.:. Overflow

When I wrote my first "real" blog entry, Getting Inspired, I briefly mentioned my debut album, Out of the Overflow, but I haven't really given much more detail than that. As I continue to learn about what the Overflow theme means, I wanted to share more about the inspiration behind it. So far, I've found three main pieces of the theme.

1.] God is overflowing love

Part of a little snippet on the album sleeve tries to speak about the very nature of God. We've all heard the often diluted quip from 1 John, "God is love." But I really believe that God is not simply a god of red and pink hearts, of happy feelings and fluffy clouds. I think God is rich, uncontainable, messy, beautiful love that pulses and spills into every particle of the creation that was spoken into being. In a very different context, St. Luke enunciates it this way, saying, "out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." This was the passage that kick-started my understanding of God in this way.

2.] That love changes things

In Psalm 23, the psalmist pens these words:

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

For me, my cup overflowing became a powerful metaphor, and yet, it's not just a metaphor. I have been given all that I need. A great abundance. As I looked deeper, I realized that God has poured out so much of himself on us that we can't help but be changed. Suddenly, a dry and barren land bursts into life. We are given a life that is rich and full. Though I try to fill my cup with other things, it is scoured and rinsed and filled all by that rushing flood. We are swept away in adventure and awe. And that's not even where it stops.

3.] We are a vessel of that love

I think Derek Webb has rightly asserted that the Christian subculture has handicapped itself by longing so greatly to look like Jesus, forsaking the great need for us to make it clear how desperately we need Jesus. Within this, though is an interesting duality--like two sides of a coin. While it is not healthy to solely dwell on it, embodying Jesus now is part of the calling of the Church. Trying to look like Jesus may not fit in there, but living a life of service--I believe that is one of the highest callings of a Christian. And when we are giving love, we are acting on behalf of the one who is love. Acting on behalf of God? Yup. In many things God has given us the task of standing in for him--administering grace and love. How about that for an honor and a blessing?

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. .:.Romans 15:13

.:.CS

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Reading Log:
Christopher Moore
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff

This is a book unlike other books I've read. A good friend gave it to me saying that it had changed his life. He followed that up by saying that he didn't think that all of his friends would appreciate it. I was honored that he wanted me to read it, but he had found it necessary to preface it, to kind of censor it. I guess I'd like to do the same. This is an amazing book. Very fictional, extremely thought provoking, pretty crude. It promises to offend and to make you wonder things you've never wondered before. I'd recommend it, knowing that there are pieces that some will find hard to get past. I think that's all I'll say about it here.