preacher of annika

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The bible

Matt 6:31-33
"Don’t make yourself any worries, don’t ask; what shall we eat? What shall we drink? What clouds shall we ware? All those things are what the heathens hunt for. But your father in heaven knows that you need all that. Seek first he’s kingdom and he’s justification, and all the other shall be given to you."

Preacher of Annika Spalde
prisoner nr BE 8940

These words are hard to embrace. How should it work, we think. I don’t think it is necessary that we throw the budget in the basket or quit our jobs, in order to be missionaries.

But it points out that a Christian should have an openness and preparation for God that isn’t hindered by bindings to material things. And if we look in other texts in the bible we understand that it isn’t just about material things.

Our need for safety and security tells us that we easily get trapped in different needs; of confirmation from the surroundings, of predictability and routines, of emotional safety and so forth.

This makes it often hard for us to wholehearted invite God in our lives. It becomes very risky to ask what God wants with our lives if we aren’t ready to lose something of all that we have. Our need for safety can hinder us to listen to the voice conscience.

God wants us to have our safety in him. This takes, I think, a whole lifetime to learn putting your trust upon God. But we must strive for a growing preparedness, preparedness to give up, to sacrifice what we have, to accept uncertainty and vulnerability. In reality we can not escape from vulnerability. It is a part of what it means to be a human being. But we try anyhow.

I think that all of us must examine our lives and find what is hindering, what lies heavily on our chest. There are no general answers and solutions. What does it mean for me to follow Christ? What is it that hinders me to follow his path?

There was a man that wanted to follow Jesus, but first he wanted to go and bury his father, when Jesus replied: "Let the dead bury there dead, instead go and proclaim the kingdom of God." (Luc 9:60) What is it that we want to do first?

This preparedness for vulnerability and vulnerability is also necessary in order to practice non-violence, which means to work against violence and oppression without the use of violence.

Force of arms, isn’t that the opposite too vulnerability? To think that one can by security and safety trough weapons. Not dare to risk anything, which one of course does anyhow through armament, trough threatening people and thereby creating an unstable world. The societies of today put there trust upon weapons. Shouldn’t we put our trust upon God?

People within the non-violence tradition have chosen to expose themselves to violence rather than to expose there neighbour to violence, if violence is unavoidable. People in different countries has confronted tanks in order to stop death and destruction. They were never sure that the tanks would stop. Sometimes the haven’t.

We are never sure about the outcome of our work. But respect and love towards life demands action. Our faith gives us hope that there is goodness within all human beings, or at least potentials for goodness. Therefore we dare to take risks.

It is tough to risk ones security. We need support in order to make it. I wouldn’t have dared to risk prison if I didnt have had support from the others in the group. And we as a group couldn’t have done it if we haven’t had support from people around us.

Jesus lived and died poor and destitute. We are his disciples. We must adhere to his message about radical openness and preparedness for God, and understand what that means for us here and now. Then God can use us in his work for his kingdom and his justice.

Preacher of Annika Spalde 981206 from the prison in Risley, England, Read by her sister Gunilla Spalde