deeper: hebrews 2

it was difficult to enter the Word this time. where the devotional says read once to enter, read once to impress, i think i read five times. an irony because the second chapter begins with a 'warning to pay attention'. my mind feels spent although waking up wasn't a disruption of the night's rest. i went to sleep after reading, full and grateful for the fresh perspective of James Martin's Jesus, although it was a late hour after a long day with an unexpected bitter pill. perhaps i will start sleeping better when there isn't so much overhaul for my subconscious to process beyond waking hours.

enter & impress

God testified to us through Jesus. we were the ones who had sinned, we are the ones needing to go through the great length of transformation to testify. but He beat us to it. He carried the cross before any of us did. and still... everyday, people - new servants - are brought into this world and He has subjected all things to [us]. God left nothing outside [our] control. 

all things. it is a lot to be gifted, to be given responsibility for, to attest to. it is too much to compartmentalise. the only way to live subjected to All Things from God is to be consumed by it and to let it live your life.

a new way to look at being a vessel. 



pray & live

this word, testify, it moves me. i am called to be a witness not because it is a reaction to the life and work of Jesus on this earth, but because i am a child of God and being a witness is part of my identity, just as my brother. The one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. perhaps Jesus is witnessing too when we sit at the table of the Eucharist. He is not apart from us because to break bread is to share. to do this in remembrance of me is to join him in witnessing. to remember our responsibility and our identity as children of God. it is not just to remember the act of the Passion, the suffering, our unworthiness. it is to remember that we are loved.

God has equipped me for this journey home: It was fitting that God . . should make the pioneer of [our] salvation perfect through sufferings. ... Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. He has given me a brother to walk with me and to protect me in the dark night and the heat of the day. to whistle with me to cause a breeze. to break bread with me. to laugh with me and cry with me. to know the people around me and draw in good company for the road home.

in Martin's book i have started reading, he talks about how it is difficult enough to grasp Jesus' divinity, but what is the greater challenge is to understand and accept Jesus' humanity. and Kreeft said, it happened thousands of years ago and all of humanity is continually shocked by this. shocked. and so there can be no other way but to be electrified into life by this. to not be is to not look at Jesus' humanity and the love of the Father.

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things .... he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. 

sharing flesh and blood. sharing the anxieties, the stress, the fear. the joy, the love, the humor, the excitement; from this little place, this little life. all to become more merciful. more faithful. it isn't just us who are on the journey home. Jesus made that journey, too.

thank you for your Word, Lord. i have always known that it is the greatest book ever written but for a long time i have allowed it to be abstracted by the time and space of the thousands of years passed. i lost my reading rhythm after i found You because no story has ever satisfied me enough. here's to the year ahead of a resurrected imagination to listen to this greatest love story that spans the universe, between God and his children.