bubbles

ever watch a kid play with bubbles. its really fascinating. its like they could do it for hours . . . just sit there and blow air into soapy water and make these H2O creations. and then, as soon as they've blown just enough, they run after them, popping as many of them as they can.

i like bubbles. they're really fun and simple. they're very amusing for those of us who are easily amused (thats me).

i used think it'd be fun to be able to get inside a bubble. to float around in the air, see the world from a different pespective. who knows, maybe end up in some far off land like california. this was one of those daydreams that could just go on forever, like a roald dahl book or something. who knows how it would end?

the thing is, if i was in that bubble, i couldn't experience what i was seeing. sure, i could see God's creation from a totally different view, but thats all i could do. see it. i could remember what the trees looked like, but i couldn't remember the texture of the bark. i could try to remember the heighth of a mountain, but i couldn't tell you what it was like to climb it, the experience of reaching the summit, the thrill of descent.

i could see all the people going to their respective jobs, interacting with each other, but i couldn't tell you what their personalities were like, what their character was. all i could tell you is if they used hand motions a lot or not. i could give you their physical description, but not their emotion or spiritual composition.

so as fun as a bubble might be, and as safe as it might be, i wouldn't really get to experience life. all i'd get is to see life. i would simply exist.

oh yeah, and i don't get to control where the bubble goes. i'm just in it. i simply go where the wind takes me. i'm not in control. i can certainly try, and it might work sometimes. but what if the wind is too strong and the bubble pops? that sucks. i'm not ready for it at all. who knows how high up i am, what i'm above or anything else that could contribute to painful re-introduction to earth.

but what would happen if i burst the bubble. what if i was prepared. i didn't know exactly what was going to happen, but i knew it would be something grand. there would be adventure, excitement, hurt, pain, fear and joy. i wouldn't know how these things would come, or when, or even if they would. but i knew there was the possibility of it.

i think this is what Jesus called his disciples to do in Acts. He told them to go into Judea and Samaria - lets stop there. Samaria was full of Samaritans. duh. and they were basically half-breeds, according to the Jews(Jesus' disciples were Jewish). and Jewish people at the time had a serious aversion to anything Samaritan. they looked down on them. they were tainted. but Jesus tells them to go there in order to spread the Gospel! i can't imagine the disciples faces. i'm sure they thought they should continue to spread the news to the rest of the Jews. but the Samaritans? that was out of the question.

but Jesus commands them. He calls them out of their comfort zones. to take a risk. they would most certainly be looked down on by those around them for being with Samaritans. i don't think Jesus is too worried about that. He's more interested in others knowing about His saving love.

(and interestingly enough, He starts his ministry under the largest empire the world has ever known with some fishermen who's education probably wasn't the best. he hands it over to them, a tax collector and prositutes. talk about a risk. thats not from the donald trump book for success. these are not the most eductionally qualified people for the job, but its who He turns it over to.)

talk about breaking a bubble. i can just imagine them drawing straws to see who has to go to Samaria first. i don't know if anyone would have jumped for that job. but its what their teacher called them to do. first they waited, then they went.

my guess is, when they broke their bubbles, it wasn't easy. but i don't think any of them regretted it.

take a risk. break your bubble.

be good to each other. look at Christ. peace.