Purification

After I John 2:28-3:10

Nothing in this world

can be 100 percent pure

or even 99 and 44/100 percent

pure because most and

in fact all purification

processes are contaminated

by some parts per million or

billion or some infinitely

smaller amount but

it doesn’t matter.

A 100 percent purification

only happened once

in history, a source always

waiting to be tapped,

if we make that choice or

if the source chooses us.

Or both.

Photograph by Rodeon Kutsaev via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Assumptions

After I John 2:28-3:10

We assume an identity,

we put it on not unlike clothes,

but it is skin. It doesn’t fit

very well, it makes us

uncomfortable and we stand out

in a crowd like we’re dressed

badly or overweight or we haven’t

had a bath and people see us

and pass by quickly, averting

their gaze because we are

different and the want to be

the same and not different. If

you are different you will be

disliked, you will be objectified,

you will be hated. If you continue

and deepen your difference they

will not only turn away or avert

their gaze but occasionally

lash out and strike with the purpose

of inflicting pain and proclaiming

they are not you. Assuming this

going in doesn’t make it easier

but it does make it

understandable

and tells you

for whom to pray.

Photograph by Janko Ferlic via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Defining a child

After I John 2:28-3:10

To define a child

(“come to me as little children”)

Isn’t so problematic,

At first glance, at least:

Do what is right,

love your brother (brother

defined in the generic sense,

demanding far more than what

is currently cultural).

Do what is right: means

be like him who does right

all the time. We despair:

how is that even possible?

He does right all the time

and we know we do not.

But when he abides within

it is sufficient for transformation.

Photograph by Caroline Hernandez via Unsplash. Used with permission.