A couple of days ago, Reilly was in line for a classic, old-fashioned tanning. While on our way home, he was busy negotiating the quantity of spankings while clearly understanding their inevitability. After he had sufficiently settled the acceptable quantity in his mind, he made the following comment:
“Is mommy or daddy going to give the spankings? I think mommy should because she’s a good shot.“
This was his sly little way of asking for “softer” spankings … not more “accurate” as the statement might imply. How do you laugh & discipline at the same time? It’s like sneezing with your eyes open — it just can’t be done!
Btw, I read a great article from a Hebrew perspective. I don’t remember the author but their point was that love and discipline are both gifts that children receive from self-less parents. Good thought.
Every page drips Italy. Each paragraph peels another layer which exposes the deep darkness that the nation veils. The author consistently draws out my envy that I didn’t write it first. The book is a compilation of the eight years of our experience with this culture; at times we laugh with tears of first-hand knowledge and at times we cry with the same. Certainly, this book will be a required read for any future visitor that would join us in this land.
I’m speaking of the book entitled The Dark Heart of Italy by Tobias Jones. The author is a journalist by trade and, to this point, offers no solid confession of the revealed Faith. However, Jones is uncannily observant, simply descriptive, and brutally honest about the Italian culture.
As I read through the book, I will share insights here on the webjournal. If you would like to have a powerful look into an untouched nation, buy the book. It will help you intercede for more than 60 million people.
Here are the opening lines to the Foreword and some commentary:
“Travellers, without exception,” wrote Stendhal in 1824, “are wont to confine their descriptions of Italy to the realm of the inanimate; their portraits concern only the monuments, the sites, the sublime manifestations of nature in that happy land.” Even today, this is still very much the case. People talk or write about Italy because they are obsessed by the age, the beauty, and the hedonism of the country, by the Roman ruins, the Renaissance art, by a favourite duomo or palazzo. Visitors flock toward cathedrals and canals…
In other words, the shroud is not only in Turin. I guess we can’t blame the traveller who wants that inanimate “experience.” But I do think that we here should come to expect more from the Christian traveller to this land. We’re not speaking of more historical knowledge of the country (although that definitely wouldn’t hurt). When we say that we are coming to expect more, we mean to say more spiritual discernment. Eyes of the believer-priest should be able to see beyond the facade (almost everything about Italy is a facade; a wanton superficiality) and know that a nation is not made up of its shopping, its vistas, or its cuisine. Rather, our encouragement is for our steady stream of visitors (and our church) to assume the weight of the shroud and intercede with fervency for a trapped people. Italy’s monies want you to see the romantic outdoor cafes with tastes of cappuccino, but Italy’s devils prohibit you to see its curses and spiritual fortresses. We cry for more believer-priests to see the latter and call upon the Spirit of Freedom with us.
A little over three weeks ago, we suddenly and unexpectedly found out that our church could begin meeting as a congregation in our new worship center. We have been working on this project almost daily for 33 months now, so you can imagine our excitement.
The very next day, we received word from our municipality that the auditorium we have rented for the last 4.5 years was going to be renovated beginning July 1st and we would have to leave. Not only was that a surprise, but it only gave us two weeks to prepare the congregation for the move.
Now, the building that we are seeking to acquire has been sitting vacant for the last four years and no renovations or care had been done to it. That meant that we had to get it ready for our congregation to meet in by July 17th — 21 days after the transition.
So, the race was on. We painted, demolished, constructed, trimmed, cleaned, bought supplies, cleaned, prayed, cleaned, and decorated the entire center over the past three weeks. Did we mention having to clean the thing? We took out 6 truck loads of old materials and demolished walls to the dump. And, we think we have another few loads to go. It was a monumental task. Every day was an average of 13 hours work. On Saturday, we logged a 17.5 hour work-day, got home at 2 a.m., and arrived again early on Sunday to add the finishing touches.
Sunday was terrific! Everything turned out beautifully and the folks were so excited. For years, many folks have saved and given for what we saw as a reality last Sunday. It was also amazing to see how many of our folks just kept coming out to help and to give to the project. Their giving reminded me of the tabernacle in the Old Testament. God gave Moses the design for the tabernacle but not the materials. The materials had to come from the people in the form of “free-will offerings”. God required it this way so that the people would give to show how much they wanted God’s presence there among them.
We hope to have our first set of approvals from the city to renovate the building beginning in September. We’ll be going from the ground-up. Then, we will seek the next approval levels throughout the coming year.
Forgive our blog-absence due to the surge. However, I managed to upload a photo of one of our LifeTeams that met on July 10th. Most all of the folks in this picture helped us with many hours of work. So we give them an e-pplause.
