Flashback Friday

As a little human toddling about, I was...

...attracted to books.
...convinced my baby sister was my personal living doll.
...fond of canned peaches.
...strangely capable of listing all 39 books of the old Testament through song.
...exceptionally chatty.

Not much has changed, except I'm no longer terribly enthused about canned peaches.

Perfectly Beautiful

Pretty.

Beautiful.

Perfect.


Are all of these the same?

Here is a four minute video challenging our perceptions of beauty.



(Set in Zurich, Switzerland)

The Sound of Silence

Pakistani refugees on an old carousal, National Geographic

This afternoon my sister and I jaunted over to a local public library to hear a program from three Celtic harp players. The musicians explained that their instruments and compositions were a revival of ancient Irish folk music. The lead musician narrated legends of roving Irish harpists whose instruments were dearer to them than lovers. As the three of them played together, I reflected on the ability of music to stir our spirit and emotions, accomplishing the minor miracle of transporting us out of both our bodies and minds. 

In a society where jingle jangle is constantly piped into both our homes and public places, I think we forget that much of history has been accompanied only by the music of nature. A musician friend recently spent two weeks walking the Camino in Northern Spain and remarked on how the silence in the small village squares seemed almost eerie to his American ears. The audiences of the Irish harpists would have lived in similar quiet, exposed to music primarily in the voice and the rhythms of wind and wave. The harp strings must have seemed magical to them. It would have been more than satisfying -- like water quenching deep thirst.

It seems that human beings value things more when they are rare. Historical luxuries are commonplace for Americans today, and we lack the instinct towards gratitude for beautiful things. We consider free time, choice, and variety our due, an extension of our basic human rights. Yes, we are, at times, grateful for the general plenty of our lives. Perhaps if we learn how to be grateful for each item that makes up the plenty, we will be content with less and generous with more. The gifts will seem greater and the burdens fewer. When we are satisfied with simple, "average" will become "abundant".

Guilt-Free Gratitude

Indian Nomad - National Geographic

Sometimes we are "guilted" into gratefulness by exposure to people who own less than us or are in more pain. The contrast principle can be helpful in realizing the preciousness of our gifts, but surely there has to be a way for us to value what we have been given due to its own merits. My family is a gift because of who they are, not because other people's families are abusive or neglectful. My creature comforts are a gift whether or not I ever realize the depth of other people's poverty.

Today I am grateful for:

-supernatural grace

-living in safety

-mobility

-literacy

-loving friends and family

Putting the Pieces Together

In the past week and a half, I have driven to San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Agoura Hills, Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Thousand Oaks, La Verne, and Pasadena. Whoosh!

As many of you have heard, in August I resigned my position with Joni and Friends. After a couple of months of respite, I began volunteering part-time as the Ministry Relations Director for Hope Rising, a brand-new nonprofit combating human trafficking in the 805 area. Yes, it is discouraging and draining to fight human rights violations, but I absolutely love focusing my energy and attention on helping people suffering from violent oppression. It has been inspiring and educating to meet law enforcement, social service workers, and victim advocates likewise laboring in abolitionism.

What is your passion? What is your "treasure in the field"--the thing you would sell everything to obtain?

Speaking of which, I am still looking for part-time work to supplement my thrift store shopping compulsion and other odds and ends like food and healthcare. Connect with me on LinkedIn and/or let me know if you have any leads. I'm not sure exactly what the future will look like, but every week brings another piece to the shape. The cause of justice is always worth our best.

What Every Woman Wants

This Wednesday Hope Rising gave a human trafficking awareness and safety presentation to a local high school. I presented on a general description of human trafficking as well as internet safety. Friends, I know more than I ever wanted to know about the ways sexual predators target and lure children. Sadly, there are many more perverted tactics, jargon, and avenues of which I am unaware. The good news is that several hundred more high school students have now been warned that flashing a webcam or sending nude pictures of themselves is more stupid than sexy, given all the ways online predators will exploit the images.

So, what's with the title of this post? Well, in thinking about exploitation, I have also been ruminating on the heart of a woman. Every girl and woman wants to be desired and chosen for herself, to the exclusion of all others, past, present, and future. We want to be beautiful because it is part of being captivating, enchanting, desirable. We want to be special. And while some women use their beauty to manipulate, I am convinced that every woman began with the unspoken cry of "choose me". Sadly, many women are "chosen" for their bodies alone. They are abused and exploited for their flesh--their shell. Some are tricked or trapped into exploitation, but many girls quickly offer up their bodies in the hopes of at least feeling personally desired and chosen. 

People's lives can be crushed in a moment. Injury seems far easier than healing. Perhaps this is why healing is ultimately more powerful. It is stronger. More resilient. Determined. Healing can come through time alone, but more often it comes through relationships with men and women who patiently appreciate and celebrate the uniqueness of a person. People who say: we desire to be your friend. We chose you. Be a part of our lives and our community.

The Bible says that the God of the universe chose to come dwell with helpless, broken people. He was willing to be broken. He is willing to be our provider and healer. When we think about protecting and healing women's hearts, our strongest resource should be the One who crafted who them.

The End of Today - The End of Slavery

This past week I have been working on Hope Rising projects, graduate school applications, and job searching. I spoke recently with a friend who self-initiated a similar revamp of his circumstances. He shared that it is easier to jump into an entirely new set of circumstances that are generally uncomfortable than to try to be slightly uncomfortable with one new change at a time. It's just too easy to return to comfort when you are a little bit uncomfortable with a new change. This was certainly the case for me this past August, and despite the discomfort of not having a scheduled plan or income, I am incredibly happy to be focusing on abolitionism.

Much of today has been spent sitting in my new home office (thanks, Brother) looking through material about human trafficking. Despite the tragic reality of this brutal industry, at the end of today I am reminded that rescue is possible. Prevention is possible. Even healing is possible. Here is a brief montage from "The End of Slavery" by the International Justice Mission that summarizes both the urgent need and the hope.

Who do you see?

Regarding a studly man...

But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as a man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

It's a Conspiracy!

"The day I became an abolitionist"

The paradox of human existence--everyone is born into the same story line but experiences a unique plot and setting. During a period of transition, I have been looking to other abolitionists for inspiration. Kevin Bales is the author of Disposable People and the founder of Free the Slaves. Here is the three minute version of the day he became an abolitionist.

What inspires you? Has it changed you yet?

Teenage Tom

Sometimes I amuse myself by thinking of organizations in terms of human development: baby, child, teen, young adult, and so on.

Today it seems that Tom's Shoes might be moving past its hip teen years. Instead of sticking with the BOGO (buy one, give one) model of selling shoes, it is beginning to create jobs in the countries it claims to serve, starting with Haiti. 

Here is a quick article by the founder of Hope International, an organization promoting microenterprise.

Central Coast Crime

Think human trafficking isn't happening in your neighborhood? Think again. Central Coast news reports in this four minute piece -- and also plugs the Justice Summit!

Amazon Smile

Did you know that Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchases to a charity of your choice? See picture below.

Why I am applying for a master's in social work

Preamble to the Code of Ethics, National Association of Social Workers

The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well­being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession’s focus on individual well­being in a social context and the well­being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living.

Social workers promote social justice and social change with and on behalf of clients. “Clients” is used inclusively to refer to individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers are sensitive to cultural and ethnic diversity and strive to end discrimination, oppression, poverty, and other forms of social injustice. These activities may be in the form of direct practice, community organizing, supervision, consultation administration, advocacy, social and political action, policy development and implementation, education, and research and evaluation. Social workers seek to enhance the capacity of people to address their own needs. Social workers also seek to promote the responsiveness of organizations, communities, and other social institutions to individuals’ needs and social problems.

The mission of the social work profession is rooted in a set of core values. These core values, embraced by social workers throughout the profession’s history, are the foundation of social work’s unique purpose and perspective:

• service
• social justice
• dignity and worth of the person
• importance of human relationships
• integrity
• competence.

This constellation of core values reflects what is unique to the social work profession. Core values, and the principles that flow from them, must be balanced within the context and complexity of the human experience.

Why doesn't he just stop?

From a survivor of child sexual exploitation:

For example, I have experienced a few organizations who directly work with CSEC [commercial sexual exploitation of children]survivors who have the attitude: "these are helpless girls, they must be rescued and they must be grateful they are being rescued, and if we work with them, and aren't we fabulous for rescuing them." This "rescue" mentality perpetuates the myth that one person or event can "save" a child from exploitation and completely discounts the very determination and skills that have kept her alive. In fact, on average, seven attempts must be made before a survivor fully exits sexual exploitation (the same as domestic violence). CSEC survivors have been betrayed, let down, and lied to most of their lives--often for the material and physical gains of others. Let's ask "Why doesn't he just stop?" instead of "Why doesn't she just leave?"

Read more here.

Only 10 Companies Own the Majority of Food Brands

Crazy, right? Like most things, the food industry is messy. You can buy fair trade, environmentally sound, and/or healthy products from a particular brand whose parent company is propagating pain and pollution. It makes me want to run out and buy some Divine chocolate...or maybe even local vegetables.

Source

Modern Day Abolitionists

What is with this "modern day abolitionist" jargon? Isn't slavery illegal? Didn't you learn about the Emancipation Proclamation in school? Isn't this just the new, cool cause? First orphans, then AIDS, now slaves?

Well, the good news is that slavery is indeed illegal in every country in the world--but only as recently as 1981. Mauritania was the last country to outlaw slavery, but didn't actually make it a crime to own slaves until 2007. Don't ask me how that works; the point is that it doesn't work. Every country has an antislavery law on the books, but many do not enforce them. Human trafficking, or modern day slavery, is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. It is estimated to currently be third in terms of profit, trailing only slightly behind drugs and arms.

Modern day abolitionists cry that it is not enough to admit that slavery is wrong. Despite laws screening child-care workers and penalizing drunk driving, we still work to ensure the safety of our children and keep drunk drivers off the street. Even more so, we must relentlessly push for the enforcement of relatively new laws that free slaves, punish traffickers, and provide for survivors. Yes, the laws are on the books. Modern day abolitionists demand that those representing justice use them.

At Bat

Cuba (copyright National Geographic)

Rarely can we accurately anticipate what life will throw,
but sometimes we have the opportunity to at least pose in readiness.



Take a nap.
Call your best friends.
Pray.
Drink water until you're about to slosh.
Ask "what if?"
Join AAA.
Go to coffee for an hour instead of Facebook stalking.
Read nonfiction.
Say "thank you".

Ethical isn't icky.

Mom after consuming a Green and Black milk chocolate bar: "That chocolate bar you gave me was really good!"
Me with amusement: "Actually, that was Pop. He found it at Fresh and Easy. But yes, I don't eat fair trade just because it's ethical. They usually taste better."

Brief, shameless marketing coupled with further discredit of my candidacy for sainthood--my blog posts are finally conforming to popular culture!

One of my many "favorites"

Zoe Rescue Walk 2013

Hi Friends, I'm still looking for walkers and donors for the Rescue Walk in Santa Clarita on November 9, three weeks from today! Here is the link to my page. Also, below is an update on three more organizations that are joining the walk. Remember iSanctuary? I've been supporting them for four years and am pretty happy that abolitionism can look so stylish. Katie

Dear Rescue Walk Participants - As it takes numerous snowflakes to unleash a mighty power.....so it takes numerous voices to combat human trafficking. This is why we are excited to have three great organizations joining us this year at the Walk. Besides a ZOE table, there will be three other groups setting up a table and selling items that directly impact the issue of human trafficking.  Check out their websites and come prepared to shop! iSanctuary | International Sanctuary - Purchase with Purpose iSanctuary products provide rehabilitation options for survivors of human trafficking, both domestic and abroad. Survivors handmade, package and inventory all products. Share & Do Good - Share the Stories of Good Being Done Around the World! Share & Do Good is a giving boutique located in Downtown Fullerton. Their goal is to bring amazing designs made by great causes that tell amazing stories of hope from around the world. Forever Found Forever Found exists to support the prevention, rescue and restoration of child trafficking victims.

Poor Bird!

A young boy spied a small bird sitting aloft on a telephone wire.

"Poor bird! Look Daddy, look at the poor bird!"
"What's wrong? Why is that a 'poor bird', son?"
"The poor bird doesn't have a cage to live in!"



Today, as you think about your circumstances, are you the boy or the bird? Perhaps both? I feel like the boy when I see sleep-deprived new moms or roving missionaries or People Without Plans. Then sometimes I feel like the perched bird when people react to my spiritual convictions, career nonprofit work, and even decision to consume only "ethical" chocolate. Freedom, it turns out, is subjective.

As an abolitionist, sometimes it is easy to forget that freedom can be scary. It's big and uncharted--unconstrained and unconfined by definition. You don't know what you might run into or what might come to get you. You don't know your personal limits or the limits of your circumstances until you explore them. Freedom requires initiative. It requires courage. It requires tenacity. All of us claim to want freedom, but I am concerned that we primarily want the diluted freedom to choose comfort over all else--even if that comfort looks like confinement.

Which are you today?

Justice Summit San Luis Obispo

A justice conference in my favorite city? I'm there!

http://mbabolitionists.org/

Birthday Weekend

Festivities to commence shortly

Friends

A multitude of friends!

Mom getting her fix

Eager to feed the fish!

Consumption!

Pre-prandial pose

Austin

Texas State Capitol

Once upon a time the Texas State Capitol building burnt, and the Texans erected their new dome six feet higher than the country's Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

"Passage" at the Blanton Art Muesuem

Butterflies, made from recycled aluminum cans, are transporting and escorting a plane skeleton.

Blanton Art Museum Piece

"Seepage" by El Anatsui at Blanton Art Museum

"Anatsui celebrates the beauty and possibility found in every day materials. After flattening the aluminum wrappers from local Nigerian-brand liquor bottles and folding their edges, the artist and his team of assistants use copper wire to tie the small strips of metal together. ... The work references the historical importance of alcohol in Africa, where it was an imported product exchanged by colonial traders for ivory, gold, and slaves."

Oak Trees at University of Texas

N. G. interrupted from his fried chicken and mashed potatoes sausage. (Yes, really.)

H.G. and me at Bangers (sausage and beer)

George Washington Carver Museum

Lonnie Johnson was a space engineer and all-around brain who became most famous for inventimg the Super Soak water gun.

Art-o-Mat at the Whole Foods Headquarters

A vintage cigarette vending machine has been re-purposed to dispense local art pieces.

H.G. looking chic at Anthropologie

My fabulous, amazing, spectacular find at Buffalo Exchange

Trader Joe's opened in Austin!

H.G. and I overlooking the Colorado River from Mt. Bonnell

Dusk in Austin

The blur over the trees on the right is a swarm the famed bats which emerge nightly from under the Congress Avenue Bridge.

Add to the Beauty

Sara Groves' song "Add to the Beauty" has been scrolling through my mind of late. When I saw the video below, I thought they made an excellent pairing. Enjoy.

We come with beautiful secrets.
We come with purposes written on our hearts, written on our souls.
We come to every new morning
With possibilities only we can hold -- that only we can hold.

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces
Calling out the best of who we are.

And I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story.
I want to shine with the light
That's burning up inside.

It comes in small inspirations.
It brings redemption to life and work -- to our lives and work.
It comes in loving community. 
It comes in helping a soul find its worth.

This is grace, an invitation to be beautiful.
This is grace, an invitation.

"Add to the Beauty" by Sara Groves and Matt Bronlewee

Birthday Business

Hi Friends,

My birthday is one month from today, and my mother has begun asking about celebrations. These largely center around food in my family, but you may recall that a few years ago I decided to "donate" my birthday to a different organization every year. Here's how it works: no presents, no presumption, and no pressure! "No presents" indicates that I have more than enough "stuff". "No presumption" is included because I feel awkward assuming that people are going to be turning up beaming at my door, arms overflowing with gifts. "No pressure" summarizes that I am going to take advantage of social convention to let you know about causes I consider worth supporting but I don't expect you to contribute. Deal?

So...for 2013 I am participating in a fundraising walk with Zoe, an organization that works to rescue and restore children who have been sex trafficked in Thailand. I'm brand new to a relationship with this organization but have been invited to be a part of the Hope Rising team. Hope Rising is a burgeoning organization in Ventura that will provide a much needed role of training service providers and faith communities to work with survivors of human trafficking. Click here to go to my fundraising page and read more.

Thanks for your time!
Katie

August Adventures

Building Houses

And where does a wise man build his house?

When choosing our crafts for a recent Haiti trip and purchasing supplies, we estimated at about 50 children in attendance. Surprise! We had closer to 150 and soon scrambled for replacement craft ideas. One morning I partially revised our lesson to talk about the parable of the wise man and foolish man who respectively built their houses on rock and sand. We taught the children and translators the song (falling over at the end was a huge hit) and used one of our few remaining craft supplies to construct popsicle stick houses. Well, the children couldn't quite grasp that glue is not instantaneously adhesive, and the popsicle sticks were too large to fit on the curved plates. Plus, we only had a couple of bottles of glue and a handful of glue sticks, so we had to individually glue every child's house. There was confusion and consternation in the ranks! As I was dashing about spurting five dabs of glue onto strange geometric configurations, I doubted the wisdom of this particular theme. Maybe I should have spent more time and come up with a better idea? The craft seemed more frustrating than fun. Then a sweet boy walked over to me beaming and handed me his house. His roof was perfectly angled. He had drawn three windows and a door with a handle. Most importantly, he had the patience and wisdom to let his glue dry! He knew he had completed the assignment well and wanted to gift me with his creation. Friends, I left the church with that plate in my clutches, carefully crammed it into my carry-on, and carted it back to my room in Southern California where I took a picture to remind me of this verse:

Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. 

Psalm 127:1

The generous builder on the previous day

Your Love is Strong

A beautiful song for the middle of the week. 

His love is strong!

Stronger than the erosion of time

Stronger than our fears

Stronger than poverty

Stronger than storms

Stronger than a kick to the face

Leaning

This comic strip captured a current drifting of thought--do we study and teach history because it gives us the illusion of control? In other words, do we believe that understanding the decisions and forces that directed humanity to its current state in 2013 will allow us to influence the future? Yes, I do recall being taught the phrase: "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Still, I'm not buying it. This motivation for interpreting history seems almost farcical. It is absurd to suppose that humans are 1.) remotely capable of accurately assessing cause and effect on a global or even societal scale and 2.) wise and unselfish enough to use any insights to "fix" our patterns of brutality and prejudice and wastefulness. 

Last week a new acquaintance prayed a familiar verse* over me: "And God, let Katie not lean on her own understanding as she makes decisions, knowing that You direct our paths." Despite memorizing this verse at age seven, there are very few days when I do not lean heavily on my own understanding. I am terrible with any activity requiring physical agility, hand-eye coordination, or mechanical aptitude. Basically, I rely on my own understanding all day long because intuiting and processing information (primarily people-oriented information) is where I am comfortable. It seems like an affront to say that I am supposed to give up the area in which I feel most capable and useful.

The good news for me and for all of us is that this verse is not instructing us to disregard our own mental faculties or gut instincts. Rather, our own understanding is not to be our main support. It is a faulty structure. As we study history, try to understand what makes our loved ones tick, read about current events, decipher training manuals, and so on and so forth, we cannot rely on our understanding. It will fail us every time.

History is incredibly fascinating to me on both an individual and societal level. Humans have the same essential story-line with incredibly diverse circumstances. Every person is born from the physical union of one man and woman, has a sex, has physical needs to eat and sleep and shelter, has emotional needs to learn and connect, interacts with other beings, and finally dies. Many personality psychologists postulate that there are only a few basic personality types that form differently based on our wildly diverse environments. Melding those individual stories into explanations of culture and society is even more complex and elusive. Still, learning about history is indeed valuable. It is useful not because it will help us control the future, but because it confirms the timeless divine instructions for human interaction. Reading about genocides and oppression and tracing their history of prejudice and selfishness may help convince us of man's incredible capacity for evil, but such a perverse lineage is not necessary for instruction. Our Father has already told us how to behave and what to prioritize. We must trust God when He says to care for the poor, welcome the alien in the land, and protect widows and orphans. We must trust Him when He says not to deprive a worker of his rights, to honor the lowly, to universally "love your neighbor as you love yourself." 

History is a corruptible testimony; our understanding is faulty; but God's instructions remain true and trustworthy.

*"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart 

and lean not on your own understanding. 

In all your ways, acknowledge Him, 

and He will direct your paths." 

Proverbs 3:5-6. 

The Jailers

Abolitionists love the story of Paul and Silas's dramatic prison release told in Acts 16. Who wouldn't? It shouts of vibrant praise, a supernatural earthquake, and salvation:

One day, on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl ran into us. She was a psychic and, with her fortunetelling, made a lot of money for the people who owned her. She started following Paul around, calling everyone's attention to us by yelling out, "These men are working for the Most High God. They're laying out the road of salvation for you!" She did this for a number of days until Paul, finally fed up with her, turned and commanded the spirit that possessed her, "Out! In the name of Jesus Christ, get out of her!" And it was gone, just like that.

When her owners saw that their lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt, they went after Paul and Silas, roughed them up and dragged them into the market square. Then the police arrested them and pulled them into a court with the accusation, "These men are disturbing the peace-dangerous Jewish agitators subverting our Roman law and order." By this time the crowd had turned into a restless mob out for blood.

The judges when along with the mob, had Paul and Silas's clothes ripped off and ordered a public beating. After beating them black-and-blue, they threw them into jail, telling the jailkeeper to put them under heavy guard so there would be no chance of escape. He did just that--threw them into the maximum security cell in the jail and clamped leg irons on them.

Along about midnight--Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn't believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.

Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway, when Paul stopped him: "Don't do that! We're all still here! Nobody's run away!"

The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, "Sirs, what do I have to do be be saved, to really live?" They said, "Put your entire trust in Master Jesus. Then you'll live as you were meant to live--and everyone in your house included!"

They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master--the entire family got in on this part. They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home, dressed their wounds, and then--he couldn't wait until morning!--was baptized, he and everyone in his family. There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember. He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.

At daybreak, the court judges sent officers with the instructions, "Release these men." The jailer gave Paul the message, "The judges sent word that you're free to go on your way. Congratulations! Go in peace!"

But Paul wouldn't budge. He told the officers, "They beat us up in public and threw us in jail, Roman citizens in good standing! And now they want to get us out of the way on the sly without anyone knowing? Nothing doing! If they want us out of here, let them come themselves and lead us out in broad daylight."

When the officers reported this, the judges panicked. They had no idea that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. They hurried over and apologized, personally escorted them from the jail, and then asked them if they wouldn't please leave the city. Walking out of the jail, Paul and Silas went straight to Lydia's house, saw their friends again, encouraged them in the faith, and only then went on their way.*

Whoosh! Quite a bit to unpack in this story. First there is a demon-possessed slave girl who is compelled to scream out the truth as God's servants pass her: "These men bring the story of salvation!" Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul speaks words of freedom to her, resulting in severe beating and imprisonment for himself and his cohort. No interfering with the highly lucrative slave trade! I'm following avidly thus far, as this is paralleling stories I read every week about modern-day abolitionists risking all to answer God's call to justice. Well, next comes the part that we learn in Sunday school: literally chained in prison, black and blue, and without even the pretense of creature comforts, Paul and Silas choose to sing songs of praise to God. 

Last night, a friend referenced this praise part of the story when praying for torture camps in the Sinai. It seems that people are generally most impressed that Paul and Silas would sing after being tortured and wrongfully imprisoned. As Americans, we're transfixed that they would choose to praise God after His apparent failure to protect and provide. Then, bam! An earthquake shows the authorities Who is in control. Take that! As abolitionists, we continually pray for these types of miraculous rescues. We tend to focus on this part of the story, glossing over the ending. But, astonishingly,  Paul and Silas do not walk out freely into the night. They wait for the jailer. Paul and Silas knew that the jailer's life would be forfeit for any prisoners who escaped. That was the law of the time. Despite God's miraculous intervention on their behalf, they voluntarily remained in captivity for the sake of the jailer's soul. This sort of love completely floored the jailer, and it likewise stops me in my tracks. 

Paul was no pansy. He was a fierce advocate of justice, as you can see at the end of the story when he essentially demanded a legal clearing of his name, again remaining in jail for the sake of a greater cause. This man hated evil and preached a fierce abstinence from sin. He was an unabashed radical. Yet, he had been personally transformed by grace to the point that he was willing to forgo freedom for the sake of an unjust captor.

Frankly, I'm not that nice. I want the bad guys apprehended swiftly and permanently. I'm selective with forgiveness and think that it is mine to dispense. Yet, the essence of forgiveness is realizing that you never had the authority to accurately judge right and wrong, to dispense rewards and punishments. Forgiveness is trusting that God will work out restitution eternally and relinquishing the idea that someone's transgression makes them less of a person than you. Forgiveness by no means ignores the needs for restitution and restoration, but it does ultimately release those responsibilities to God.

As I type, refugees are being kidnapped from United Nation camps in northeastern Africa and sold to traditionally nomadic tribes who imprison them in the middle of the desert in the Sinai peninsula, torturing them brutally in order to extort as much money as possible from impoverished friends and family. Most do not make it out alive, but some have made their way to Israel, badly wounded and destitute. Last night we prayed for the people still imprisoned in the camps, that they would experience miraculous courage and rescue in the middle of hell on earth. We prayed for figurative and even literal earthquakes of freedom in the camps. We prayed for praise and courage regardless of rescue. And then, we prayed for the traffickers, remembering that Paul had been hell-bent on a campaign to murder Christians prior to his own dramatic conversion. Though no one mentioned it at the time, I think we were all remembering this truth:

For when we were still without strength, 

in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; 

yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 

But God demonstrates His own love toward us,

in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Romans 8:6-8

*Story taken verbatim from "The Message: The Bible in Contemporary English".