Author: Michele Minehart (Page 305 of 311)

“In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property. If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other. You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee…When the years are many, you are to increase the price and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops.” -Leviticus 25:13-16, bits and pieces.

I was reading this the other morning in my devotibible (how handy that the devotions are filled in…). The blurb that followed this section focused on freedom and knowing that freedom is coming, tying that in to the price paid by Christ. Good stuff, I assure you, I’m glad to be free “from the bondage of sin.” Don’t get me wrong. But somehow, and it could be that I’m just too much of a reader, I don’t think that’s necessarily what this passage was about. Let me re-phrase that- I don’t think the original hearers of this wonderful, amazing message of Jubilee heard about freedom from sin. And I say that because of verse 23, [God speaking here:]
“The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.”

Call me crazy, and I probably am for many other reasons, i think God is serious about calling us to think about how we buy and sell. I think maybe, just maybe, God had some inkling that we humans would struggle with possessiveness and ownership and wanting more “stuff.” He saw the moving Finding Nemo with the “mine mine mine” birds.
Can I remark how amazing God is to have the foresight to provide us a way out? I mean, he knows that over the traverse of time we’d get ourselves further into debt or seek after buying more and more stuff, land being the ultimate example. And instead of telling us what evil sinners we are, he just mandates a way out. He says, buy and sell as you might feel you need (read more of chapter 25 to get the details of selling the land or yourselves because of financial hardships), but remember that it’s all on loan.

I wonder what life would be like if we realized that in another 50 years it all gets returned. That the house i live in is borrowed property, no matter whose name is on the mortgage. I wonder what it would be like for employers to realize that they’re buying the crop, not the land- and that the fruits of my labor is all that’s for sale, the land actually belongs to someone else. I wonder what it would be like if I realized that everything in my life- friends, family, education- is borrowed property and God, the owner of it all, is just blessing me by letting me enjoy.
The current status quo is like a friend loaning me their summer cottage for a vaca and then me trying to sell it off for profit. I can’t! I don’t even have true ownership.

I’m not sure how to begin making this a reality in my life, but if every 50 years God thinks its a good thing, then maybe it’s something I should look into. Because can you imagine what the world would be like if we all realized that it’s all just on loan?

i was on the way home from work when the radio started a riddle. apparently if you came up with the correct answer, you gave the same response as a psychopath. guess who came up with it right away? yup. that does one on the ego for you. here you go, give it a try:

A woman goes to her mother’s funeral. There she meets the man of her dreams. She can tell from the first moment that they will spend the rest of their lives together. Unfortunately, she fails to get his name, phone number or any other contact info from him. So they go their separate ways. 3 days later she kills her sister.
Why did she kill her sister?

I’d love to hear if you get it right 🙂

I’ve spent most of the weekend camped out on my couch (except for a wonderful stint down to the Jeffersonville outlet malls, which was very successful in many facets). Because of this, i’m running out of movies to watch. Friday was Center Stage, last night was the Increadibles and this morning was the Emporer’s new groove. But JJ joined me for Rudy this afternoon, which is the movie that prompted this post.
Why can I not get through the movie without crying at the end? I mean… it’s football. I’ve never played football nor have i got the crap beat out of me as part of a “team” but this movie contains something that grips me. (*Sidenote: ever since hearing Donald Miller’s talk on Story, i seem to analyze my movies in a different way. I suggest the same for yourself). I usually start crying right when the older guy who tends the stadium yells at Rudy for quitting with one practice left, then the tears intensify as all the 1st string players turn in their jerseys so that Rudy can play in “their spot”. Buy the time Rudy’s dad gets off the bus and the stadium is chanting his name it’s all out emotionalism. And when he gets in and then even gets the sack??? Ah.
But I couldn’t stop wondering- why does this matter to me? Because Rudy worked so hard and he “deserved it”? No, i’m pretty against the “you deserve this” theology. We work hard because that’s what you’re supposed to do, not because of the reward on the other end, which i believe is the root of our selfishness. So is it because i wanted Rudy to “prove himself”? I don’t think so, although his older brother did drive me crazy with his complete lack of support. But I think he proved something just by leaving town, so it had nothing to do with stepping onto the field.
My best guess at what jerks my tears is the sense of love and support that Rudy finally felt. He fought for attention and affection for most of his time growing up. It’s not that no one really believed in him, but just that no one really saw him. His dad looked right through him, Notre Dame ignored him for several consecutive semesters, and then the new coach barely knew his name. But with the last game, Rudy saw that change. Players appreciated him for who he was and stepped in for him. His parents came to the game and they were proud of him. The stadium janitor worked through some of his pain and bitterness through Rudy.
And all Rudy really did was pursue that which he loved to do the most. I don’t want to make light of his hard work- getting the grades, living in a locker room, living out of a singular duffel bag, seeing his ex-girlfriend with his brother, getting the crap beat out of him every day… that’s not the life i’m wishing on anyone. So Rudy worked really hard- but ultimately he was doing what he loved and needed to do. He was being the person he was created to be, and suddenly people were able to see that and support him.
So, to me it wasn’t a love story of man and football, or small guy doing great things. for me, it was a wonderful story of what happens when people want each other to succeed. when people are supportive, loving and encouraging. it’s less about the individual than it is about the community in which s/he lives.