Keep Your Joy - episode 66
Keep your joy. Don’t let anyone steal it from you. That is the life mission of Shelley Farrar-Coleman, today’s Insta-Summer guest. She has come to recognize joy is a choice. Travis, her dad, was a walking, talking, humble example of this. And she is just like him. No matter what you are going through you can choose joy. It matters, and makes a huge difference in how you will live, and experience life.
Another aspect of Shelley’s passion is her desire to put dreams into action. For herself and for others. It’s a start to have that thing you really want to do, but you need to take it a step farther and figure out how to make it a reality. It doesn’t have to be big. It can be small. Like wanting to share with her children what a great guy her dad was. Shelley took the scraps of paper and turned it into a thing that became a book. Turns out other people wanted to read it too, and are now benefiting from Trav’s legacy, brick by brick.
Joyful. Organized. Grateful.
— Shelley
Will They Know Us by our Love?
Thoughts from Keep Your Joy
Shelley and I talked about the irreparable damage that has be done in the name of Christianity. This story is as old as the hills. All you have to do is to take a walk down history lane to see all the devastation - all done in the name of trying to “save souls.” I have a HUGE problem with this tactic and I barely know where to start. Countless people have given Christianity a bad name. They have used fear, domination, oppression, shame and guilt as their tools to clobber people through the ages. The problem? This is hardly an accurate reflection of who Christ was.
I grieve and truly lament for anybody, and everybody, who has had a bad experience with a “Christian.” And I include myself in this category on both sides. Having been raised in a large denomination, I saw first-hand the unscrupulous decisions made by a woman of the cloth. (Other than her, my experience was actually quite good, being taught that Jesus was love, and he was actually very cool. Cue the Jesus Christ Superstar score.) Well-meaning, years ago, I sent my stepdaughters to a camp that had been recommended by a friend, without doing my due-diligence. It was fanatical and scarred them through its extreme views and practices. (Thankfully we have all made peace with this blunder on my part. I have evolved - thank God.)
Now keep in mind in any group, labeled or not, you are going to have the bell curve: extremes on each side and the majority in the middle. Why? Because wherever you have people you are going to have variety regardless of their beliefs, convictions, values, etc. So expect imperfection. People are involved.
As has been shared previously, see episode 46’s blog, Yeshua, I identify as Christian but with a caveat. This word has almost become a trigger. At the same time my son who passed is named Christian so it’s a mixed bag. My whole belief system begins and ends with love. Love God, love others as you love yourself. That’s it. Then for me personally I ask myself, Am I making Jesus beautiful? I got this from Mike Erre of the Voxology podcast back when it started several years ago. It stuck with me and it’s central to who I am.
On behalf of those who do not know what they are doing, and they do it in the name of Christianity, for me nobody says it better than TobyMac in I’m Sorry (a lament) the chorus is shown once for brevity:
We started out strong
But somewhere along
We lost our way
Done things in Your name
I'm so ashamed
I don't have the words to say
We've killed and destroyed
Stolen and blamed
All in Your name
You told us to give
Told us to love
But we chose to take
You laid down Your life
Put power aside
Showed us the way and the Truth
We roll into church
Open the word
And forget that we're called to include
Now, it's long overdue
But I can't dilute
What we seem to havе put on the shelf
I can't speak for us all
But I gotta bеlieve
I'm speakin' for more than myself
When I say
I'm sorry, I'm sorry
I'm sorry, so sorry
I'm sorry, I'm sorry
I'm sorry, I'm sorry
We say that we're one
But we're broken up
By anything that can divide
Our color o' skin
The clothes we're in
That valley's deep and wide
We overlook the broken
The homeless
And discard the poor
While we celebrate the rich and beautiful
With a wide-open door
I'm sorry we're nothing like You
You chose to bear a cross
We choose to give You parts of us
And rarely the parts that cost
Now, it's long overdue
But I can't dilute
What we seem to have put on the shelf
I can't speak for us all
But I gotta believe
I'm speakin' for more than myself
When I say
Wake us up, wake us up, wake us up, Lord
Wake us up, wake us up, wake us up
Wake us up, wake us up, wake us up, Lord
Wake us up, wake us up, wake us up
Blessed are the poor in spirit
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven
Blessed are they that mourn
For they shall be comforted
Blessed are the meek
For they shall inherit the Earth
Blessed are they which hunger and thirst for righteousness
For they shall be filled
Blessed are the merciful
For they shall obtain mercy
Blessed are the pure in heart
For they shall see God
Blessed are the peacemakers
For they shall be called the children of God
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness's sake
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you
And shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake
Let’s look for love. Follow it. Be it. Do it. That is how we could all be known. Let us each choose to be known by love.
Simply put: love does. — Bob Goff
