A King and a Kingdom

I just put little Sasha to bed for a nap (I sang him a very long, improvised song about Frog and Toad), and now I'm watching "Once." If you haven't watched it....go do it. I've been listening to the soundtrack almost every day I've been here- it just feels so suited for the spirit of Prague. You hear a song from the movie in almost every restaurant or store you go in here.

Happy 4th of July to those of you reading in America! It's interesting to not be in there on Independence Day, but it makes me think of one of my favorite Derek Webb songs:

Who's your brother, who's your sister
You just walked passed him
I think you missed her
As we're all migrating to the place where our Father lives
'Cause we married in to a family of immigrants

My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
It's to a King & a kingdom

I am thankful for the ways my eyes are being opened to His kingdom around the world, that crosses and transcends all cultural and political boundaries. I am thankful to be in the Czech Republic today, to know that I love my country and and that I love this one, too.

Here's a few things for you today:

First, a picture of the view from my dining room, because it is beautiful. On the table is our first attempt at hospitality, and our first semi-fancy meal (cooking has not been a strong suit since coming here). We had a new friend over for dinner, who talked to us about the struggles of being a woman in the Czech workforce.
Czech culture can be very oppressive to women in a way you don't see in America- women have no recourse to object to sexual abuse or harrassment, and if they try to say something, they are often told it is their fault. If a woman goes to the police to say she is raped, there's a strong possibility she'll just be ignored. It's perfectly acceptable and common for a boss to make advances towards his employee, and for a married man to have a mistress. It makes me really angry, and makes me thankful for the ability women have to stand up to harassment in America, difficult though it may be.

Second....
This is a quote from Mother Theresa I've been thinking a lot about recently, especially as I worked in the homeless shelter, about what it means to live the Gospel:

"And we read that in the Gospel very clearly--love as I have loved you--as I love you--as the Father has loved me, I love you--and the harder the Father loved him, he gave him to us, and how much we love one another, we, too, must give each other until it hurts. It is not enough for us to say: I love God, but I do not love my neighbor. St. John says you are a liar if you say you love God, and you don't love your neighbor. How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your neighbor whom you see, whom you touch, with whom you live. And so this is very important for us to realize that love, to be true, has to hurt. It hurt Jesus to love us, it hurt him. And to make sure we remember his great love he made himself the bread of life to satisfy our hunger for his love. Our hunger for God, because we have been created for that love. We have been created in his image. We have been created to love and be loved, and then he has become man to make it possible for us to love as he loved us. He makes himself the hungry one--the naked one--the homeless one--the sick one--the one in prison--the lonely one--the unwanted one--and he says: You did it to me. Hunger for our love, this is the hunger of our poor people. This is the hunger that you and I must find, it may be in our own home."

I long to serve the kingdom with the love of my King....

I want...I need.... to learn how to love, to truly love.