"It's been a long time...

...I shouldn't have left you, without a strong rhyme to step to." Eric B. & Rakim's classic hip hop song, "I Know You Got Soul", is one of the most quoted lyrics for bloggers that haven't blogged in awhile or people between the ages of 30 and 40 that haven't kept in touch and need a quick, ice breaking reference that both people will understand. So here's my awkward reacquaintance, followed by an awkward pound/handshake where one person goes in for the bump and the other is open handed and knuckles meet palm. (To make it even more awkward the open hand closes on top of the fist.) Or the side hug/one arm full hug where one person comes in sideways with one arm and the other person has to over rotate and ends up leaving a foot of space in between bodies and you end up just patting their back to end the weirdness. I love awkwardness. It's a feeling that is mutually shared most of the time and always ends in laughter when you share it with others. Great stories come out of awkwardness. It's what makes us human, when we feel what we feel. It goes beyond science and synapses. It has to do with soul.

I read a quote the other day in my twitter feed that said something to the effect that we are not bodies with a soul, we are souls with bodies. This is something that I believe to be key to living a full life. The perspective that if we have a healthy soul, we can live our most fulfilling lives, no matter what our body is going through. Some of the most inspiring stories come out of people who have every excuse to be down and out because of physical difficulties but still find joy in life because of their faith and their ability to love. They have healthy souls because they feed their souls with things that matter. A healthy soul will always win out over an unhealthy body.

In my small group, we're going through a book called Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus, a book that I've read and thoroughly enjoyed. In the book Erwin explores three areas of our souls' desire, Intimacy, Meaning and Destiny. These are things our souls crave and need to thrive. Things such as hope, purpose, community, love, passion, the ability to create and faith just to name a few. We can take steps right now to strengthen our souls like getting involved with our communities and helping those that need help. Or taking steps to find out what we really are passionate about and then doing whatever that may be. Or something as simple as spending time (real time, in person, not just in the cyber world) with people so that we can share our lives with people. Or even contacting a person you haven't spoken to in a while and see how they're doing. Give that awkward hug and start telling real human stories. Like Rakim said, "You got it. I know you got soul."

Do we get what we deserve?

It's easy to sit down and hear of a terrorist mastermind's death and quickly label it as "he got what he deserved." Just days before there was a little event called "The Royal Wedding" and we can say these two people "deserve each other." As I've mentioned in a previous post, Rob Bell wrote a book that created a firestorm of debate on whether or not a loving God could decide if people deserve to spend eternity in hell. Today, we define "deserve" as what we are entitled to, or what we have coming to us. The actual word originates from the Latin "to devote oneself to." More times than not, our lives become what we devote ourselves to.

If we believe that everyone deserves loves, then we, in turn, should devote ourselves to loving everyone. If we say that everyone deserves a second chance, we should devote ourselves to handing out second chances left and right. Jesus devoted himself to serving and loving others. He deserves to be loved by everyone. This kills me when I think about all the time I've spent serving myself because if this theory holds true, then I deserve to be alone. But here's the amazing part. I've been afforded grace beyond all of my selfishness that I don't receive what I deserve. Instead, I've come to know the redemption of my own wrongs and the restoration of hope for a better life. I've been given freedom and experience it daily through the people I love and that love me.

This liberation from what we actually deserve is not just for me but offered to each and every person. This includes tyrants, royalty, pastors, self proclaimed nerds and you. Whomever may be reading this, Jesus wants to give you what you don't deserve. A life where you can truly say, "I'm alive!" As long as we know that we are devoting ourselves to what is right, there is hope for us. It doesn't matter where you've been, what you have done. When we get what we deserve, or understand what we devote ourselves to, we can begin to change the world.