Comments on: The Rainbow of Love http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/ Beyond Race and Class Issues In a Consumer Church Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:25:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Japanese Lilac http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/comment-page-1/#comment-341 Japanese Lilac Wed, 11 Mar 2009 04:00:54 +0000 http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/#comment-341 Ronaldo, Your story of Acts 13 was such a blessing to me. I believe that is the same picture we find in Acts 2 when God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven heard those gathered in the house speak in their native languages. Native languages! I can't tell you enough how good I felt last summer when I went back to Japan, where people understood my native language and responded to me in the same language. God's call is for us to serve Him together, as whole persons with unique languages, ethnicities (which include physical as well as non-physical attributes), and experiences. Please forgive me to make one objection to your comment: I don't think God "disregards skin color," since He is the maker of us as whole persons. We are created, saved, and being saved, and will one day be fully saved as His Bride whose beauty is in her multiplicity and single devotion to her Beloved. Ronaldo,

Your story of Acts 13 was such a blessing to me. I believe that is the same picture we find in Acts 2 when God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven heard those gathered in the house speak in their native languages. Native languages! I can’t tell you enough how good I felt last summer when I went back to Japan, where people understood my native language and responded to me in the same language. God’s call is for us to serve Him together, as whole persons with unique languages, ethnicities (which include physical as well as non-physical attributes), and experiences. Please forgive me to make one objection to your comment: I don’t think God “disregards skin color,” since He is the maker of us as whole persons. We are created, saved, and being saved, and will one day be fully saved as His Bride whose beauty is in her multiplicity and single devotion to her Beloved.

]]> By: Ronaldo A. Sison http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/comment-page-1/#comment-322 Ronaldo A. Sison Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:07:34 +0000 http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/#comment-322 Japanese Lilac, Your blog took me to a biblical journey about race, ethnicities, friends and one memorable missionary journey. At the time of Paul the Apostle's send off by the Holy Spirit in Acts 13, I read in my Bible that there were several people with him and they were Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius and Manaen. My understanding of Barnabas is he was a Cyprian Jew; Simeon, also called Niger (which means "dark in color") could have been black and Lucius was from Cyrene, then a city in Africa populated by Jews. Manaen was an aristocrat, having brought up with one of the Herods; and Paul/ Saul was a Pharisee with Roman citizenship. Talk about diversity and multiethnicity and cross-culturalism and socioeconomic classes! Yet, they were altogether serving in the Church at Antioch. And they all laid hands on Paul and Barnabas to send them off, as per the Holy Spirit's leading. And they were all used of God mightily to start His church amongs the Gentiles. I think what this highlights is the fact which you emphasized in your blog and which blessed me: God, being not a respecter of persons, not only disregard skin color when He chooses to use people for His purposes but even uses such choices of ethnicities to show to us that His love, mercies and compassion are as vastly immeasurable and as indescribably boundless as His omnipotence. From your essay, i certainly felt that I can never and ought not second-guess God's call for me to find Him in diversity, in unfamiliar places, in uncomfortable situations. Your experiences made me think that I am at a greater loss when I refuse to heed His clear mandate for me to live amongst people I like least because they are least like me. Japanese Lilac,
Your blog took me to a biblical journey about race, ethnicities, friends and one memorable missionary journey.
At the time of Paul the Apostle’s send off by the Holy Spirit in Acts 13, I read in my Bible that there were several people with him and they were Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius and Manaen. My understanding of Barnabas is he was a Cyprian Jew; Simeon, also called Niger (which means “dark in color”) could have been black and Lucius was from Cyrene, then a city in Africa populated by Jews. Manaen was an aristocrat, having brought up with one of the Herods; and Paul/ Saul was a Pharisee with Roman citizenship. Talk about diversity and multiethnicity and cross-culturalism and socioeconomic classes! Yet, they were altogether serving in the Church at Antioch. And they all laid hands on Paul and Barnabas to send them off, as per the Holy Spirit’s leading. And they were all used of God mightily to start His church amongs the Gentiles.
I think what this highlights is the fact which you emphasized in your blog and which blessed me: God, being not a respecter of persons, not only disregard skin color when He chooses to use people for His purposes but even uses such choices of ethnicities to show to us that His love, mercies and compassion are as vastly immeasurable and as indescribably boundless as His omnipotence.
From your essay, i certainly felt that I can never and ought not second-guess God’s call for me to find Him in diversity, in unfamiliar places, in uncomfortable situations. Your experiences made me think that I am at a greater loss when I refuse to heed His clear mandate for me to live amongst people I like least because they are least like me.

]]> By: Rachel O'Brien http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/comment-page-1/#comment-320 Rachel O'Brien Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:16:18 +0000 http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/#comment-320 I am touched both by the blog entry and the comments that followed. Not many people can or would open themselves to such experiences and people. That is a gift from God which I am certain He desires to abundandtly pour out but that is so often squelched by our "melting pot". One of the most important things I have learned this semester, and something that was triggered by this posting was that our country is no melting pot, its a finely tuned and very decidedly segragated salad bowl. Though our boundaries may touch they rarely blur.Though different cultures are represented, they infrequently interact with one another. Like, Japanese Lilac, I have a few special people in my life that have changed me without my permission, those changes and those people are gifts, glimpses and reminders that I would rather stay with those that are like me and I am most secure when I am unquestioned, showing me my own sin and allowing me freedom from it. God grants us true diversity in relationship, with tender moments, gentle conversations, found humor, and mutual understanding because we need others, we others that are different, and they need us, that we might see His kingdom. I am touched both by the blog entry and the comments that followed. Not many people can or would open themselves to such experiences and people. That is a gift from God which I am certain He desires to abundandtly pour out but that is so often squelched by our “melting pot”. One of the most important things I have learned this semester, and something that was triggered by this posting was that our country is no melting pot, its a finely tuned and very decidedly segragated salad bowl. Though our boundaries may touch they rarely blur.Though different cultures are represented, they infrequently interact with one another. Like, Japanese Lilac, I have a few special people in my life that have changed me without my permission, those changes and those people are gifts, glimpses and reminders that I would rather stay with those that are like me and I am most secure when I am unquestioned, showing me my own sin and allowing me freedom from it. God grants us true diversity in relationship, with tender moments, gentle conversations, found humor, and mutual understanding because we need others, we others that are different, and they need us, that we might see His kingdom.

]]> By: Anon, Ed Ma. http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/comment-page-1/#comment-318 Anon, Ed Ma. Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:33:57 +0000 http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/#comment-318 "I am part of all that I have met."- Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley Your memoir, Japanese Lilac, is pregnant with implications on that meaningful impact and a permeating profundity towards community and participation into other people's lives. As my theology professor always tells us, "We are individuals in relation, not in isolation." Weall form part of beloved community, especially in the household of God. It was very touching and so very encouraging to read how your Haitian friend Danielle, your Nigerian friend Shade, Amy, and Shirley impacted your life because they did not hesitate to be a part of your life and did not equivocate about your need for space and privacy- and that you allowed them to. In the process, you were enriched and i think it is not a stretch that you also enriched their lives wherever they maybe now. It brought tears to my eyes to read of how, in your hour of great need, there were people who sensed your need and responded. Again, my theology professor is helpful: Jesus did not say, "Go and think/ understand likewise." Jesus rather said, "Go and do likewise." They saw the need, they were moved to share the little theyy may have. And it multiplied not only in meeting your need but in fond memories of the reality of God's provisions through His people, our friends. But nostalgia aside, i see the parallels with Jesus: seeking the fishermen Peter and Andrew and James and John and telling them to follow Him, the dialogue with the doubting father, even Peter's sick mother-in-law, and countless other accounts. And Jesus did all those because He was so secured in the love of the Father that the giving of Himself was either a demeaning act nor a deed to give Him entitlement. Far from it, Jesus was doing those to express to the Father the love that He felt from the Father so securedly. I think if you and your friends have chosen to be invulnerable with each other and did not act in community and did not participate in each other's lives, you would not have such poignant memories of ordinary people expressing the indescribable extraordinary love of God. How poor and decrepit we people of the West are that we pride ourselves with the stiff upper lip and that look that says, "You are you and I am I; I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, nor are you to mine; if, by chance, we found each other, it was only a chance. Ad Valorem (To each his own)!" May your tribe and theirs increase to the honor and glory of the Father! “I am part of all that I have met.”- Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley
Your memoir, Japanese Lilac, is pregnant with implications on that meaningful impact and a permeating profundity towards community and participation into other people’s lives. As my theology professor always tells us, “We are individuals in relation, not in isolation.” Weall form part of beloved community, especially in the household of God.
It was very touching and so very encouraging to read how your Haitian friend Danielle, your Nigerian friend Shade, Amy, and Shirley impacted your life because they did not hesitate to be a part of your life and did not equivocate about your need for space and privacy- and that you allowed them to. In the process, you were enriched and i think it is not a stretch that you also enriched their lives wherever they maybe now.
It brought tears to my eyes to read of how, in your hour of great need, there were people who sensed your need and responded. Again, my theology professor is helpful: Jesus did not say, “Go and think/ understand likewise.” Jesus rather said, “Go and do likewise.” They saw the need, they were moved to share the little theyy may have. And it multiplied not only in meeting your need but in fond memories of the reality of God’s provisions through His people, our friends.
But nostalgia aside, i see the parallels with Jesus: seeking the fishermen Peter and Andrew and James and John and telling them to follow Him, the dialogue with the doubting father, even Peter’s sick mother-in-law, and countless other accounts. And Jesus did all those because He was so secured in the love of the Father that the giving of Himself was either a demeaning act nor a deed to give Him entitlement. Far from it, Jesus was doing those to express to the Father the love that He felt from the Father so securedly.
I think if you and your friends have chosen to be invulnerable with each other and did not act in community and did not participate in each other’s lives, you would not have such poignant memories of ordinary people expressing the indescribable extraordinary love of God.
How poor and decrepit we people of the West are that we pride ourselves with the stiff upper lip and that look that says,
“You are you and I am I;
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, nor are you to mine;
if, by chance, we found each other, it was only a chance.
Ad Valorem (To each his own)!”
May your tribe and theirs increase to the honor and glory of the Father!

]]> By: Kelsi http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/comment-page-1/#comment-317 Kelsi Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:00:10 +0000 http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/#comment-317 Amen. Exchanging relationships for productivity. Chasing the dragon, really, in hopes of finding something more satisfying, when really we are running further away from that deep cup of satisfaction. It is our hubris, and it is the antithesis of the character of Christ. This is what is so refreshing about Japanese Lilac's experience--she experienced human contact and allowed Christ to minister to her through his creation. Think how much we stifle this in the name of productivity and out of slavery to The Watch. I am not saying productivity in and of itself is bad, but I do think that what we have allowed it to become, and how it controls and drives our heart is what draws us further from the simplicity, beauty, and profundity of human relationships (in which we encounter Christ). In many ways, I believe busyness is the enemy of intimacy with our Creator who desires no more than that very thing with us. Amen. Exchanging relationships for productivity. Chasing the dragon, really, in hopes of finding something more satisfying, when really we are running further away from that deep cup of satisfaction. It is our hubris, and it is the antithesis of the character of Christ. This is what is so refreshing about Japanese Lilac’s experience–she experienced human contact and allowed Christ to minister to her through his creation. Think how much we stifle this in the name of productivity and out of slavery to The Watch. I am not saying productivity in and of itself is bad, but I do think that what we have allowed it to become, and how it controls and drives our heart is what draws us further from the simplicity, beauty, and profundity of human relationships (in which we encounter Christ). In many ways, I believe busyness is the enemy of intimacy with our Creator who desires no more than that very thing with us.

]]> By: Bobby V. Aguilar, III http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/comment-page-1/#comment-315 Bobby V. Aguilar, III Tue, 24 Feb 2009 09:54:26 +0000 http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/#comment-315 Japanese Lilac, You wrote as a true-blue Asian: a relationship-oriented individual who sees the profundity in mundane things. No wonder the Japanese expresses the deepest meanings in the simplest verses (haiku), the most exotic art in folded paper (origami) and the serene strength of a tree that has been dwarfed (bonsai). I was struck with the statement "the abundant life that Jesus talked about doesn’t have anything to do with mingling only with Whites—or Japanese—and copying their ways." Copying the whites is termed in my ethnicity as "colonial mentality." Others term it as ethocentricity. Or even worse, white Aryan supremacy. One personal implication of your experiences with people of color to me is that "time is still the best expression of love" and the abundant life that Jesus talked about could hardly be thought of apart from the giving of time. Jesus engaged the woman at the well, Nicodemus and many others, unhurriedly giving them time even when a friend was dying. I agree with Daniel Fan that in such locales as the Philippines, people could spend hours and hours with each other in conversation without thinking it is wasted time. One leaves the conversation wanting more, relishing the exchange and looking forward to future dialogues. One leaves such conversations more enriched and better able to relate. And your African-American, Haitian and Indian friends took precious time off their busy lives and schedules and broke bread with you, stood by you, laughed with you, encouraged you and inspired you to go on in life- which is an abundant life more than wealth or intellect can give- without condescension and with acceptance. You were loved by them in a color-blind way. My experience in America, as a person of color, is the difficulty of cultivating deep, lasting and meaningful relationships with the Caucasian race just because "these people have watches but they do not have the time". The tyranny of the urgent and the obsessive-compulsive tendency to keep on achieving insatiably at the expense of people make relationships an expendable sacrifice in the altar of achievement and performance, and therefore, racial superiority. O, America, America, you who promised to receive "the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free"; you who asked to give to you "the wretched refuse, the homeless, tempest-tossed" of foreign shores and ancient lands, why are you now putting off the lamp and closing the gates of the golden door? Japanese Lilac,

You wrote as a true-blue Asian: a relationship-oriented individual who sees the profundity in mundane things. No wonder the Japanese expresses the deepest meanings in the simplest verses (haiku), the most exotic art in folded paper (origami) and the serene strength of a tree that has been dwarfed (bonsai).
I was struck with the statement “the abundant life that Jesus talked about doesn’t have anything to do with mingling only with Whites—or Japanese—and copying their ways.” Copying the whites is termed in my ethnicity as “colonial mentality.” Others term it as ethocentricity. Or even worse, white Aryan supremacy.
One personal implication of your experiences with people of color to me is that “time is still the best expression of love” and the abundant life that Jesus talked about could hardly be thought of apart from the giving of time. Jesus engaged the woman at the well, Nicodemus and many others, unhurriedly giving them time even when a friend was dying.
I agree with Daniel Fan that in such locales as the Philippines, people could spend hours and hours with each other in conversation without thinking it is wasted time. One leaves the conversation wanting more, relishing the exchange and looking forward to future dialogues. One leaves such conversations more enriched and better able to relate.
And your African-American, Haitian and Indian friends took precious time off their busy lives and schedules and broke bread with you, stood by you, laughed with you, encouraged you and inspired you to go on in life- which is an abundant life more than wealth or intellect can give- without condescension and with acceptance. You were loved by them in a color-blind way.
My experience in America, as a person of color, is the difficulty of cultivating deep, lasting and meaningful relationships with the Caucasian race just because “these people have watches but they do not have the time”. The tyranny of the urgent and the obsessive-compulsive tendency to keep on achieving insatiably at the expense of people make relationships an expendable sacrifice in the altar of achievement and performance, and therefore, racial superiority.
O, America, America, you who promised to receive “the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free”; you who asked to give to you “the wretched refuse, the homeless, tempest-tossed” of foreign shores and ancient lands, why are you now putting off the lamp and closing the gates of the golden door?

]]> By: Paul Louis Metzger http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/comment-page-1/#comment-313 Paul Louis Metzger Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:14:45 +0000 http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/#comment-313 Thanks to each of you for your respective reflections. This blog entry and the ensuing comments challenge the status quo of our culture: the supposed American melting pot is supposed to affirm glorious diversity, but it often suppresses and dissolves it in favor of homogeneity and affinity. We settle for so little, when God calls us to so much more. Thanks to each of you for your respective reflections. This blog entry and the ensuing comments challenge the status quo of our culture: the supposed American melting pot is supposed to affirm glorious diversity, but it often suppresses and dissolves it in favor of homogeneity and affinity. We settle for so little, when God calls us to so much more.

]]> By: Daniel Fan http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/comment-page-1/#comment-312 Daniel Fan Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:10:59 +0000 http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/#comment-312 Japanese lilac, Thank you for that. The line that stood out for me was: "it is difficult for me to separate my friends from Jesus their Lord, for he has manifested his glory in and through them to me. Jesus’ glory comes in many colors and hues, and so we miss out when we fail to see the rainbow of his glorious love." I've come to understand that none of the world's cultures, in isolation, can express the profundity of the god we profess to worship. Each culture is both corrupted by humanity's sin nature and yet blessed by its creator in its own unique way. When I travelled to the Philippines I stayed in a remote mountain farming village with unreliable electricty and water that only "ran" sporadically (ran? more like "stumbled, spending long periods completely stationary and wheezing"). Despite having few modern conveniences the inhabitants were still...happy? Their values were in fellowship, good conversation, faith and worship. Chatting with friends for 2 hours was not time wasted, as it might be considered on this side of the Pacific. In some ways I found that their simplified lifestyle helped them to understand peace and contentedness in Christ, in fact, to live it, better than I did. I'd like to think this realization came to me in a bolt-delivered epiphany, when I electrocuted myself making hot water for a ladle bath. For those not acquainted with this system: a plug in heater (6" disk with exposed metal coils) electrocutes the water, thereby warming it. I stuck my finger into the bucket, to check the temperature and I got "hot." After that episode, I learned to unplug the heater before testing the water temperature. I also realized that I would never have had to do that in the US, and that for these people hot water on demand was not a given. At the same time they could still be satisfied, content in the spirit, and even welcoming to someone who might be perceived as having so much more than they did. I could not separate that experience of simple contentedness from my memory of my mountain village hosts, nor would I want to. Japanese lilac,

Thank you for that. The line that stood out for me was:

“it is difficult for me to separate my friends from Jesus their Lord, for he has manifested his glory in and through them to me. Jesus’ glory comes in many colors and hues, and so we miss out when we fail to see the rainbow of his glorious love.”

I’ve come to understand that none of the world’s cultures, in isolation, can express the profundity of the god we profess to worship. Each culture is both corrupted by humanity’s sin nature and yet blessed by its creator in its own unique way.

When I travelled to the Philippines I stayed in a remote mountain farming village with unreliable electricty and water that only “ran” sporadically (ran? more like “stumbled, spending long periods completely stationary and wheezing”). Despite having few modern conveniences the inhabitants were still…happy? Their values were in fellowship, good conversation, faith and worship. Chatting with friends for 2 hours was not time wasted, as it might be considered on this side of the Pacific. In some ways I found that their simplified lifestyle helped them to understand peace and contentedness in Christ, in fact, to live it, better than I did.

I’d like to think this realization came to me in a bolt-delivered epiphany, when I electrocuted myself making hot water for a ladle bath. For those not acquainted with this system: a plug in heater (6″ disk with exposed metal coils) electrocutes the water, thereby warming it. I stuck my finger into the bucket, to check the temperature and I got “hot.” After that episode, I learned to unplug the heater before testing the water temperature. I also realized that I would never have had to do that in the US, and that for these people hot water on demand was not a given. At the same time they could still be satisfied, content in the spirit, and even welcoming to someone who might be perceived as having so much more than they did.

I could not separate that experience of simple contentedness from my memory of my mountain village hosts, nor would I want to.

]]> By: Kelsi http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/comment-page-1/#comment-309 Kelsi Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:42:33 +0000 http://consumingjesus.org/2009/02/18/the-rainbow-of-love/#comment-309 Those are beautiful recollections. What struck me the most is your statement, "Imagine the magnitude of stupidity to dismiss people based on their color or ethnicity, and think of the possibility of what we might be able to do to help solve the world’s problems by exchanging ideas and eagerly learning from one another from different parts of the world!" I think about this often- true dialogue and desire to respect and hear one another could literally make a world of difference in terms of our global and local problems. Instead of hearing each other out to further prove our own point, or achieve our own power, imagine what it would look like to take down defenses and simply listen. Thank you for sharing your experiences. This further impresses upon me the conviction that diversity is a precious gift to be able to share lives and learn from people different from our selves. It saddens me to think of the many opportunities and relationships I have passed out because I wasn't sure how to relate to someone of a different background than me. That is something I desire to explore and overcome. It will be a tragedy if I don't. Christ truly does unite all colors of the rainbow, and that is empowering. Those are beautiful recollections. What struck me the most is your statement, “Imagine the magnitude of stupidity to dismiss people based on their color or ethnicity, and think of the possibility of what we might be able to do to help solve the world’s problems by exchanging ideas and eagerly learning from one another from different parts of the world!” I think about this often- true dialogue and desire to respect and hear one another could literally make a world of difference in terms of our global and local problems. Instead of hearing each other out to further prove our own point, or achieve our own power, imagine what it would look like to take down defenses and simply listen. Thank you for sharing your experiences. This further impresses upon me the conviction that diversity is a precious gift to be able to share lives and learn from people different from our selves. It saddens me to think of the many opportunities and relationships I have passed out because I wasn’t sure how to relate to someone of a different background than me. That is something I desire to explore and overcome. It will be a tragedy if I don’t. Christ truly does unite all colors of the rainbow, and that is empowering.

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