A thought by Daniel Fusco, from his book, Crazy Happy (p. 48). The Crown Publishing Group, Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)
Yes it is!
Daniel says, "My parents told me about the days not long after the first images of the Vietnam War popped up on TV sets. The images of bodies and violence coming back home were so provocative that they created an almost instantaneous anti-war movement in America. It’s one thing to have a war at a distance; it’s another to see it in your living room."
He goes on, "Fast-forward about fifty years, and the amount of violence the average American sees in a day from news and entertainment sources is so intense that we don’t even bat an eye at it anymore. Not to mention we have smartphones in our pockets 24/7 with those images. It’s as if we’re so used to the fact that everything’s jacked up that we hardly register it anymore. It doesn’t increase our heart rate even a little bit. That’s a problem the Bible calls 'hardness of heart.' We stop being moved by what should move us.
"God hates callous hearts. Why? Because he wants us to be truly human, which means more like him, since we’re made in his image. Contrary to many ideas about God that paint him as unfeeling or unmoved by pain and evil, God is moved by the suffering of others. We deny his image and our own humanity by our lack of feeling in the face of such pain. In his kingdom, the poverty and brokenness we see in ourselves and our world is meant to actually drive us right into authentic feelings of mourning and grief."
He continues, "Take a minute to reflect. When was the last time you truly mourned the suffering in the world? When was the last time it caused you to take action beyond just clicking 'Share' on Facebook? The harsh reality is that we reveal our hardness of heart when we no longer feel others’ suffering."
He says, "It’s easy to get overwhelmed when we see patterns in society and ourselves that have no place in the kingdom of God. This is where the progression of the Beatitudes . . . becomes super important. Remember, entrance into God’s kingdom begins with awareness of our spiritual poverty, and if we forget where we’ve come from, we won’t be able to love people going forward."
He then says, "The kind of spiritual poverty that produces the fruit of love in our lives is also what keeps our hearts soft and able to mourn the brokenness in ourselves and the world. And that’s where change—and joy!—really starts."
And that is so true. Oh God, would you soften our hard heart so we will mourn the brokenness in us and in the world and then experience, really experience and express your joy?
Yes, yes!
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