A Journal Entry while in Ethiopia



I wrote the following in my journal at 3:00am on the 20th of May while I was in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia:

"...a phrase in the Torah has caught my attention in light of and in relation to what a former Pharisee, Religious Leader Paul wrote some 2,000 years ago; namely, whatever and in everything, I mean all of my existence, do for the Lover of my soul.  As I read this, my mind, my preacher mind, immediately is beginning to formulate a sermon for my much loved church 11,000 miles away (...my thought: you all really need to hear this...).  Yet, as I read this passage and evaluate this phrase, I'm having a moment - a moment that is saying to wait, a moment that is saying, '...this is for you pal!'  Okay...the Torah quote is from Deuteronomy 30:20.  Moses is addressing the children of Israel, encouraging them to love God, obey Him and, hold fast to Him so that they may dwell in the land He promised to their fathers.  Here's my thought: the land is the place that God gave to them years before, a land that even today is greatly disputed.  In fact, its a land that is flowing with milk and honey, with an abundance of...milk and honey.  In other words: its amazing, breathtaking, both to the eye and the soul.  Okay, as I sit here, with a candle light, music blaring at the disco outside the guest house, I ask, '...how does this relate?'  The answer: what my favorite Rabbi named Yeshua said some 2,000 years ago, '...I've come to give life and to give it more abundantly.'  Could it be, as the Holy Scriptures have a way of interpreting herself, that the dwelling of Deuteronomy is for us, for me, all these years later?  A place in life that God has purposefully with intention, specificity and intimacy created for me to live and exist in?  Let me say it this way, the Hebrew word for dwell, if my one year of Hebrew serves as an expert, carries with it the idea of living life to the fullest, under the directive of God?  The life to the fullest is, then, where my satisfaction, purpose, meaning and fulfilment lies!  Further, if I live there, exist there, ultimately He, God, is pleased because He's fulfilling His purpose in me and the hope is that I glorify Him in that place, that dwelling.  You know, this seems so freeing, so loose of societal expectation, of human expectation, of personal expectation!  And, as I live, explore and exist in that dwelling, my life is realized and complete.  Hence, He's glorified and I become whom I am designed and created to be; namely, one who dwells in His presence continually.  Last, as I dwell, hang out and simply be with Him in the place called milk and honey, I truly can experience the peace, the joy and the abundance that He promises!  Interesting...I'm blessed in this journey and He's stoked for me!  Wow..."