Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité

Some of you may know that I take frequent trips to France. Every journey is different: even if I visit the same places, they always hold different observations, challenges, and perks. Yet, they usually never fail to bring a more enlightened view of the Gospel and its impact on life. Frances J. Roberts explains this phenomenon so warmly in Come Away My Beloved: “[God] deepens you in the furnace of affliction, and purifies your soul in the fires of pain.” It amazes me how He similarly also speaks too through the more mundane instances of life or even the small joys. He reveals so much when we are looking for it and letting Him speak.

Perhaps strolling through France reminded me of scenes from Les Miserables; or the movies I had been watching with family were emphasizing similar social strives. But while walking along the beach yesterday, I kept thinking about a famous historical phrase: “Liberté, égalité, fraternité.” This philosophical and political motto invigorated France so powerfully for years, decades, and maybe even a couple centuries. But why was it so captivating? Why in countless countries around the world do people strive for these words or similar mantras?

Because we were created for freedom -we were created to crave liberty, equality, and fraternity.

I love to study politics, especially as an attempt to understand their philosophical foundations, their human justifications, and their results on society. However, in this post, I am not going to dive into the contradicting thoughts and opposing factions of eighteenth century France. What I want to focus on is our innate desire to be free, to embrace equality, and to live with others as a family.

I attended a Catholic Christmas mass about a week ago or so and was stricken by how many people seemed to be there simply by tradition, hoping that somehow fulfilling this festive practice would make their year conclude better and bring about a fortunate new one. Communion was welcomed, something to be done for a blessing, a reminder of days of old, or a warmth in a dark, cold world. The partakers seemed to look towards each other with a hope for brotherhood, a yearning for unity. They were all looking for the same thing: freedom from the awfulness of year 2014 and the worry towards 2015; freedom from the burdens they were carrying; freedom for their souls full of strife, mistakes, and pain. They wanted all to be equal in this unfair world, equal, loved, and free.

Because that’s what they were created for.

Last Sunday, I visited a local evangelical church for the first time in the area. When the service concluded, I was left with joy, reminded that I had what so many across France and the entire world craved and yearned for: freedom, equality, and fraternity. My freedom comes from my salvation in Jesus Christ. Because I believe, He frees me from everything unholy and daily renews my heart, mind, and soul when I turn to Him. I stand equal before God, as any other human being does because He has created us all in His image and is ready to accept any of us into His kingdom of sons and daughters if only we believe. Finally, I can experience a beautiful family experience with all other believers. Constantly the book of Acts opens my eyes to what the Church should really be: one big united family in the truth of the Gospel.

Dear France, dear world –you can have Liberté, égalité, et fraternité. You were created for it. You were created for Jesus Christ.

Hopes & Fears Met in Thee Tonight

It’s that time of year –CHRISTMAS! It’s weird to think that one year has passed since the start of my blog. Looking back over the past year, it’s as if I can see how one thing led to another, stretching me in my faith and leading me towards Shiloh’s Mount. I caught a glimpse as never before about what it means to take leaps of faith; to truly only lean on the Savior; and to trust Him to fulfill what He has promised towards you.

I read a few days ago Luke 5:1-11, and while I cannot possibly compare my journey to those of the disciples’, I did recognize a pattern in their life that occurred at least a couple times in my past year. Like reading the steps to following a pattern to make a quilt square, I saw it all come together. In the Scripture passage, Jesus enters a ship and asks Simon, a fisherman on it, to throw the nets into the water again. Simon tells Jesus that there is nothing to be caught BUT that he will proceed anyways. We see here the first step:  simple obedience when it does not make any sense. 

The disciples actually catch so much fish that their net breaks and they need help from other fisherman in order to collect the fish! Simon Peter is astonished and humbled. I can definitely relate to this next step: God works and I am humbled. This has happened so much this past year: countless times I weakly followed the Lord, with so little confidence in who He is…only to be blown away by His faithfulness and His provision.

What’s amazing is the third step: Jesus looked past the sinful minds of His future disciples and stated FEAR NOT, calling them to become fishers of men. God looks past all of our sin, failures, abilities/inabilities, and insecurities and gives us a calling, something to do, to obey. And just as the fisherman responded, so should we: they finished up their current job, left everything behind, and embraced their calling: following Him. What is the last step in this quilt block? Usually finishing up our current job (unless sinful), leaving everything behind, embracing our calling, and following Him.

This is what Christmas is really about: casting aside our fears of years past and unwrapping the gift of hope that comes through following Christ alone…because that little baby we so easily sing about this time of year is the Son of God, long-expected Messiah, and the only Savior. So let the weary world rejoice!