within the first thirty minutes of my visit with the Bennett family, i noticed two intriguing books among the many on their shelves. the first was my long lost copy of graham greene's The Power and the Glory. Greene has the remarkable ability to explain the tension between sin and sanctity that dwells within us all. Indeed, if his cowardly, corrupt 'whisky priest' can be a sacrament to his people, we too can be a sacrament to our communities. now that i think about it, the 'whisky priest' reminds me a lot of Godric, one of buechner's most inspiring protagonists. since buechner has lauded "the power and the glory" on a number of occasions, i doubt this resemblance is circumstantial.

the second book i noticed was don miller's Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance. i was floored by miller's second work, Blue Like Jazz, so i have been looking to purchase this title for some time. unfortunately, it is currently out-of-print and no one wants to let go of their copy for less than $45. so, i was delighted by the opportunity to steal my friend's copy (which i subsequently did:). anyway, to make a short story long, while consuming miller's work, i was intrigued by the following passage in which he describes the character of Paul, his friend and traveling companion:

"Paul is better than me in this way. He can appreciate the person inside the persona. To Him, people are more important than ideas. He does not laugh at jokes that deprecate others. He is a true, empathetic, kind of character."

Paul is better than me in this way as well. i have no tolerance for many people's personas. i am quick to bash on punks who lack the ethos, goths who externalize that which should be internal and christians who speak in cliche. if i think someone's persona is something less than genuine, i will probably inform them of the apparent distance between their appearance and reality and will probably reject them. of course, for a christian who believes that each individual was fashioned in as well as reflects the image of God, this is indeed vile. so this is a sin i must confess...i have rejected many people's personas and so have denied their value as a person. for this i am truly sorry. i doubt many of those i have rejected are or would listen to anything i have to say, but if you are listening, jaimie, logan, steve, eric, paul, todd, brandon and kelley, i beg your forgiveness.

may God grant me the grace to set aside personas, so that i can walk with all sorts of people as we seek to become new persons in Christ Jesus.