied and crowned with thorns
…in blood he arrived in Bethlehem, in blood he died, he defied lies well-worn
…his last, hurting breath a prayer; and by it lifted the lovelorn, gifted the stillborn 
…finishing the mystery of forgiveness, beginning the mystery of the twiceborn 
…and so He forever makes new each morn
 …and so we endeavor to let His Spirit adorn...
our hearts this day, re-born.

Lord, may we not only visit the story of Christmas once in a while, but carry the story
with us so that Your birth, Your story, may transform our understanding and our
undertakings in our every days between the Decembers of our lives. Thanks be to You.
Amen.
 
 

A Prayer for the Host and the Guest

May this peace prayer of Saint Francis be your meditation this day as you welcome family and
friends, neighbors or strangers, with love into your heart.  

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon; 
where there is doubt, faith; 
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light; 
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

Pray for our Friends in the Philippines

KIVU has worked with ICM in the Philippines for several years now.  ICM is an NGO in the community that works towards alleviating poverty among the desparately poor.  Last year we sent a team of gap year students to work with the staff in Dumaguete.  The recent tropical storm caused much disaster in the area.  One of the ICM staff (who helped coordinate the events for our students), Lilian Ferrar, was featured in CNN as she went through with her wedding even after her home was washed away the night before.  She responded, "Don't worry.  It's just things."   A powerful perspective for all of us to learn from.

Please pray for Lilian, her husband and all the ICM staff as they respond to this natural disaster.

Read the story on CNN or ICM's blog below.

http://blog.caremin.com/2011/12/20/icm-area-hit-by-tropical-storm-washi/

 

"Come as you are, both Joy and Grief, and let us dine together."

The Christmas season never fails to polarize our emotions.  We find ourselves on the side of either Joy or Grief.  We are rejoicing or mourning.  Celebrating or grieving.  The passage of time teaches us all that we will have our fair share of both emotions during the holiday.  But in this season of togetherness, how is it possible for those who grieve to dine with those who rejoice?  How is it possible for Joy to share the dinner table with Grief?

There is one human emotion that dangles itself precariously between these two polarizing forces.  This emotion is both thrilling yet foolish.  It builds up in our hearts during times of darkness when
life is not playing out as promised or desired.  It goes against all odds.  It calls for a turn of
events.  It holds out the belief that the story is about to be written differently.  It is often
carried most strongly by the weak, weary, worn out, and seemingly defeated. 

Hope. 

It is the place where both Joy and Grief dine together.  In the company of Hope, Joy and Grief can shake hands.  Where Hope is present, Joy and Grief are able to make small talk.  Here is where Joy and Grief can come together at the same table.

The classic Christmas song says it best, "A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!"

The thrill of Hope gives Grief a chance to breathe.  Hope welcomes the weary heart.  And Hope centers around what arrived that new and glorious morn.  Our Hope is Jesus.  He rejoices with those who rejoice and mourns with those who mourn.  He can bring anyone to his dinner table to dine together.  He stands between two polarizing forces this holiday season and bids them to come and dine. 

Hope has come this Christmas with an invitation saying "Come as you are, both Joy and Grief, and let us dine together."

On Having Potential

When someone says you have potential, they are saying you are holding something back.  Or something is holding you back.  Much can stand in the way of the possible and the actual.

Potential is a haunting thing.  It means we aren't living up to something we are capable of.  All of us hold some degree of potential.  We are all holding back something or being held back by something. Some are holding back or being held back by a lot more than others.

The question is not "Do I have potential?" but "What is keeping me from living up to my potential?" 

Those are the things that keep us from being all we were created to be.  They are also the same things that we prefer to avoid at all costs.

 

Today's Advent Reflection is on God's Timing

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption
for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His
servant--  As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old…” Luke 1:69-70

The passage of time begins to call all promises into question. The coming of a king was a
promise from of old.  But it was a promise that still remained unfulfilled.  The promise
seemed to be met with great neglect.  Too many false alarms or misrepresentations had
come and gone.  Zechariah’s prayer was expressing a joy which was long overdue. 

 
It is a common practice that God fulfills his promises to us in the least suspected time or
manner.  But His promises always stand the test of time.  He has never failed to live up to
his words.  He has never fallen short of a promise.  His timing is never too late. Consider
today, God’s record of failure in your own life and you will see that he is faithful always. 
Where may you rejoice?  Where must you release?

For more Advent Reflections Click here: Download The Coming-A short devotion from KIVU

“The poor are not a petting zoo.”

I heard it said in Denver last week as we were wrapping up logistics with my friends who work with the marginalized in the downtown area.  Too often groups will come in to town from the outside with their matching t-shirts and a mission.  They have a limited scope of time and a limited scope of what it really means to be among the poor.  They want to do things for the poor so they provide handouts.  They want to do things to the poor so they give them what they call the gospel.  But the good news doesn’t arrive to the margins when it is done for someone and to someone.  That is feel-good news for the giver.  It undermines the dignity of the recipient.  It is charity in its cheapest form.

Those of us who are bringing students to the margins from the outside must not succumb to a petting zoo philosophy of serving.  The evangelical church (or perhaps suburbia all together) may indeed be experiencing a renaissance in terms of its return to the city and to concern for the marginalized.  But we must be reminded that plenty of people and great organizations never left the city-- or the poor.  And they understand the best practices of reaching those in poverty.  You and I do not.

Before you come to serve, you must be careful not to put organizational partners even in a position where they should consider welcoming paternalistic attitudes from the suburbs.  Some organizations are bold enough to sniff it out and tell you they are not running a petting zoo.  But others are not so bold on this front, especially if you are barking orders down their throat of what your group intends to accomplish.  It is our responsibility not to operate in ignorance if we are bringing others into such environments.  We must understand that those who live among the poor and work with them know best how to serve them.

The program our gap year students engage in is one of doing things with the poor.  The approach values both the dignity in us all as well as the poverty in us all.  We are all beautifully created in the image of God.  We are all broken and hurting human beings.  We all have something we need from each other.  We all have something to give to each other.  Our partners around the world expect us to arrive with a posture of humility, in the spirit of a student who has come to listen, learn, and love.

When the poor become a petting zoo, both parties are robbed of a genuine experience.  The poor cannot see their wealth, and the rich can not see their poverty.  When people genuinely arrive in the margins, they will see the dignity in the poor and the poverty in themselves.  This exchange does not have to be manufactured.  It will simply happen when we come to live life with the poor, not at them.  When we come to share in each others brokenness we are both surprised by what we find.

"Pursuing a Degree in Life", WORLD Magazine features KIVU Gap Year

This week, World magazine released an article featuring our KIVU Gap Year program.  The writer, Kate, did a great job of interviewing myself and 3 of our past/current students in the program.  She really let the students tell the story in the article which is how we prefer to let our program continue growing. 

It is truly a life changing experiential learning program.  You can view the article at the following link:  "Pursuing a Degree in Life" from WORLD ON CAMPUS

Have You Downloaded Your Daily Advent Devotion Yet?

This 2nd week of Advent Devotions from KIVU begins with one written by Bob Webb...Download here... Download The Coming-A short devotion from KIVU

the next thing

I don't think people who change the world realize they're actually doing it.  Their too busy pushing on the next thing that needs changing.