grace.kindness.peace.disruption.pain.processing.rinse.repeat.have a nice day.

For most of my tenure at Taylor University, the good Dr. Richard Allen Farmer blessed the school as the Dean of the Chapel. This man was the snappiest dresser I've ever met, and a heck of a pianist. He could also tell you a good story or two from the Good Book. When he would finish speaking, he would say "would you please look at me and receive the benedictus, the good sayings." At that point he would craft a wonderful benediction that walked with you through the day, challenging, encouraging, and/or motivating you.

A friend of mine in Brazil posted a traditional Franciscan benediction on his blog. At first glance, the words do not seem like they could fall into the category of good sayings. At a glance, it appears a bit masochistic. My Sunday school teacher never used the felt board to illustrate prayers for discomfort, anger, tears, or foolishness.

But despite their oddity, these words resonated with my soul:

Traditional Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world.
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

(original source unknown)

These words ring true, reminding me that I am not alone as they echo my own requests over the past few years.

• I long for depth in my journey and in my relationships. There is within me a passion to know and to be known, and sweet, yet uncomfortable experience.
• I feel anger developing within me. It is as if my soul is attempting to fathom terrible actualities as my priorities are rearranged to let the anger speak itself into actions that bring justice, freedom, and peace.
• And tears … A request for tears, in not so many words, has been my unspoken desire for years. Even as I desire contentment in my own life, I desire a tenderness to have my heart break for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war. The nightly news hardened me long ago. Only now am I learning to grieve the injustices reported in rehearsed tones of sincerity.
• If you've known me in the past few years you know that I am only becoming more foolish in my belief that the world is mine for the changing. My motivations for doing so are a little different than most people. World change is a nice side benefit of being the person I've been designed to be. Love, justice, and righteousness, the very things that change the world, were in the mind of the One who designed me. Striving to live according to my design, to live fully alive, will manifest these three things.

No matter how sappy you think my words are, I hope that the Franciscan words can be your good sayings and your prayer as well as mine.
* Don't forget to check out the spider monkeys on the Products page of Dr. Farmer's site. Only $3,500 ? What a deal!

For those of you that are a) a Suburbanite, b) planning to be a Suburbanite, c) have heard of the Suburbs, and/or d) plan to die some day, you may be interested in a coming Justice Seminar at Grace with Death By Suburb author David Goetz. It should be a good time. The event is on December 2nd, beginning at 10 in the a.m. Register at http://gracecc.org/justiceseminar.html. Lunch is provided (hey, free lunch) and the discussion should be very good.

Even if you can't make the seminar, I highly recommend reading the book.