the bad wolf & greater One

CONSIDER:

'Rejoice with those who rejoice, 

weep with those who weep.' 

Romans 12:15

At this, I am an abject failure. 

Why does the condition of my heart tend toward darkness,

except that I tend such darkness in it. 

How can I extend truly unselfish compassionate love,

except that I have first received and constantly dwell on 

and in such as Christ has given and shown to me.

I am certain that the simple point of my enjoyment at someone else's ills,

 no matter how well deserved, is ill in my heart.

Moreover, my illness at their enjoyment, 

no matter how unsavory, 

I 

judge them to be, 

is still judgement & rather unsavory on my part. 

I am convinced our world exists top left to bottom right 

and the Kingdom exists bottom left to top right.

These are oft to intersect on singular occasion 

caught in the moment of purest sacrifice- 

bloody as all sacrifices must be.

Every moment is full of 

judgement & the blood of men

OR grace & the blood of Christ.

Only at the cross may we

shift thus between the two ways.

Ours so momentary failing forever 

and Christ's eternal now preserving.

The Fable of History (Avis akvāsas ka)

{ESTABLISHED FORM / MANNER / PERIOD} 
    {COMBINANT SHIFT - CONTAINED ANTI-THESIS - EXPRESSION WITHIN CONTEXT}
{TRANSITIONAL FORM / MANNER / PERIOD - SYNTHESIS}
     {DYNAMIC SHIFT - UNBOUND THESIS - EXPRESSION OF NEW FORM AGAINST CONTEXT} 
{NEW FORM / MANNER / PERIOD ESTABLISHED}


Traditional (passed / handed from past ~ a priori) [continuation & maintenance of status quo]
     Reformational/Retraditional (what was is not but should be) [distillative from degraded form, return to purity]
Renaissance / Early Modern (pre-post-traditional) [expressive recreative, what is can be) [possible exploratives]
    Revolutionary / Systemic Deconstruction - (anti-traditional) [deliberative dismantling without determination]
Modernity/Post-Traditional/Prejective (functionality, a posteriori) [apparent efficiency/immediacy/affectual fallacy]           
     Formation/Naissance  (procreative by form, toward specified function, contextualized development)
Post-Modern/Pre-generative/Rejective [apathy/rejection to formative- anarchistic / anacronistic]    
     pRevolition [attempted will without predication or subjegation, bound by systemic constraints]
Generative (developmentally futuristic ~ a ventio) [unwitting creativity toward a perceived but unknown end]
    Reduction [limited prescient affectation - preventative forethought acted out, causality impetus]
Degenerative (preternal) [naturally supernatural / determined non-determinism / attempted avoidance]
    Restoration [volitional aquiesence - dynamic capitulation - integrated activism - unnatural selectivity]
Enstance (definite eternality ~ a aeviternus) [enaltive, edorative, valent singularity, epistatic union] 
©®2012 Mike Hall (terms™)[allrightsreserved]

a glowing ember

from spark to flame

fanning the spark of grace

that ignites lives

to a blazing flame in Christ

a great Gospel goal – the mighty missional mission

breathed into life by the very Majesty of God

heated directly by the Message of the Gospel

fueled by the Movement of Grace in lives

meaning for our being always there 

just waiting fore these to be placed together

with the spark inside and fanned to flame

in a life, a family, a community, this world

commitments made

Christ above all, pointing not there we need it not

next, the Calling of us together and each one  

and finally together to our Community as one

strategies laid

Simple for sanity’s sake, focusing on the above alone

Sustain any effort of its own without force or waste

Spread, by lives, by families, by communities

indicators displayed

the Image of Christ magnified to a blazing focus of worship

the Influence of our lives guiding others in His Way

the Intensity of our passion breath to life by His Will 

Utilitarianistic Obliquities

Used, only to be used up,

Exhausting the exhausted, 

The lack of the lacking, spent-

left alone to be lonelier, still.

Shall we deviate by division, 

Turning by degrees oft hence

Squarely against for the right 

To intersect as violently opposed.

Safer to obfuscate in terms

Radical measures calculated

to be not referenced or seen

Used for their purpose then gone.

Momentary thoughts passing

Into another frame lightly

Bringing revolt without dissent

As the line is imperceptibly bent.

Speak plainly as you must & will

knowing that in rememberence

Testaments require sacrifice 

To be seen only in remainders.

Such is true of truth embodied

Except lines are finally erased

Replacing the struggle of direction

With the way of life, ad infinitum.

broken sys / re

Transactional interactions,

disparate actors desperately acting

for self affection by false attraction

per prompted petty promotion

and deignfully designed deceit.

One master, me.

One movement, more.

One monument, mine.
All else outside to its benefit.
Taken oh so beneficently.

Billions of mouths to feed

So many souls in need

Each one trying to lead

No one willing to bleed-

Save for a Saviour, divine seed.

Crushing demands released

in gracious giving without end,

as we could never believe.

So He came to interecede,

truth made to live for all to see.

Given so the taken are regained

Set adrift so the lost may be found

Torn apart to unite the separated-

In Christ, the hope of all unbound &

the Glory of God forever renowned.

In My Own Crushing Grip

I want to lose control.

Not just of my life,

but also of my soul,

I'm tired of the strife.

Striving to maintain,

this grip on the whole,

is driving me insane,

I want to lose control.

As pride hits a lull,

clarity crystallizes clearly,

I want to lose control, 

especially what I hold so dearly.

I want to lose control,

like my need to do alone,

as if divinity I could cajole.

by a heartless driven groan.

Then it can grow more,

than my hands can hold.

Lovelier than before,

when it was so controlled.

This life of mine, not really so,

I still want to lose control.

I'm still learning how to let go,

from this place which I stole.

See, no victory can console,

the truth I already know.

I am not really in control,

I just like to convince myself so.

So when I'm done with my game,

and given the dice a final roll,

maybe I'll move past my shame, 

and know Christ is really in control.

Scalar Semantics - Pragmatically Speaking Life

Regardless the sophistication of the broader societal context or the depth of individual acculturation, the fundamental problem of the human condition persists despite all personal and corporate attempts to overcome the corrupt and malevolent base of humanity's form.

Putrefaction cannot be obfuscated, it will out beyond any attempt to blind the sense otherwise.  Mortality combines with scarcity into violence and brutality- even if veiled in the subtlest of institutionalized forms commanding compliance, no matter how civilized the culture.

This is mankind's nakedness clothed as we will, in tails or togas.  We are insatiable, except as we are promised to be fed.  Wild beasts made pets to our desires- subjects of objects, referents without reverence, trapped to mundanity, kneeling in profanity for a paltry some of meagerness overly divided.

Claim as you might to be free or even unbound- humanity has each of us firmly within its grasp, until our grip from this life shall be loosened, either now or in finality.

This is the darkness haunting the spiritless soul, the tension of death to come and a race of life that cannot be won.  Nothing can be built up that will not fall, nothing can be earned that must not eventually be spent or left wasted.  Fruitless endeavoring into oblivion and worse still judgement of these many ways compared with holiness typically otherwise unknown.

Now, with sufficient entertainment of the less practical soul and despondency of the deepest, comes the greatest praise to the only remedy for the human condition. From such sorrow rises acclimation of a Savior, unlike any mere man. The God-man, Christ- come from eternal perfection and glory, outside of this fallen creation degraded, to restore-redeem-renew.

What no man or system of man can ever do, the atoning work of Christ and powerful working of the Spirit accomplishes singularly and thus combined, because He prefined even time, as the divine and sublime.  Granting as He will this understanding that is beyond comprehension that in such a sacrifice of His mortal flesh is complete recompense for our fallenness so it should no more be trespass.  That His children born of Spirit birthed in death to this life should live eternally, being conformed no longer to the form of corruption rather now after His image of righteousness - ultimately to be freed in His Glory.  Here is where worship cries forth Holy Holy Holy Lord, Praise Eternal.

It's a world [sic]

While any single community in this world still has:
   broken families & failing marriages,
   drug/alcohol dependence & abuse,
   sex-trade (including 'clubs' or porn),
   child abuse & neglect,
   people who die daily for lack of basic necessities
         while others live in wasteful luxury
or people who feel so utterly lost or depraved
         as to take the life of themselves or others
             (especially the most defenseless in the womb) ...
there is still a demand for one more fellowship of believers
   (the Church) committed to bringing the good news of Jesus Christ
   and teaching others to be disciples who follow His Word.

Don't miss the point.  These are all just symptoms of a disease called depravity.

It is known by other names: fallenness, sin, indifference, idolatry, corruption, immorality, wickedness, vice, injustice, perversion, evil, etc... But just like physically, treating the symptoms will not provide a cure.

There is no political, social, cultural, or normative means to permanently 'solve' these problems.  If there were - don't you think we'd have beaten them by now. Can a broken failed system produce an answer?  Better yet, can a group of broken failed people produce a perfect system? This is a spiritual disease that requires a spiritual treatment.  It is a change that comes from outside us and changes ... restores...  the hearts and minds of individuals.

Lives and communities can be restored through the application of the Gospel.
One life, one family, one fellowship of believers, one community at time.

Here is the Gospel:
There is nothing you or I can do to overcome the wickedness of our hearts & minds in their desire toward evil.  We are sinners who will each stand before a Holy and Righteous God one day to give account of our lives.  Some will still claim to be good / moral / upstanding people - but I ask you, compared to what? Compared to some mass-murderer you think you have a pretty good shot, but compared to God you're doomed to suffer judgement - He is the standard, not the one you would chose.  We know this in our heart, but we hide from it and make excuses for our condition and behaviour.

Even as we are deserving of Judgment, even as we are at war with God, even as we have turned our backs and walked away... He comes to us.

He came personally and physically - God the Son was born as a man called Jesus known also as the Christ (or annointed one) some 2000 years ago in a backwater town called Bethlehem in Judah.  He lived a life you and I can never live - perfect in every way - conforming to his expectation of us- partly as an example, but mainly as a means.  Because of His claim to be God, the religious leaders of His day had him condemned to death by the corrupt civil authorities.  So this blameless man who was God in the flesh was killed by Crucifixion.  They nailed his hands & his feet to a cross of wood and hung him up in the air until he was near death from suffocation.  Then they pierced his side with a spear to finish him off.

In His death he became a means of salvation and restoration to His people.  Having lived that perfect life and sacrificed Himself on the Cross for all our sins, God no longer sees the sin of His people... but Him.  But wait --- they killed Him... yes they did.  He died and he was buried in a tomb, but sin-death-and the utter destruction don't stop Jesus - the power of God's Spirit resurrected Him and He appeared to many of the people that knew Him before (500+).  They even witnessed Him rise into Heaven.  So now He is restored to His place in Glory from where He came.  He also promised that all who believe in Him as God the Son and the provider of salvation & restoration will be saved from their sinfulness and restored into fellowship with Him.

He comes even now as God the Spirit to some who read this.  He is working in your heart to help you hear and believe this message.  You've heard this story before, but you've struggled with it emotionally, intellectually, or really in truth because your mind & heart were clouded by sin.  Respond to the Lord as He calls to you, stop living this life in the same way the world teaches... you see what that produces don't you?  He is calling each of us to a relationship with Him through faith in Christ alone.  He forgives. He heals.  He restores.  He is love like we wish we knew love.  He is the treatment and will ultimately be the cure for our sick hearts.

MISSion

lofty spaces & lovely sanctuaries

large steeples & lavish stainglass

lapsed service & legalistic senses

limited servants & listless shepherds

lost souls & living sadness

lonely saints & lamented society
***

lifegiving Scripture & loving Saviour

liberating Spirit & Lord Sovereign

Missing Mission *** God's Glory

word-faith (of what)

False prophet preacher, you for profit teacher-

It burns me up inside, the Way-the Truth, you hide-

Prosperity nonsense, causing spiritual offence,

Destructive to souls, to build your fat cash rolls.

Bishop’s slants, Benny’s rant’s, no doctrine just romance,

Tripsta France, Wive’s enhanced, pull up your pants.

Spiritual glance,  empty expanse, can’t get a stance.

Fancy prance, hypnotic trance, just a happy dance,

Kingdom advance, blessed finance, sounds more like chance.

Little parrots watch your show, off like ferrets they go.

Dropping bits of meaninglessness, empty pellets of how to bless.   

Squaking and dropping, something noisy, LOUD… PROUD… PROFANE... 

empty--- out of rhythm & rhyme… just to take up some time. To the end, insane.

Who’s dolla? Holla! Who you folla?  little g(oh)d, who you really- B? We gonna see.

Fancy fool, it ain’t cool, word ain’t Word, not like I heard, it’s just so absurd.

My your joys abound, jets engines resound, short bits unprofound, bad theologies propound.

Robot, does not compute, not so cute. All business-lady, so astute, nice pants suit, emptyness-impute.

TB-siN is crouch’n @ your door, U don’t look too poor, wife(skipit), hear the lions roar-heard it all before.

Like a circus act, to attract, then distract, it’s all so whacked – just like bizdnus you transact.

(PRAISE SHARE! –> interlude – DUDE-> you’re all in JUDE! – gonna stand nude, before the Judge who knows your brood, and man you’re stewed , no settlement like when you’ve been sued, your financials will be reviewed, nothing to be misconstrued, includes all who collude, all that pop crap self-help eschewed, this ain’t no feud-it’s about a world renewed in God whose gracious giving we should exude— looking for His righteousness in the Gospel pursued, and suffering in this life it surely does include--- but if you’d a read it all you’d a knew’d.)

(like an afterthought) 

Joe- well, Oh, your best days were, now—

get your Bible out, read it, then take a bow.

the show's over-HOLY COW!

It's just prayer... (speaking with the Word)

When should you pray,

throughout each day.

In the light and at night,

In the dark or at day’s spark.

With great courage or in fear,

When He seems far or near.

When life’s unfair, caught in its snare,

or if you’re as free as you can be.

Each moment of every hour,

When weak, or filled with power.

In joyful praise, all your days,

Even in gloom, when dark clouds loom.

On your knees or on your feet,

Feeling empty or complete.

You should pray, when you stay,

Tell Him so – as you go.

Wide awake or sleeping fast,

About the future, especially the past.

With words few or all you do,

Speaking your fill or sitting still.

If you are asleep or wide awake,

When you can give or when others take.

In your aches and bodily quakes,

or feeling strong, like you can’t go wrong.

Head bowed in reverent grace,

Or eyes lifted to outer space.

Mirred in sin again and again,

Or living well forgot when you fell.

Each breath out and each breath in,

On your way or once you’ve been.

Getting close to sad or glad,

Feeling full or like a fool.

That is the time you should share your heart,

All together or coming apart,

When the pain drives you insane,

Or feeling good like you should.

There is no time when you should not,

Give the Lord all you’ve got,

Empty your heart and tear it apart,

To be filled and in His love sealed.

Let it be a covering, removing the sting, of life’s zing,

your offering, the song you sing, and praise you bring,

about everything, a way to cling, to the King.

This is prayer, it is life, it is worship; 

it is God’s Glory revered as it should be.

  

[apparently I wrote this back in May 2010, happened on it tonight cleaning out some old files... prayer clearly the topic the Lord is on with me about in more ways than one tonight...]

Love Wins (rewarmed) OR Jesus Christ is Lord

TD Jakes gave a 'rousing sermon' at Whitney Houston's funeral about LOVE and its victory over death... not once did he say the name of Jesus Christ... (an astute observation not my own)... Why is that?  Was he afraid to offend someone or is Jakes' theology really as confused as some have suggested?  Did he just pull a oopsy due to time or other pressures and forget?  How can any preacher of the Gospel be in such a moment with a grieving family of a life so tragically ended and before the whole world watching, captive to sin and death as they are in such a moment and not clearly proclaim - Jesus Christ is Lord.

*Offence
I know we supposedly live in a wonderfully multicultural open society of tolerance, however; as a professing believer, if you can't openly say Jesus Christ is Lord without feeling like you might offend someone... you should consider & talk with Him about how this offends Him.  Matthew 10:32-33 (http://bg4.me/xzldsD)  You should then ask yourself just how tolerant that society really is if it cannot bear to hear proclaimed Jesus Christ is Lord.

*Theology
The person & work of Jesus Christ is so much more than a warm fuzzy feeling of 'love' or even the disembodied spiritual goodness 'preached' of today... The Gospel is about the very incarnation of God the Son on this earth through a divine conception and human birth- fully human, fully divine.  Having been preexistent in Eternity, He bears even now on His resurrected body the very scars of His death on the Cross on behalf of those who will believe & proclaim - Jesus Christ is Lord.

Why? Without such a Saviour - without such a sacrafice - without such a person & work on our behalf coming forth out of the love of God, then death and sin would have truly had it's victory.  Yet it still will over those who maintain in their fallen & separated state, away from God, having rejected His One & only Son - His One & only Way to reconcile sinners to Himself - Jesus Christ is Lord.

*Just Forgot?
Really, TD's a smart guy... almost too smart... too specific... too calculated. No, he didn't forget.  This was purposeful, but why?  A sneak attack with 'love' leading to a Gospel of no worries.  How can one forget the name of the Saviour, much less the most simple statement of faith, Jesus Christ is Lord.

CONCLUSION
I'd like to be overly kind and say Jakes just whiffed it. I have to be honest and say I feel  there's something so much more profoundly sad & concerning about having an international stage of millions with the opportunity to make much of the Gospel, the Saviour, the Christ & Lord and not once uttering the name - Jesus in any form.

What I saw was a semi-decent performance piece about how 'Love Will Last Forever' that had a rotting odor of self-help, universal acceptance, claim-it belief, and purposely muddled theology.

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

(an ADHD day) More Than Normal... the ReBo... if only-

Today has been my ADHD day [more than normal]... I have chosen not to attempt to focus in and work on what 'ought' to be worked on... instead spastically reading, listening, thinking, and helping Telly clean and do chores as she needed... Otherwise I just followed paths of thought where they went... it has been a creative, learning, motivational, inspirational, devotional, and even worshipful day.  


Example--- have you ever wondered what a bohemian is? or how it might relate to the mission of Christ?


define: bohemian 
[boh-hee-mee-uhn] (BoHo-informal)  a person, as an artist or writer, who lives and acts free of regard for conventional rules and practices, usually in pursuit of artistic or spiritual interests.  
[as opposed to the Bourgeois who are marked by a concern for material interests and respectability and a tendency toward mediocrity] 


Yeah- so I reject that definition.  Even more so, I discard the need to label such creatives or even assume they can't 'fit in' to regular society.  This misses the reality that they are in fact beyond convention and normality and so often actually end up defining culture by excelling to its leadership. 


The problem is most of them then sell-out for influence or settle (mentally and artistically) for the BoBo life.  BoBo's are Bourgeois Bohemians, the Champagne Socialists as it were who possess both great faculties and relative means, but lack the motivation to achieve any expression of meaning.   So they then live out a life of relative ease of thought and action without artistic merit by abusing their giftings to feed only their comfort, but just enough not to feel guilty - to keep the peace, without any concern for any particular viewpoint - to make everyone equal, so no one has anything great to do or say.    


In Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche calls this type of man, the 'last man'... it is his antithetical example to his ideal 'superman', the 'last man' is an outrageous opposite meant to rail against the idea that we should ever create a society that should fall so far we can never then produce great and creative people, but only these 'last men' who have no passion, no commitment, "who merely earn a living and keep warm." You might know, Nietzsche as famous for writing about God's death, but oddly in his writing his main thought is that we have killed God, you and I, by our lack of faith and belief in such a Being as having any real meaning for our lives as we would 'live' them. 


Oh, but isn't all this just a sad picture of the American church... graced beyond grace, blessed with redemption, education, freedom, and finances - for what, but- to sit on that, -- their backside firmly in the pew without a concept of what to do.   Come on Sunday (some, but not too often), sing a song (but not too loudly or proudly), hear a lesson with a nice moral and story to make us smile and approximate what we think is laughter or happiness.  Living lives of quiet desperation because we have all we need or so we tell ourselves. Happy to not express anything more than our fineness, respectability, and acceptability  - otherwise we might seem oddly apart from the rest of the good sheep... like those other weirdos who 'go on Mission'... we pay people to do that here don't we?  and we don't have leaders around here... there aren't servants or shepherds (surely not those who are both at the same time), but just people like us <blink>.  Could these be the 'last people' of the church?  Where then are the 'Übermensch' - those that are more than mediocre, *More Than Normal or beyond the everyday, the SUPERNATURAL?  No we haven't killed God (as if we could), but we sure do live our daily lives as if He's dead don't we... at the very least we 'live' as if we are dead - to Him anyway.  'Last men' as we are.


By the way wasn't there a Shepherd who went in search of some lost sheep and asked us to do as much?


What then of the Redeemed Bohemian? (the ReBo!)
The follower of Christ who has no regard for the ways of this world or even the conventional methods and means of 'doing' church.  Rather, an intellectual mind dedicated to contemplating the unfathomable depths of God's righteousness and holiness.  A powerful & dynamic leader reduced to relying solely on Christ's mercy and grace for their strength and power.  The deeply creative expressive artist who is capable of breaking into the frame of popular reference and redirecting attention out of that box to where it belongs - the Creator of artistic expression.  This ReBo, a servant leader truly willing to sacrifice comfort for the sake of the Message; a person of sorrows so unyielding in their despair over the worthlessness of all pursuits except Jesus to be undaunted by rejection from the world that they are in fact emboldened by it.   With a heart so wholly convinced of the need and necessity to be on the mission of Christ and so wholly committed to reaching the dull hearts and minds, that they are enlivened with the Spirit of life so much so that they are willing to become all things to all people so that all might hear and know Christ more fully.  Yet these ReBo are so brutally honest with themselves that they know even their own expression for such is beneath futile when compared to that infinite Creator.  Still they are continuously willing to slavishly profess faith and proclaim the Gospel with each breath, stroke of their pen, and click of the keys.  If only there were actually some like this, having truly encountered Christ and so been created new as to be worthy of being called a ReBorn Creation.


Yes, all the gods (the idols) which I have created for my worship must die, I must smash them myself by His aide for this Son of Man (the great I AM) that is more than man to be found wholly... and this man (the sad one I am) who is less than God to be found Holy. All my man-made moralities must die and be replaced with the life of the One True Over~man - Christ.   If only we wanted more of the ReBo, than the Tebow - when it came to our conception of a 'super-man.'  If only our need for conformity was to be conformed to the image of Christ.  For the ReBo to become so, I might kneel and submit - in fact I must.


(Now I know how Nietzsche felt!  Being able to conceive of a 'super-man,' which he could never possibly be.  Praise Christ it relies on His work in me, rather than me, but that ReBo, that really might be, something to see - even if only - in Glory, when we, are finally, free.)

Bohemian Rhapsody - (so bourgeois)

The lament of all that is lost >>> nothing really matters... Even the Bible records Solomon saying "“Meaningless! Meaningless!” “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
Freddie and Queen sing: "Is it real or is it fantasy... any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me..." because who knows anything?

What a sad life to just end in failure and death... makes one, "wish I'd never been born at all"
Solomon continues on "Better than both [living & dead] is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. Ecclesiastes 4:3"

I can understand when in such a state, how one's very soul could beg...
Bismilah... let me go!
bismi-llāhi [r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm] (بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم)
"In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful". --- just let me go from this empty life.

Praise Jesus that He is indeed the most gracious and merciful, the Name above all Names - God come in the flesh to bring us back to Himself and make all of it meaningful. He will not let you go, He will hold you no matter which way the wind blows.

In the end, Beelzebub and the devil, even death are put aside ... they are the Scaramouche... thunderbolts and lightning... very very frightening... but a distraction, they are buffoons meant to be laughed at in comparison to the real story of the might of God and redeeming power of Christ

Embrace Christ not meaninglessness or fear, that song has a happier ending than this one - just ask Freddie if nothing really matters.

[You just thought it was a cool song didn't you, never even wondered what a Scaramouche might be or Bismilah actually meant did ya... and yet have you, based on your limited knowledge, rejected the truth of the Bible and the Creator...? just say'n - might be beyond your qualifications.]

Artistic Partiality

A sculptor once laid his hammer & chisel on the ground, knelt quietly at the bottom of a large brick of granite, and asked God for a vision of a work that would express the majesty of the Lord’s Sovereignty, the grace of Christ’s love, and the mission of all who believed to so share that same message.  As the artist sat quietly in prayer, an image of what must be removed and what must remain began to slowly form in his heart and mind.  He began to reach for the hammer and chisel, but was stopped by the man who had given him the raw material for the work – he wanted to know what it would look like so he could tell a group who managed the arts project and they could approve of the final form.

The artist tried to explain, but not only were words not enough, no one seemed to care.  He could draw only parts of it and study models did not do it justice.  More than this, almost everyone that it was shown or explained to would add their view or concern or idea and very soon it was becoming something altogether different than the artist had seen in his mind.  He decided to try to find another place to do the work, but several of the people involved asked him to reconsider saying they would help to maintain the integrity of the work, especially one particular man who seemed to understand the vision.  With hope he relented and began.

As he worked diligently for a date that the group had selected to unveil the project, he could not remember all of the details of the vision clearly due to the stress of the time pressure and concern for whether the work would be acceptable to everyone involved.  He worked long hours trying to get completed, but the worry caused him to become ill.  Several members of the group volunteered to help finish the work based on the discussions they’d previously had and with his direction.  He tried to direct, but with so many involved and no vision to guide them most did as they saw fit.  The Chairman of the project would come in from time to time make a comment or two that didn't seem to make much sense and then leave. The sculptor found out later the one man who convinced him to stay and start the work had been run off by the others.  In the end, the work was completed on time, but was made into something so much less than the artist had seen. 

At the unveiling, everyone was very excited and many people acclaimed the artist.  Some even understood part of the vision that had been intended to be communicated, but no one saw what the sculptor had been given to show in its fullness.  On the day of the unveiling the artist noticed a plaque had been added to the bottom of the work noting the names of everyone involved in securing the resources, as well as a donation box and information flyer holder crudely attached to the side of the work.  These were ideas the Chairman had 'suggested' and everyone had agreed not to do this, but apparently at the last minute the Chairman insisted and personally made the modifications. As the project stood prominently for all to see and everyone seemed pleased with it, the sculptor was unsure how to respond except that he knew his heart felt betrayed.

Daily people enjoyed the project, in at least a shallow fashion, but never really understood the vision it was originally intended to communicate.  Without any genuine interest or understanding no one bothered to maintain the project, so the grass grew up around it and dirt gathered on it. People even began to vandalize it by chipping parts away for souvenirs or adding their own touches.  It eventually became an eye sore, but because of the plaque with the names on it and the fact that people still occasionally put money in the box, they would not remove it.  Without any real concern for its beauty or message, no one would fix or restore it either (as if they knew how or could decide to do so if they did).  Eventually they added another plaque commemorating its anniversary and success as a uniting project of the group, even though many of the original group had left because they were unhappy with how the Chairman had been running things lately.

The artist still wanders by occasionally, wondering what would have happened if he would have remained committed to the vision that the Lord gave him.  One particular night as he sat at the base of the monstrosity he helped to create, he closed his eyes and quietly asked God to let him see the vision clearly just once more.  Slowly but surely every detail came into focus in his heart and mind.  As the sculptor began to cry, he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a quiet voice say, “It’s a shame you didn’t do it like you told me about that one time.  I’d give you a new block of granite and all the time you ever needed to do it just like you said if you could. That would have been beautiful to see.”

Standing up, looking into the eyes of the man who had been the lone voice of reason on the project group, the artist smiles and says, “It still will be, I just need to go get my hammer and chisel.”