Tried With Fire

This is one of the saddest true-life stories I have ever read - Japan's Rent-a-Family Industry .  People may quibble at the word "broken," but this article shows how broken we are when it comes to human relationships. It's tragic that people have become so disconnected that they would pay a stranger to act a part to fill that void. Ironically one of the reasons for the rental is conforming to society's expectations. If everyone took of their masks, who would be even close to the ideal? But that is the power of culture, you are loyal to the ideal even if it is out of reach and the exception, not the norm. Another related article is this one -  Japan's Prisons Are a Haven for Elderly Women . This breaks my heart that the elderly would find a better community in prison because their families have rejected them and they are friendless. This may be Japan, but it is worth taking note. America is getting grayer and grayer too. After I read these stories, a few th...

I was listening to Alone from Shai Linne's album Storiez last night. I lost it on the second verse. I was a faucet tap by the third. There is no question about the good that comes out of trials. But the pain of those trials are a reality as well. We're not anesthetized by God to become numb to the pain. If we were numb to the pain, we'd be numb to the joy as well. It seems like my life is a coming together of opposites. On the one hand, there is hurt and loneliness, and yet there is joy and fellowship in Christ. There's rejection, and yet I am accepted in the Beloved. Sometimes I feel very alone, but there is One who will never leave me nor forsake me. Can I take another step, but then grace is poured out to go on in joy. But if my life is the intersection of opposites, what was it like for Jesus Christ? God and man, perfect yet coming to seek sinners, holy and righteous yet made sin on my behalf, beloved of the Father yet stricken by God, always one with God yet cut o...