“20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” 24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:20-25 ESV)

The heft, religion taunts us with its Progress and Push. Inclinations opposed, or inclinations finding Repose within the Evangelical tradition. It simply startles us, alerts us, challenges us: the words that show push and heft. The words… that we were a bit uncomfortable quite putting to paper. The Religion founded in some Arrived Upon man’s status, woman’s status. Were we, after all, contrite in our heart when such-and-such was penned? Is it like storing up tears in a bottle? Do we begin to recognize our own Presence and the Impossibilities we have the capacity to make into Possibilities? God is not mocked: we are Children for His sake, and dutifully discharge the Service of the Saints… in a world, both giddy with Success and mournful of Failure. 

Simply… we are simple folk… simply to allow ourselves, heat of war notwithstanding, that Joy in receiving the day… because of a successful meeting, because of a New Day to greet and intrigue with our desires and holy outputs. We may be contented but we are not without Desire to Act, Inclination to Pursue, Intimation to go Aloft. To pen that simple Affection for our Lord, that Behooves us to act upon rationale, that Warmer and Hefty brand of writing and Religion: God for us, and we, no weaker for our measly words, but rather strong in our verbiage, strong in our words.

Strong… as in Receptive, to His goodness and our plain Joy over and against all frustrations or missteps: the quality of the self-analysis is that it Concludes: forgiven. It concludes: Unbored. It concludes: hoisted up upon angels’ wings. And we, the merrier for having entertained the Offer. The offer of Lordship, His for our sake. In a world where many suffer or live under threat or fear, we poke and prod through an Expansiveness Unreal, a plenteous Realm in which to exercise and glide, float and experiment. Because it originated, not so much in our own meager Minds, but in an Externality now Owned by said Minds: God for us, and we His people. We have the Power to go a league farther, a step deeper, an imaginative Trip holier. We can Dream as to what God wants, as to His vision, and be Gladsome in the trenches with our guile and smile, with our literal care-free Response to bombs overhead. We couldn’t care less, except it would be nice to win wouldn’t it?