I took a class at VU entitled "Strangers and Marginals". The focus was individuals who were or would have been seen as weird, bizzare, or strange or crazy by the society on the whole. What intrigued me was that many of these individuals accomplished unique,original deeds but were misunderstood in their lifetime, made to suffer and were cast out emotionally and or physically. Some were gifted artists, musicians, poets, inventors, and authors. Some never came to fame, and spent their lives in solitude in the hills avoiding the towns. Some went mad. Some were put to death because their ideas were threatening. All of this stuck in my processing as I live my life and I find myself looking for and respecting the unique giftings of the people I meet.I really don't expect people to think like me or have the same interests. I enjoy finding common ground or newly discovering something through someone elses areas of interest. I am disturbed by how quickly a non homogenous person is subtley put aside or corrected. How many sensitive souls, gifted in ways they don' t have the confidence to push through, are out there. I watch my own children and am trying to cautiously fan the flames in their areas of interest, let them know their ideas are original to them even if I've heard others express them.Margins, seem to me to be the unplanned space. We do our thinking and planning and writing of our lives, I like to think the margins are where God's creativity comes in , His planning( of course He has already written His book)His fitting of the puzzle pieces, my seeing His sovereignty at work, His working through the multitudes or individuals to carry out specific connections between people, just the right people, the one who can comfort another, the one who can be strong for another, the specific one who can reach out a hand to lift another up or share a word so another chooses to believe one more day can be good.The margins are where we trust and seek Jesus to reveal to us the 'good deeds He planned in advance for us to walk in"Not just anything I can think of that is good to do, but what He created me to do that is somehow meant to specifically help a specific person. My brain starts to cramp when I even for a minute try to think about how my life interconnects with others which interconnect with others. I remember when my niece asked my sister what focus of ministry (how she worded it I 'm not sure) she should have, as she was newly involved with highschool, Cindy said , the gist of which was, just be yourself, do what interests you, be your own person. This has become more profound to me over the years because it reveals inherent respect for what God put in a person when He created that unique individual . He made that person in a beautiful mix of colors, talents, interests and so on. It sounds too simple and like the worst cliche, but" be yourself" is actually way, way important. As I hear myself saying it to my kids, I know I'll add, 'submit yourself to Jesus, He knows what the work of art is meant to look like....be yourself in light of Him.
This mysteriously,abstract, in-the-image-of-God,creative potential of every human is,I know, what is at the heart of what I find so gut wrenchingly sad about death, a halting end to what God is doing through that person on earth, whether that person has lived a long life or his life had just begun in that "safest place on earth"(unless that mama lives in America).
3 comments:
I have recently started my student teaching and am working with freshman who have remedial skills in reading comprehension and writing--students who are marginalized by the rest of the student body and by other teachers who have instructed them in the past. Your words are very applicable and have reminded me that my goal is to help them first be successful in who they are so that they can be successful in life.
Just thinking here--I think sometimes we need to redefine the idea of what "success" is and what it looks like. Marginalized people often don't ever fit the western mold of success. What is success? Is it measured by influence? Or, perhaps it is what you allude to Julie, one's journey toward the finished art pice conceptualized by christ--being yourself in the light of christ.
In which camp am I placing my aspirations, am I striving toward the worlds idea of success, or am I striving toward Christ's idea of success for me? Am I doing anything to aid Christ in the creation of the art work that is me, or am I constantly fighting Christ tooth and nail because I am trying to paint a different picture, a picture that would obviously pail in comparisons to the one Christ is trying to paint?
Great post.
Very great post. Scott and I are determined to always let Carter know that he is special, a child of God, and should never be embarrassed at who he is. We want to be encouragers of him with the talents that God gives him and always show him that even as a Christian, there is not one way to live your life. Yes, we all need to be following Christ and do what pleases Him, but that doesn't mean we can't go to college, be a politician, an artist, writer, or anything that some Christians might find indecent. Be who you are and God will bless it.
Bingo! you guys totally get it!!
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