Discarded Glove

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. - Hebrews 12:1

So, I ran my first half-marathon today.  It was great(ly tiring).

As I drove home tonight, I realized (yet again) how great of a metaphor running is for spiritual strife and progress.

Besides the frustratingly long lines at the porta-potty stops, one thing I didn't expect to see was people tossing their garments onto sidewalks and even in the middle of the street.

No, I do not mean to say that people began to run nude.  But I do mean to say that people threw long-sleeved shirts and sweaters onto the sidewalks and just kept on running ahead, while others took off a glove or two and just dropped them onto the street and never looked back.  At one point, I ran right next to a man who took off his right glove and just let it fall onto the street.  He didn't even flinch.  He cold-heartedly abandoned his right glove right there, in the middle of the street, without glancing back.

Lot's wife could have learned a thing or two from this dude.

Two explanations for this behavior came to mind:

1) These people are so financially comfortable that they feel no remorse over discarding their clothing on the sidewalk or the street.

2) These people were so focused on finishing the race that they did not deem any pieces of lost clothing worthy enough to be kept if they would hinder them from reaching the finish line in a timely fashion.

And here is where the connection lies between running and spiritual progress:

1) We should be so secure in our trust that God is our source that we should feel no sadness, regret, or hesitation when we are compelled to discard something in our lives.  This isn't to say that we should just go around tossing computers, clothes, or family members out of our cars as we drive along the highway.  This isn't a license to be utterly foolish and careless with our belongings.  Rather, if God is really our source, then that means that our bank account is not.  This means that being painfully generous for causes bigger than our own should not be painful.

If God is really our source, then that means that human approval is not.  This means that keeping to our God-given morals at the cost of promotions, praises, and friendships should never be a hassle.

If God is really our source, then that means that imitation joy is not.  This means that trading in our bad habits for godly joy should be the obvious way to go.

The list goes on and on.  If we are genuinely comfortable in knowing that God is our source of everything we need (and not just want), then we should be seeing gains where the world sees losses, and joy where the world sees only sorrow.

2) Is heaven worth your television?  Clearly, the answer is "yes."  But do we really believe this?

This isn't to say that getting to heaven can be achieved through sweat and sheer willpower like reaching the finish line at a race can.  But it is a reminder that seemingly insignificant things that constantly hold us back from God can eventually defeat us.

The runners who threw off shirts and gloves that hindered their movement essentially expressed that these garments were not worth getting to the finish line any later than they desired.  In their eyes, those pieces of clothing were not worthy of their possession if they were going to burden them.

In the same way, we must constantly assess the things we are holding onto in order to determine whether our value system is healthy or out of whack.  The results of not taking part in this self-evaluation could be disastrous.

Now, I did consider the possibility that maybe these people were planning on coming back later to reclaim their discarded garments.  Then a couple seconds later, I deemed this possibility slim.

But the wonderful thing is that those that profess to love God really can expect to get everything back.  This isn't to say that if we give up whatever's in our wallet now, we'll get all of it back to the exact penny in heaven.  But it is to say that the "real thing" that we give up here on earth will be given back to us in eternity.

What I think I mean is that the thing that lies behind or underneath the tangible, earthly object is something that we never really lose or give up.  If we give up what we see as "comfort" in the form of money, friends, and any other objects today, we can expect to reclaim true comfort tomorrow.  If we give up what we see as "peace" today, we can expect to reclaim true peace tomorrow.  If we give up what we see as "joy" today, we can expect to reclaim true joy tomorrow.  And this goes on and on into the deafening and blinding light of eternity.

We trade in the facade for what lies behind the veil.

And this "tossing-of-hindering-garments," focused, and determined attitude is so much easier to maintain when you have people cheering you on from the side of the streets, as we experienced today in Long Branch, New Jersey.

Yeah, basically, everything I just typed is summed up perfectly, better, and much more succinctly by Paul in the verse I placed at the top of this post, but will also place below for your convenience.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. - Hebrews 12:1

Chuck Norris

On Chuck Norris 'mania' sweeping the Net

---

Posted: October 23, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Chuck Norris

---

© 2006 

Have you heard of the "Chuck Norris Facts"?

There are more than 50,000 jokes making their way around the Internet that purport to be "facts" all playing off my movie roles as a "tough guy" and my history as a martial arts champion. But they aren't "jokes" to those who spread them – they're "facts."

Here are a few of my favorites:

• "When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris."
• "Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants."
• "Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with Chuck Norris."

These "facts" have become a phenomenon – a fad spread mainly by young people of high school and college age. It's hard to explain why these things happen – how they take on a life of their own.

Naturally, over the past couple years as this wildfire has been raging, people have asked me, "What do you think of all this?"

My answer is always the same: Some are funny. Some are pretty far out. And, thankfully, most are just promoting harmless fun. (But be careful if you go searching for "Chuck Norris Facts" on the Internet, because some are just not appropriate for kids.)

Being more a student of the Wild West than the wild world of the Internet, I'm not quite sure what to make of the craze of "Chuck Norris Facts." It's quite surprising. I do know that boys will be boys, and I neither take offense nor take these things too seriously. I'm so grateful for my fans. Who knows, maybe these one liners will prompt some one to seek out the real facts about me and the beliefs that have shaped my life and my career.

While I have as much fun as anyone else reading and quoting them, let's face it, most "Chuck Norris Facts" describe someone with supernatural, superhuman powers. They're describing a superman character. And in the history of this planet, there has only been one real Superman. It's not me.

Let me illustrate using a few of the claims being made about me in the various lists of "Chuck Norris Facts":

Alleged Chuck Norris Fact: "Faster than a speeding bullet ... more powerful than a locomotive ... able to leap tall buildings in a single bound... yes, these are some of Chuck Norris' warm-up exercises."

I've got a bulletin for you, folks. I am no superman. I realize that now, but I didn't always. As six-time world karate champion and then a movie star, I put too much trust in who I was, what I could do and what I acquired. I forgot how much I needed others and especially God. Whether we are famous or not, we all need God. We also need other people.

If your whole life is spent trying to make money and you neglect the people important in your life, you will create an emptiness deep in your heart and soul. I know. I fell into that trap. I dedicated my whole life to fame and fortune. I had a huge hole in my heart and was miserable until I met my wife, Gena, who brought me back to the Lord.

Alleged Chuck Norris Fact: "There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live."

It's funny. It's cute. But here's what I really think about the theory of evolution: It's not real. It is not the way we got here. In fact, the life you see on this planet is really just a list of creatures God has allowed to live. We are not creations of random chance. We are not accidents. There is a God, a Creator, who made you and me. We were made in His image, which separates us from all other creatures.

By the way, without him, I don't have any power. But with Him, the Bible tells me, I really can do all things – and so can you.

Alleged Chuck Norris Fact: "Chuck Norris' tears can cure cancer. Too bad he never cries. Ever."

There was a man whose tears could cure cancer or any other disease, including the real cause of all diseases – sin. His blood did. His name was Jesus, not Chuck Norris.

If your soul needs healing, the prescription you need is not Chuck Norris' tears, it's Jesus' blood.

Again, I'm flattered and amazed by the way I've become a fascinating public figure for a whole new generation of young people around the world. But I am not the characters I play. And even the toughest characters I have played could never measure up to the real power in this universe.

Original column can be read here.

I don't really like cats, but...

301 Useless Facts

301 Useless Facts

Enjoy!

FeelSpace Belt

For six weird weeks in the fall of 2004, Udo Wächter had an unerring sense of direction. Every morning after he got out of the shower, Wächter, a sysadmin at the University of Osnabrück in Germany, put on a wide beige belt lined with 13 vibrating pads — the same weight-and-gear modules that make a cell phone judder. On the outside of the belt were a power supply and a sensor that detected Earth's magnetic field. Whichever buzzer was pointing north would go off. Constantly.

"It was slightly strange at first," Wächter says, "though on the bike, it was great." He started to become more aware of the peregrinations he had to make while trying to reach a destination. "I finally understood just how much roads actually wind," he says. He learned to deal with the stares he got in the library, his belt humming like a distant chain saw. Deep into the experiment, Wächter says, "I suddenly realized that my perception had shifted. I had some kind of internal map of the city in my head. I could always find my way home. Eventually, I felt I couldn't get lost, even in a completely new place."

The effects of the "feelSpace belt" — as its inventor, Osnabrück cognitive scientist Peter König, dubbed the device — became even more profound over time. König says while he wore it he was "intuitively aware of the direction of my home or my office. I'd be waiting in line in the cafeteria and spontaneously think: I live over there." On a visit to Hamburg, about 100 miles away, he noticed that he was conscious of the direction of his hometown. Wächter felt the vibration in his dreams, moving around his waist, just like when he was awake.

- Excerpt from 'Mixed Feelings', an article written by Sunny Bains for issue 15.04 (March 2007) of Wired Magazine

---

"Home" is an important idea to me.  It's where I hope to be headed towards as I live each day of my transient life here on earth.  It's the soothing hope that I have whenever I am pained while in this fragile, stubborn, and wretched body.

"It's like you get homesick for a place that doesn't exist," said Andrew Largeman in Garden State concerning the lost idea of "home."

Without salvation, Large would be totally correct.  There's always going to be a longing for somewhere that is free from worry, tears, and pain in everyone, whether they believe in something or profess not to.

But with salvation we become homesick for a place that does exist, and its significance is relevant to our lives now.

Our desire for our future home is entangled with our lives here on earth.  In one sense, this isn't abstract at all.  I mean, if you're heading from New York to California to meet someone, your current direction, and your constant diligence in paying attention to your bearings are very important to whether you're going to make it out West or not.

In terms of heaven and our progress towards it, the relationship seems to be a bit different, because we know that no amount of perfection in our progress is going to ultimately get us there.  But it appears that something much more subtle and wonderful happens behind the scenes.

So, wouldn't it be great to have one of these "feelSpace belts" to guide us to our eternal home?

I think that the closest thing that we do have to one of these nifty belts is the Bible, which is ironically referred to as the "belt of truth" in Ephesians 6:14.  I know that it's such a stale answer.  Even as I type this, my heart struggles to really desire this to be true, but I know that it is.

The Word of God holds that map that should be in our heads, and if we really want to head home we would surely do our best to become as familiar as we possibly can with everything in it while we can.

Deep into the experiment, Wächter says, "I suddenly realized that my perception had shifted. I had some kind of internal map of the city in my head. I could always find my way home. Eventually, I felt I couldn't get lost, even in a completely new place."

Deep intimacy and familiarity with the Bible grants us this experience.  The more embedded the Bible is in our minds and hearts, the more ingrained our sense of "where" heaven is.  Our daily decisions, actions, and thoughts would be immersed by this, so that every day is a sure and confident step towards where God wants us to be.  No matter what comes our way or where we are placed we would never get lost.

König says while he wore it he was "intuitively aware of the direction of my home or my office. I'd be waiting in line in the cafeteria and spontaneously think: I live over there." On a visit to Hamburg, about 100 miles away, he noticed that he was conscious of the direction of his hometown.

The Bible also reminds us of where our home really is.  It is not here on earth.  This location in the universe is not our final destination.  We "live over there."  The implications of this truth should free us from our lusts of financial wealth, social status, and man's approval, among many other poisons that seep into the deepest canyons of our minds.

So, why does knowing where home is matter so much to us now?

"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this." - C.S. Lewis

There are probably countless ways to discuss this lofty notion, but I do believe that understanding and embracing the fact that our home is elsewhere frees us from so many enslaving objects, ideas, and even people while we occupy earth.  And when we find more and more freedom from these things, we become more and more free to live out our Christian mandates here in this life.

We are willing to endure pain for others, for causes higher and bigger than us, because we understand that no amount of damage that can be inflicted on our bodies, wallets, or comfort can take away our homecoming.  Instead of hoarding earthly riches, energy, and gifts for ourselves, we should desire to expend ourselves to the very last breath in order to ensure that our companions make it home, too.

The wonderful thing about all this is that as this transformation comes about, Christians will actually be bringing heaven closer to earth.  Like a multitude of ants inexorably pulling the sun closer to a world of ice, as we bear these heaven-induced fruits, the unwanted things on this earth will begin to melt away and winter will lose its grasp.

And, of course, knowing that our home is heaven as opposed to hell is a very important distinction to make.  With the latter, all hope and desire for good in this life dies.  With the former, they flourish.

What does this all boil down to?

A renewed devotion to reading the Bible and absorbing it through careful and diligent prayer, meditation, and practice.  I struggle with the whole process, and I have not fully attained any of the fruits mentioned above, but I do desire to get to that place.

In a way, I guess this rambling and incoherent post is my humble prayer and recorded conviction.

And it's all thanks to some geek who wrote about some interesting science development.  God speaks in the weirdest and most unexpected voices sometimes...

"Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place." - Andrew Largeman from Garden State

"We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always easy to penetrate. The real labor is to remember to attend. In fact to come awake. Still more to remain awake." - C.S. Lewis

How Many of Me

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 130 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Puppy Love

Daisy, of St. Marys, PA and the Animal Welfare Foster Program looks for a student to comfort on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va., Friday, April 20, 2007. A number of dogs were on hand to play and visit with students who may be traumatized by the deaths of 32 students and faculty during a shooting rampage on Monday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

David Crowder*Band Concert on 11/10 in NYC

Howdy,

The almighty David Crowder*Band is having an exclusive pre-sale for their Remedy Club Tour (with Phil Wickham and The Myriad), and they have a show in NYC at the Hammerstein Ballroom on 11/10/07, which is a Saturday.

I plan on attending, and if you would like to come with me, please let me know by either commenting below or e-mailing me (jhahn221@gmail.com).

The pre-sale ends on April 30, so please try to let me know before then.  I know it's wayyy in the future, but I think it's easy to plan for a Saturday event, especially since it's DC*B.

Tickets are $25 each, and I'll take care of the small process/shipping fees.

So think about it, and let me know if you'd like to come!

---

The Landlord

Happiness vs. Joy

"The difference between shallow happiness and a deep, sustaining joy is sorrow. Happiness lives where sorrow is not. When sorrow arrives, happiness dies. It can't stand pain. Joy, on the other hand, rises from sorrow and therefore can withstand all grief. Joy, by the grace of God, is the transfiguration of suffering into endurance, and of endurance into character, and of character into hope--and the hope that has become our joy does not (as happiness must for those who depend upon it) disappoint us." - Walter Wangerin Jr.

Good Lord!

As I was taking my usual morning dump in the bathroom today, I noticed a short stack of newspapers on the ground.  My mom subscribes to a New York Korean paper, and the 'Education' section (ha, definitely Korean) was on top.  On the front page of this section were photos of four Korean teenagers.  I didn't have my glasses on, so I drew it closer to my squinting eyes to see what all the fuss about these kids was about.

Lo and behold, underneath their pretty faces were their education specs.  They listed all the courses they took during their freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years in high school, and as expected, the lists were riddled with "AP"s alongside course names.

This one girl (Ste-puh-nee) took seven AP courses during her senior year...seven!  My first response to this was "Good Lord!"  I think I took three AP courses total during my four years in high school...I didn't even know you could take seven at a time.  Ridiculous.

I put the paper back down and realized that Korean parents across the tri-state area probably saw this section of the paper and immediately reprimanded their kids for not being like those AP-crazy nerds...I mean, scholars.  I felt bad for the children of these parents, because I think all kids can relate to this experience of being scolded for not being as good as so-and-so.  Very frustrating experience.

Then I realized something else: it's a very good thing that God does not do that with us.

God could very well have sent Jesus down to earth as an example for us to follow, as the law personified, and as a standard we are encouraged and demanded to meet.  But what would that have done?  For those who had the smallest morsel of sense in their heads, this would have led them to realize that they are wholly incapable of meeting that standard of perfection.

Thankfully, God did not send Jesus down to earth for this demeaning purpose.  Besides, he already humbled us and created this sense of despair through the law.

Instead of pointing to Jesus and saying, "Why can't you be like him?" God points to Jesus and strikes him down.  In a way, he did the exact opposite of what our parents have done to us.  When they reprimanded us and asked us why we could not be like those genius kids, they were striking us down, more emotionally than physically.  But God, in his grace, chose instead to strike down his Son, emotionally, spiritually, and physically, for our sake.

Jesus is not the standard we are to meet, or the teacher whose teachings we are to adhere to without fail.  He is the slain Lamb who offers us a renewed relationship with our Father, who makes us perfect and offers us all the rewards that are rightfully Christ's through the perfect life that he lived.

We took none of the AP courses, but get all the benefits rendered by them, and the 5's on the exams just the same.

The beauty is that the moment we admit that we can never be like him, and the moment we put our trust in all he has done for us, is precisely when we begin to become what we just confessed we could not: more like him.

This is the sweet mystery of our gospel, our good news.

So, now I say again, "Good Lord!"

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." - Romans 8:1-4 (emphasis added)

Trogdor >>> Guitar Hero 2 >>> Switchfoot

Bono: A Conversation About Christianity

The Gospel According to Oprah

Remember Me

by Jill Carattini

(taken from "A Slice of Infinity")

There is something comforting about the many lives in Scripture of which we know very little. There was more to the story of the woman who knew that if she could just touch the fringe of Jesus's robe she would get well. There was more to tell about the woman who anointed Jesus with a jar of perfume, or the thief who hung beside Jesus on the cross. Yet, we are told only that they will be remembered. And they are. However insignificant their lives were to society, they have been captured in the pages of history as people worth remembering, people who had a role in the story of God on earth--people remembered by God when multitudes wished them forgotten. It is to me a tender reminder that our fleeting lives are yet infinitely significant because we are remembered by the one who sees our hearts and hears our prayers long before others notice and long after they have stopped listening.

We know very little about the man named Simeon, but we know he was in the temple when he realized that God had remembered him. Reaching for the baby in the arms of a young girl, Simeon was moved to praise. As his wrinkled hands cradled the infant, Simeon sang to God:

"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation" (Luke 2:29-30).

Simeon uses the language of a slave that has been freed. There is a sense of immediacy and relief, as if a great iron door has been unlocked and he is now free to go through it. God had remembered his promise even as He remembered the aging Simeon. The Lord had promised he would not die before he saw the Lord's salvation. Now seeing and holding the child named Jesus, Simeon knew he was dismissed to death in peace.

Marveling at the bold reaction of a stranger, Mary and Joseph stood in awe. Upon laying eyes on their child, a man unknown to them pronounced he could now die in peace! They were well aware of God's hand upon Jesus; yet here they seem to discover that the arm of God, which is not too short to save, extends far beyond anything they imagined.

Simeon's blessing and words to Mary only furthered this certainty: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2:34-35). To these words as well, Mary and Joseph stood in awe.

On this Good Friday we recall the symbol of the Cross, the sword that pierced a mother's heart, and the passion of the one who continues to be spoken against. An old man in the temple hundreds of years ago, through a fraction of a scene in his life, reminds us still today that to look at Jesus is to look at the salvation of God. Whether peering at the child in the manger or the man on the Cross, the human heart is yet revealed in its response to him. This is, in fact, our most memorable feature. Though our sins put him on the Cross, it is our response to Christ that God has chosen to remember.

Perhaps the small excerpts of the many fleeting lives we find in Scripture were meant to capture exactly this sentiment. As the thief peered into the bruised eyes of Jesus, like Simeon, he saw the salvation of God. May our response to the one on the Cross echo this man's words: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). And it was so.


Jill Carattini is senior associate writer at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

© 2007 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. All Rights Reserved.

GodTube.com; Jesus Camp

Yes, that's right.  As the name suggests, it's a Christian alternative to YouTube.

Check it out for yourself.  It's not officially launched yet, but it works, though the flash player on the site is a carbon copy of YouTube's.

It should be interesting to see the quality of content on the site, and if it really takes off.

Below is an interview with the CEO of GodTube.com, and a couple Christian parodies of those clever/hilarious/annoying/dumb Apple "Mac vs. PC" commercials.  (There's a series of them on the site.)







By the way, has anyone seen the documentary Jesus Camp?  I watched it online yesterday (our cleaning system was dead), and it's a very stirring film.  Personally, it was kind of scary/upsetting for me to see that all those kids were essentially being  brainwashed in the name of Christ in order to push political agendas.  I agreed strongly with the radio host, Mike Papantonio.

Granted, the documentary focused on just a segment of the evangelical community, but it is sad to see that this segment exists at all, and that its influence is growing.

If you haven't seen it yet, I'd highly recommend it.

Watch Movies/TV Shows Online...For Free!

There are loads of these Web sites out there, but I just came across this one today, and it's pretty ill.

Videohybrid is the site, and it has loads of movies and television show episodes that you can watch for free.

It's surprisingly up-to-date, too, which is very neat.

Go ahead and check it out, before it gets shut down, haha.

It's in beta, and the site crashes a lot, so you might have to click refresh a few times after you click a link, but it's worth it.

Enjoy.

(Credit goes to Mr. Arrington at TechCrunch for this post.)

Jokes

A piece of string walks into a bar, props himself up on a stool and orders a beer.

The bartender says, "We don't serve your kind in here. Get out."

So the piece of string goes outside and starts tearing at the ends of himself, and throws himself down in the dirt and wallows around until, finally, he's tied himself into a knot. He goes back into the bar and sits back down on the same stool and orders a beer.

The bartender looks at him suspiciously and asks, "Aren't you the same piece of string I just threw out of here?"

"No, I'm a frayed knot."

---

Did you hear about the blind guy that went bungee jumping?

He loved it, but it scared the crap out of his dog.

---

A pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel hanging from his zipper.

The bartender asks, "Hey! Do know you have a steering wheel hanging from your zipper?"

The pirate replies, "Aye. It's drivin' me nuts."

Courtesy of Jason Lee Miller.

Cheerleaders

Caption: "A prospective Denver Broncos cheerleader performs a routine on the first day of auditions in Denver, Colorado March 25, 2007. Over 250 women applied for the 34 slots."

Now, I don't mean to be a jerk, but when I first saw this photo along with the caption, I shook my head in disbelief and grinned.  I mean, c'mon...how in the world is that woman going to be a cheerleader, for an NFL team nonetheless!?!?

But just as I began scoffing at this woman, I realized that I was looking into a mirror.

I say this because I know that apart from Christ, I am nothing.  Even that expression is insufficient to convey the notion, because even the words "I am" suggest that, well, I am.  A more appropriate way to put it would be, "Apart from Christ --"

I am unable to perfectly keep the law that God demands me to keep.  It is not because I stumble at just one point, but because I stumble at many, many points, which tells me of how wretched my state really is.  In order to be pleasing to God, I must keep every single one of his commands without fail, but since I cannot, I am forced to face my insufficiency, my utter lack, my insatiable despair.  God's law humbles me and shows me that I am incapable, ugly, and damned.

On my own --

But in Christ, I am justified.  I am pleasing to my Lord's eye.  I am cleansed of my inabilities.  I am redeemed.

I am.

Apart from Christ, I'm just like a rotund, middle-aged woman trying to obtain a place among beautiful, agile, stunning young ladies.  No matter how much I try, I'll never make it.

In Christ, I'm made beautiful again.  I am brought back to what I was intended to be.

Now it's time to make good on what I've been given.

A Palm Laid Down

by Jill Carattini

(taken from "A Slice of Infinity")

The triumph of Palm Sunday is not lost on the young. In churches all over the world yesterday, children danced in long aisles with palm branches, a jubilant commemoration of the first Palm Sunday. I loved celebrating this story as a child. In a place where we were commonly asked to sit still, it was extraordinary to have permission to cheer and march and draw attention.

But like many stories in childhood that grow complicated as the chapters continue, Palm Sunday is far more than a triumphant recollection of Christ's entry into Jerusalem. The convicting irony of the holiday we celebrate strikes with each cheer of victory, for we reenact a scene that dramatically changed in a matter of days. The troubling reality to the triumph of Palm Sunday is that we know the Cross is yet to come.

A symbol of triumph, the palm branch was waved to welcome royalty and to extol the victorious. Palms were also used to cover the paths of those worthy of honor and distinction. All four of the gospel writers report that Jesus was given such a tribute. As Jesus came into Jerusalem, riding on a colt, he was greeted as King. The crowds laid branches and garments on the streets in front of him. Multitudes went before him and followed after him, crying out:

Hosanna!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!
The King of Israel!
Hosanna in the highest!

But within days, these cheers of "Hosanna!" became shouts for crucifixion. The honor extended with palms and praises was forgotten shortly after it was placed before him.

It is this drama that is still religiously enacted. What I long to imagine was a fickle crowd--an illustration of the power of mobthink, or a sign of a hard-hearted people--only reminds me of my own vacillations with the Son of God. How easily our declarations that he is Lord become denials of his existence. How readily hands waving in praise and celebration become fists raised at the heavens in pain or hardship. Like a palm laid down and forgotten, the honor we bestow on Sunday can easily be abandoned by Wednesday.

Yet riding through the streets of Jerusalem, Jesus knew then what he knows now, and we know it too: This honor will be abandoned, these praises will cease, and the branches trampled to dust. The Cross will still come. With Palm Sunday comes the arrival of holy week in all its darkness, in all its brilliance. With palms in our hands, we carry a glimpse of the burden that Jesus himself carried through that first crowd. Though we recognize the Messiah before us, we will turn from him. Though we labor to follow his ways, we will fall short. (How fitting that in many churches the remains of Palm Sunday literally become the ashes of Ash Wednesday. The discarded palms are burned and the ashes collected. Then on Ash Wednesday services the following year, the ashes are used to mark our foreheads with the sign of the Cross.)

This week we remember the one who comes into the midst of our every defeat. Christ comes near to our unfaithfulness, near the ashes of what was meant to be obedience or praise. Despite our oscillating thoughts, despite the sin we cannot leave, he comes to make us holy and pure. He comes to bring us to the Cross.

Here we do well to glean from the excitement of children: Palm Sunday is a jubilant commemoration that the King is here and the Cross will come. The Son has made his triumphal entry. We must lay more than palms at his feet.

Jill Carattini is senior associate writer at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

© 2007 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. All Rights Reserved.

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