chasing sexy

yesterday i hooked up with the school for conversion that the simple way/camden house are jointly hosting which is basically a weekend long adventure/discussion into new monastics/community living, where twenty people from all around the country [and canada] come together to learn and experience and be challenged by a different way of living and some different ideas on various topics…

i joined them as they were setting out on a tour of camden and chris was leading that part and took us to a spot next to the river and was talking about some of the history of this area which much like kensington where we stay is a “can anything good come out of…” type of area which some people are saying should just be bulldozed and start over again…

chris and his community are doing some cool things in that neighborhood which they also live in. anyways someone asked the question along the lines of, “Are there any ways of making a difference to this community and turning it around?”

And his answer picked me up and slapped me in the face and then gently laid me out on the floor, cos he said this:

“There are a thousand different ways, but none of them are sexy.”

because that’s what we want isn’t it? We all want to make a difference and be the change in our family, in our neighborhood, even in our town, country or maybe world. But we want to do it in a way that is easy and comfortable and doesn’t cost much and certainly still allows us to do all the things we currently do for fun or enjoyment and pleasure. We want it to be sexy. Noticed. Not full of drool or vomit or stench or cost.

i was writing a message to a good friend of mine today and i had this inspiration to add to the message i was writing encouraging them to follow their dreams and so on and i said something like this – what would your dream look like if God had full editing rights? so not necessarily throwing out the dream completely, but giving it a God tweak…

so for example if your dream is to run a coffee shop and create a safe and warm and friendly place, how would that dream look if God challenged you about starting it in a poor, rundown area where people live lives often lacking hope and self-worth instead of in an upmarket feel-good yuppie part of town… same dream, just a God tweak…

would you be willing to do the kind of thing needed to change your family, your street, your town and even your country if it didn’t look or feel sexy?