Life Happens... sometimes it's not nice...

Some people told me that they don't like the word "messy" when describing people's lives... because... I think it is describes situations in people's lives that make a child's 'messy room' look neat.  I don't know how better to describe some lives that I am privileged to participate in (in some strange way) than messy.  Life gets so complicated - especially when it's not supposed to.  Society creates rules; we follow them or else. And this causes problems as it becomes painfully aware that there are many good people out there making some not-so-good decisions; not just one not-so-good... but many of them.  Where it really gets messy is when we judge these people by the results of their actions and we believe that this is who they are; we wind up judging the person as a whole flawed individual.  The reality is that these people would love to live "normal lives" but the challenge is in their decision making process that they learned as children. Look back into people's lives; on what basis have people learned to make good choices?  While some people claim that they had a "good child-hood" - although challenged at times - I really wonder because I would not want  it for the life of me. Good people making bad choices and a system that is in place that doesn't allow them to address the issue very easy at all (sometimes rather difficultly).  No matter what happens; they think they are doing "the right thing" and it winds up getting all over them.  Then more bad decisions; followed yet by one more.  before you know it, they are covered head-to-toe in results of not-so-good choices.  Now if that isn't messy, I don't know what is.

What people need is a path on which they know that they can start to make good choices; they need a target to aim for; they need something beyond themselves as a guide; they need the mentoring of a caring, loving Power that sees beyond their brokenness and deep into their hearts where that good individual is just waiting to break free.  Freedom, that is what they need, freedom.  Freedom from judgment; freedom from the guilt of human failings; freedom to accept the permission to start life over once again without the history report card coming out and dragging them back into the abyss again.  These people need to experience the Gospel of Jesus Christ - who came for exactly these kinds of broken people.  Jesus Christ; the one who ate with the tax collectors (remember - tax collectors were worse than sinners - they had their very own category below the sinner bar); Jesus Christ, the one who reached out and touched the untouchable's in society.  Jesus offered healing and He offered life - all in a messy world. The question for us is this, then; do we truly believe that we are the hands and feet of Christ; do we truly believe that the Church is the vessel by which God allows the Gospel to be experienced so that one day it may be heard?  If so, where do we all fit in? Maybe we are leading messy lives, too?