JR. Forasteros - December 23, 2018
Bethlehem People
It’s hardest for us to speak up in the circles that know us best. But those circles – our families, our co-workers, our friends and neighbors – are where we have the most influence. So how can we find the confidence to live out God’s calling among the people who know us best? We find the answer in a little town called Bethlehem…
From Series: "Raise Your Voice"
Advent is a season of preparation... and proclamation! How can we be a people who stands up for God's peace, justice and love in our world? In this series, we'll draw from Kathy Khang's book, the Old Testament prophets and Mary's journey to Bethlehem.
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Today’s about Ghost stories. Though they appear in many forms, the quintessential ghost story involves the spirit of a dead person who’s stayed around (usually a haunted house) because they have unfinished business. Maybe they have to deliver a message or ensure proper burial or get revenge. Whatever the case, once their business is complete, they leave into the afterlife.
Unlike our previous two monsters, today we’re not ghosts. Rather, to quote Peter Rollins,
We are the haunted houses. — Peter Rollins
We move through life collecting hurts, wounds and scars, evidence of pain inflicted on us by other people. Some may be slight, exaggerated in our heads – maybe someone who cuts us off or says something cruel or who causes us harm by accident. Others could be huge, life-altering. A spouse who left. An abuser. And there’s a whole range of hurts between.
Whatever their source, however legitimate or not, these people, these hurts don’t just exit our lives.
We carry them around with us, in our heads and in our souls. They haunt us, returning again and again out of the ether to drag us through the past, to relive history, to reopen old wounds.
The problem is we don’t know what these ghosts want. We don’t know how to resolve their business and get them to leave us. We can’t escape their haunting – especially if the person who hurt you is still a part of your life.
