“20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.” Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest 25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”” (Mt 11:20–30 ESV)

The Christian journey involves us in a rather Insane bargain: seasoned believers come to an altar all new, and yet Promised, Evoked, Prophesied in Scripture, that Christ was counted amongst the sinners; that Salvation and Eternal Life was promised in His Name; that trials and persecutions would follow.

Just Why we take up this Bargain with the Lord, is not so much because it is mellow and sweet to the palate, not so much because it is a whisper Sublime and Promise Divine, but because we reached the end of our rope. The most legit amongst us… well, all of us can Feel somehow Incomplete. More, we had earthly fathers and mothers; and until we grapple with “how much more so do we have a Heavenly Father?” we ramble and ricochet this way and that, not having the Role Model regarding Decisions we solely and alone have Taken. We lose our marbles. We go into panicky (that part hidden) command and control mode, all things our responsibility to Cope with because… because One Part of the Bargain has gone belly-up, haywire, madhouse, and Incongruous.

Unformed, deformed, reality in the lens of a body of Holy Writ wherein the best in our midst are not Appreciated, not sufficiently Let off the Leash a bit, not Encouraged… the Love Letter to Life, this we pen on the regular, but it is no substitute for the Impassioned Plea of the Lover’s peculiar desire and spiritual captivity to the well-being of the Beloved.

Madness, indeed? It is a strange jaunt of life that Reconciles, Projects, Abridges, and Coalesces around these Promises no matter how crazed they are. The soldier is indeed “insane” (as claimed in titles like Catch 22 by Joseph Heller) but also it is a Necessary Insanity of life in the loving Community: they are expected to toe a line of Normalcy met with Radicalism. Radical Faith. Radical Venture. Radical Giving to Others. And there are times—seasons, indeed—when we go all hero mode out of a frantic fact of the bottom falling out… out of our lives, out of our relationships, out of our sense of Provision or Mastery, of a Figure All-Knowing or at least benign and Well-Intentioned. We therefore give a hug out of Gratitude, to the fellow-travelers in this thing called Life, no longer judging one another but hastening to be reconciled. That we might regain our Mobile (as in a child’s plaything that circles over their intrigued gaze), and our Echelons, Magisteriums, Pantheon, of things we in fact Submit to: while others argue as to who is the top dog, we have a bizarre Fact of Serving “the Top Dog” in ways mysterious and puzzling to any onlooker not accepting that We are the Ones given to them by way of explanatory effect, by way of healing impact, by way of Authority to discern and dictate and decide. We are this for all to whom each of us was sent. To the lover… love. To the sickly… healing. To the pained… relief. To the inquisitive… patience.