This World is Not My Home...and Neither is Pandora!

I recently saw James Cameron's movie, Avatar, and loved it!  One of the things I liked best was how the main character, Jake Sully, became a part of the Na'vi tribe.  Even though he was an alien and different, he was accepted.

There were times when I felt that acceptance in China, especially back in 1989 when we first went there, but in our six years there, never a day went by without a reminder that I was a "lao wai" -- an outsider.

Now that we are heading to Italy, I'm hoping that things will be different.  But, to be honest, I'm not hopeful.  I don't think I'll get stared at quite as much when I walk down the street.  I hope I won't get pick-pocketed or robbed by butcher-knife wielding drug addicts simply because I'm a foreigner.  But, I anticipate that, even there in Italy, I will always be an "outsider."

Even here in America, I often feel a bit of an outsider.  Yes, even in my home country.

And, that's the crux of the matter.  It's not my home.  Philippians 3:20, 21 says, "...our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who...will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."  (Who needs to be an Avatar, when our transformed bodies will be so much more glorious than even what James Cameron can make!)  When I get to Heaven and the New Earth, then -- and only then -- will I be home and no longer an outsider.  I will be accepted -- and by the One by whom I really want to be accepted!  That's what I'm really hoping for!

Counting the Cost

I have been on a soup kick... which of course means that I have been on a bread kick. Instead of just making it, the other day I went to a shop down the street. The three small loaves cost me one euro. And they were good. Not the best I've ever had - but definitely not the worst. Ah, but for a euro it was a good buy.

I think about our access to The Bread of Life. How in Him we find truth and purpose, hope and peace. And it really is amazing that it all is free. Or is it? living sacrifice, lay down your life, carry your cross... why do we gloss over the real cost? How dare we cheapen the most precious of gifts by saying it costs nothing. It costs everything. Absolutely everything. But the investment comes back ten fold times ten fold.