when i was sinking down

beneath gods righteous frown, christ laid aside his crown for my soul. to god and to the lamb, who is the great i am, and when from death i am free ill sing~wondrous love

holy fire which burns so hot within the heart of man. i dont know where ive heard this, if i have, but it keeps running through my head and i was trying to finish a poem for it, but i couldnt get past that line. my entire prophets class was spent dwelling on it trying to figure out what it means or what meaning to ascribe it. and then the routine argument came. if you havent ever had a mama huston class you wont understand, but every period there ends up being an argument between those who hold different mindsets. more often than not i end up tuning it out because i grow tired of people trying to force others to change to their side without actually listening to the other side. both sides do it and it frustrates me to no end. and today i started to, until mama huston said something to the effect that we, the body of christ are involved in what christ did here on earth. it was said that christ became like us so that we may become like him, in essence christ lived the life of a man, so we may be the children of god. by being the children of god we are now the body of christ present on earth and are to continue out the things that christ did while he was living on earth. this is why jesus is called the word in john 1. he is the ultimate example of god, being god, and was therefore the very law of god himself. he is THE testament. while the scriptures were written as godly mens observation of god working in the world, the life of christ is gods commandment. he is the word. and we not only should desire to emulate christ, but must for he is the "way, the truth, the life." this way, this truth, this life isa life of service, of humbling yourself to those you come across in this life. it is a life of sacrifice, of pain and struggle, it calls us to be humiliated, to be walked over, and to respond with compassion and "go and sin no more." it is a life of the innocent atoning for the sins of the guilty. it is this desire, this burning need of redemption which is the fire that burns so hot within the hearts of man.

so why is it wrong to offer grace, to offer compassion. what is too much grace and love. i understand the difficulty of forgiving. i have wronged and been wronged as any other in this life, and cannot say that i am always the most gracious of people. however when a person offers this grace and love to a person, who am i, WHO AM I to question it. who am i to deny what is freely being given out of a pure heart. if only a person would label me as too gracious or too compassionate my heart would be overjoyed for i would be doing the same as christ. as he was dying he breathed "forgive them for they know not what they are doing." these men who had scorned and whipped, humiliated and ultimately killed were forgiven of this atrocious act. it is in grace that a person receives what they have no right to. and it is in love that that is given. this is the nature of the gospel, and to question grace and love is to question the very nature of god. grace is not necessary, especially when the cut is still tender. however when that grace is given, who are we to question it and to call for its removal.
sean