On Being Severe

At first glance this picture seems severe and even macabre. But when told that the man in the picture is a monk who tends the bones of the martyrs and not the maniacal man servant of a serial killer then the picture means something totally different. I have recently come to terms with the severity that I project more than occasionally. It makes me sad that I am misunderstood even sadder that I put people off. Then sadness turns toxic and I don't like that. I thought about doing a ministerial make over to have more of a rainbow and puppy dog cast to my persona. I used to where my cassock a lot more but I became fearful that it set me too far apart from people so I stopped wearing it . And it's not just what I wear , I come across as a "Hard Ass"( ask Carsten for the link to his blog entry that makes mention of this).
So I am sitting here this morning lamenting the fact that I project a very severe image and how it may cause the ruin of Christendom as we know it (I'M VERY DRAMATIC IN THE MORNING). And then God stepped in. He made me look at the ministries of St Ignatius, St Francis, Smith Wigglesworth,Martin Luther, Maximillian Kolbe and Bishop Raymundo Abogatal. All of them better servants than I but talk about severe. St Iggy lectured his congregation for trying to spare him from martydom. St Francis rejected all the comfort of the world and wore rags . Martin Luther shook his fist at papacy to put Christ back in the center of the church (Martin Luther was also a wacko but God loves wackos too ). Max Kolbe lived severe servanthood by harboring Jews in his monastery and was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp(he actually helped the young soldier prepare his lethal injection of carbolic acid and gave the soldier absolution for his sin) . Smith Wigglesworth was a plumber that gave his life to Christ in a Pentecostal church. His presence was so severe that people often remarked that they felt as if they were going to die when they stood next to him (he actually made people aware of Gods judgment on their sinful lives). Bp Raymundo wears a cross big enough that my 4yr old Luke could do chin ups on it. And he does this in the most dangerous Muslim region in the Philippines. He says he wants the Muslims to know that Jesus died for their sins. He is very aware that it could cost him his life. He loves the Muslims that much AND I'M WORRIED ABOUT WEARING MY CASSOCK!

I started thinking that maybe I'm not so severe after all. Where the heck did I put that cassock.
Go Big or Go Home !