“I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land, so that I would not destory it; but I found none.” ~ Ezekiel 22:30

                                                                                              

We began the lesson with a personality test. It is very simple, you simply take a sheet of paper (anything, even a scrap) and draw four objects: a square, a triangle, a circle, and a squiggle. Then choose which shape best describes (do NOT  over think, just choose).

Square: Organized and a hard worker, you like structure and rules and dislike situations in which you don’t know what’s expected of you. “Tell me the deadlines and I’ll get the job done,” you say — and you deliver.

Triangle: A leader, you are decisive and able to focus on the goal. You have confidence in yourself and in your opinions, and you don’t hesitate to tell everyone else the way the world is. You can be dogmatic and shoot from the hip. You like recognition and are delighted to tell people about your accomplishments.

Circle: You are a people person, the shape with the most empathy, perception and consideration for the feelings of others. You listen and communicate well. You read people and can spot a phony right off. You like harmony and have your greatest difficulties in dealing with conflict and making unpopular decisions.

Squiggle: You are creative, a “what if” person who’s always thinking of new ways to do something. Your mind never stops and you do cognitive leaps — from A straight to F. You see the forest and miss the trees. You don’t like highly structured environments.

[I found the test on Joe Poz’s blog, the worldest greatest sportswriter. He links to the sites where he found the test, one added a rectangle. One or the Other]

This test worked for me (as a squiggle, I am creative and I jump from A to F – just listen to my messages…), but nearly all the students also choose the squiggle. I never announced my shape, so they were not tempted to be like me (as if they would be!!!). Of course it could be group think (seriously MS students in general have herd mentality) or maybe the squiggle describes the MS condition…. they hate “highly structured environments” and their “mind never stops” (not to say they are making cognitive leaps, really just random leaps). Honestly nearly all MS could be labeled ADD, which may be to say they are squiggles…

                                                                                               

Coming out of Babies-R-Us we saw a Muslim woman with a head scarf. Ivy immediately shouted, “Mary… MARY” (thankfully the lady did not notice). On another occassion, as we left YO Pizza, we saw a man with an eye patch, to which Ivy said, “Look, a pirate.” The man laughed and said, “ARGH”!

On a more serious note the state of California is serious financial crisis, running over 40 billion in the red. To help remedy the problem they sent letters to 20,000 state employees anouncing possible lay-offs (1 out of 2 will be laid off). Here is a line from the letter, “You have been designated as surplus…” (click here to read the letter).

We are labeled by the world. Sometimes it is based on how we look, sometimes on our abilities. But if do not fit the mold or achieve the right labels, then we are no longer essential. We could be called surplus people. So to avoid being useless we strive after the world’s labels…

A man named Roger appeared at the New Hope Church here in Augusta. He was a biker, an alcoholic. He looked ragged, he cussed. Most churches would have turned him away or at least talked behind his back. I imagine our church would have been whispering… but at New Hope, maybe miraculously, he meet people who embraced him (who knows where all the “normal” church people were!). In their love he found Christ…

Fast forward to this past Saturday. I visited the Bridge Church here in Augusta. It is a church for the homeless that meets every other Saturday under the Calhoun Expy Bridge over 15th Street. On average 250 homeless attend. They are feed a hot meal and then they have a worship service (that includes a live band). The pastor of this church… Roger.

The labels of the world will fall away in the prescense of God. He has a calling for our lives. A calling that will not leave us the same. In fact is a calling that demands change. But in the call their is also a declaration of value. In God we are not surplus. Instead we are the ONE He has been searching for. The ONE to stand in the gap. The ONE to save the people…

But when He searches will He find us…