My Dad is bigger than your Dad!

O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you. - Psalms 8:1-2

Have you ever seen kids playing the "My Dad is bigger than your Dad game?" You know that game where one says,"My Dad is bigger than yours" and other child remarks, "Nuh uh! My Dad can lift a million pounds!" and then the first child says "My Dad knows how to shoot a bazooka!" Then the other says, "My Dad is as strong as Superman" and the other says, "My Dad is made of Kryptonite!" This back and forth goes on and on until one runs out of ideas. Well, I get the sense that we play that game with our fears. When fears say, "There no way God can get you out this financial mess' will we say, "Nuh uh! My God owns everything in the world". Then when fear says, "You have have messed this up too badly, things will never be the same" will we say, "No way, His mercy is prepared fresh every day." And will we go on and on until fear has nothing left to say?

Death to life. The spiritual order of things.

"Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal." - Jesus The Message 

Today is Easter and the topic I most often I hear about at easter is Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection. This is always a powerful message, but today I am intrigued by Jesus' invitation to join him in his death, so that life can be attained. Death tends to bring out fear in most of us but Jesus says without dying we miss life. I suppose that the pain of sacrifice and the unknown of death is the reason it strikes so much fear in us. Death seems so final. Yet according to Jesus the death or sacrifice of the life that we live now is the door that opens us to real living. I don't begin to claim to understand all of this but I what I do know is the thing that pushes me to hold on to this life is my fear of losing it. So, I wonder if I live a life dominated by the fear of losing it, is that really living anyway. It seems that a true life of freedom can only be found in the ability to freely give up the life we have now, then our fear of losing this life won't keep us from the one promised by God.