Army of Priests

Last Friday I had the awesome opportunity to volunteer with Access Street Vans as they fed and ministered to homeless people at a number of Brisbane’s hostels. Whilst I had had a few encounters with homeless people before, this was the first time I had intentionally immersed myself into their environment in such a deep way. It was an interesting experience, with equal parts violence and despondency; hope and appreciation.

The woman who saw God

At one of our stops a member of the team had a chance to speak to a withdrawn, mentally disabled, aboriginal woman. Every time he would try to engage the woman in conversation she would squeak out the shortest possible answer and sheepishly shy away.

But he patiently continued. Eventually he asked her if she read any books. She said she read the bible. Then she piped up and told about how she had seen Jesus. Instantly this sheepish woman became animated as she told of seeing him just sitting on a chair one day. But as just as quickly as this vibrant woman had come out of her shell, she went back in.

My friend tried to engage her again, but she has revered to her prior, shy self. Eventually he turned the conversation back to her seeing Jesus and a smile exploded across her face. The beautiful, young woman was back.

I saw this woman. Whilst I have no idea whether seeing things is a regular occurrence for her I completely believe that she did indeed see Jesus. She was so withdrawn that for her to change so radically would take a miracle.

The first shall be last…

This is exactly the God I believe in. He hides himself from the mighty who claim to have all the answers and then shows himself to the absolutely most ashamed and broken people. She is a woman. She is homeless. She is mentally disabled. She is aboriginal. In Australia, it is hard to get any lower than that. But God sought her out and let her know He was there in a truly beautiful way.

Many of the people we served on Friday lavished us with their appreciation. I felt like a saint. But in truth, the honour is all mine. The lowest people in this empire are the nobility in God’s kingdom. It is my privilege to serve them.

In all my years of praying and worshiping I have never had such a real experience of God as that woman. The people who society crushes under its heel are the same people who God honours and raises up. Her story turned God’s love from an abstract idea into something truly tangible for me. She is my teacher.

One time when Ghandi was asked whether he was a Christian, he replied: “Ask the poor. They will tell you who the Christians are.” This is because real Christians will serve the poor, but also, I think, because the poor know God better than we privileged people ever will. So I ask God to help me to serve never for the purpose of self-righteousness but always in humility knowing that these are the people who God holds so highly. They are kings and queens in His eyes.

He loves us.

He loves us despite the state we are in. He loves us regardless of what we have done. He loves us regardless of what we will do. He loves us regardless of what we can do. He loves us, male and female. He loves us, young and old.

He loves us regardless of skin colour, or how much money we have, what we wear, of if our jokes are bad. He loves us if we are lonely, depressed or angry. He loves us when we are annoying (Romans 8:38-39).

He loves us if we do drugs, or get drunk, or sleep around. He loves porn addicts, meth addicts, and TV addicts. He loves prostitutes, murderers, gay people, and thieves. He loves sports watchers, cult members, and masturbators.

He even loves you if you don’t love him (Romans 5:8, John 3:16).

Read more…

Found on my computer.

Dear God,

Forgive us for being so comfortable when your children sleep on streets. Forgive us for being so comfortable when people die of hunger. Forgive us for being so comfortable when people die by our bombs. Forgive us for being so comfortable when we pass pesky beggars on the streets. Forgive us for being so comfortable in our big protective buildings. Forgive us for being so comfortable with the illusion of charity. Forgive us for being so comfortable with pain, and shame. Forgive us for being so comfortable with judgement. Forgive us for being so comfortable with a small, boxed in God.

How dare God love me.

We have a system going in this world where we love the people who provide value (money, good laughs, etc) and hate those that do not (pedophiles, murderers, etc). For the most part, it works well for us. It gives us a platform for pride by comparing ourselves with the less loved, and opportunity for advancement as though we are in control.

I recently read a news article about bullying where children said that one boy deserved the constant teasing he received because he choose to read books during his lunch break. This is disgusting to us yet how often do we withhold our love for people because of such simple things as the colour of their skin, the fact they are annoying, because they swear or drink and they live on the streets. Yet we are so keen to love people who are popular, rich, funny, intelligent, and who can give us things in return. The golden rule of society: only love when it is easy and there is a reward.

We can go about our lives without ever suffering for someone who will not return our favour. We can hide the ugly parts of our personality and past as people do not care about who we are – only what we do. Because we are respected due to instrumental rather than intrinsic value we can pretend that we are not broken as long as we are useful.

But then Jesus came and upset all that. He went straight to the most undesirable, useless members of society and showed them a love that is greater than what we reserve for even the most popular members of society. It upset the system.

Jesus didn’t love people for what they could do, how they dressed, or what their status was. He loved the unlovable people and he extends the same love to all of us. This is scandalous, for we are of no value to God. He does not need us to help him run the universe, or to make him feel good from our praise, or to do his will. He’s bigger than we are! If anything we are like an ache in his side. Forever hurting one another and raping this world. We should, if things were fair, be recipients of God’s wrath rather than his love.

But God is not fair. He loves us. This causes a lot of trouble because it undermines the fundamental assumption of our system – that people are of value solely for what they do. God loves us for who we are. We can’t have this, as it exposes us all for wretched, sinful, and self-absorbed brats competing for love that we have already had since birth.

We can’t have this. Our pride will not let us be exposed as such.

So we killed God. The only truly innocent man, who did nothing but love, disturbed our pride in such a way that we had to kill Him. Even more, we needed to brake Him. The system required that He hated us, so we had to make Him hate us. If we could then we would prove His love was conditional, and thus the world could go on. So we tested His limits and poured out our greatest wrath upon the most innocent man – the world’s worst evil.

But our plan was foiled. For on the cross Jesus did not choose to hate us, but instead offered us forgiveness. Love overcame evil. It persisted through the greatest darkness and showed itself to be greater, much greater, than we had imagined.

What a scandal! That Jesus could love men even as they drove nails into His hands! That when we mocked Him, and spat on Him, He still loved us. It shattered for all our assumption that love must be earned and exposed us for fools.

We couldn’t break God, but He broke us. With all our attempts to prove our instrumental worth stripped bare we are left with nothing. We are wretched. We are sinners. We are evil.

But God still loves us!

He loves us regardless of social status, popularity, income, the colour of our skin, the thoughts we have, or the sins we have committed. Nothing we do can make Him love us more or less.

Also, He loves everyone else the same way. Jesus set up a new system for living. One where love cannot be earned, but must be given. It is the kingdom of the loved unlovables. Its citizens no longer try to bolster their image and instrumental value, but they’ll strain themselves to love others. It is the ultimate alternative to the current order, and its existence serves to criticise that order and call its members to repentance.

It’s scandalous. We Christians belong to a reality of freely given yet utterly undeserved love. It appears so foolish to this world that they will persecute us, jail us, beat us, scorn us, and kill us but we will still love them. As in the example of Christ our love with outlast their evil, revealing their inadequacy, and showing them a new way of life.

This is Christianity: a broken and unlovable people who extend grace so freely that they world must stop them at any cost. Love is a scandal.

The other day I was contemplating the degree of our smallness compared to the size of our problems. Global Poverty is a huge problem, and despite all the aid organisations it is a long way from being fixed. Greed is too strong.

No matter how many resolutions are ratified by governments or how strongly worded we write the acts of the Geneva convention torture will remain common in our world.

No matter how much love we pour on people they often just don’t seem to change. Drug addictions seem too strong, and biter thoughts to common, to defeat. There doesn’t seem like much we can do.

Heck, I struggle even to have enough discipline in my own life to maintain the time with God that I would like to, or exercise enough, or stop some repeated sin. If I don’t even have power over myself how can I help fight the problems in our world?

But that’s why we pray. Because we can’t save ourselves. Only God can.

I can give someone food, only God can solve their hunger. I can show someone love but only God can heal their pain.

Anything I do is invariably futile. Yet I do it anyway. Why? Because I believe God can make a difference.

My actions are statements of faith. They are futile in themselves but they represent my daring belief (or lack thereof) in God.

So when I give someone bread it is my act of prayer for God to solve their hunger. When I love someone it’s because I believe God can heal their pain.

I’m learning to live my life as a prayer.

I’m struggling to think of how to communicate what I want to. I have been newly reminded in the last few days of just how desperate and spiritually bankrupt I am. We truly are wretches and broken people in need of God.

So often I try to improve my relationship with God solely through my own efforts by reading my bible more or praying harder but I cant. No matter what I do I can not improve my stance with God by one iota. I also like to think that through study I can get an understanding of God but really I am nothing more than a blind man in the dark. Only God can flip the light switch.

We really are wretches. We really need God’s help. I’m getting sick of the parts of Christianity that think God is some ATM in the sky and like to proclaim that we are “heirs to the thrown” as through we Christians are something special. We’re not. We just have a really, really awesome God.

People who truly follow Jesus are just people who have had their pride painfully broken by encountering the overwhelming majesty and love of God. All the gospel is can be summed up as such: “We are broken. We are sinners. We are nothing. But God’s love overcomes our wretchedness.” That’s it.

God’s love changes everything. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. It’s hard to believe. It’s scary. If we can accept such overwhelming love all we can do with it is pass it on. If somehow there was a way that I could redeem myself then I would be in control. But God’s love is out of control and it is ferocious.

He’s all we’ve got. He really is. The only difference between me and a prostitute or a meth addict or a thief is that I know God loves me and they don’t yet. That’s it. Because there is nothing in my power that I can do to hold my life together. God is the only one.

I’m just learning how to be a child and depend on Him, rather than my own effort, to absolve my bankruptcy.

He gifts us so many awesome opportunities to love and serve the people who need it most…

(From Emerging Grace)

“There are two freedoms – the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought.” - Charles Kingsley

There is a common idea in Christianity that God respects our freedom so much that He is willing to allow our mistakes to lead us to eternal torture in hell. According to this view we consciously choose to say no to God and God responds by leaving us to our own devices. After we die He judges us and sends us to hell for the choices He allowed us to make. The consequences are our fault and are just. God is not required to intervene on our behalf whilst maintaining the moral high ground. Freedom from sin is understood as forgiveness from sin and it’s consequence of hell (i.e. freedom from sin = a ticket into heaven). Much of this is true but it misses the point.

The Nature of Sin

No one in their right mind chooses to sin. When we sin we should think of ourselves as being mentally disabled. If we truly know the consequences and exact details of what we are doing we would never choose to do it. If we knew truth we would always choose God. Always. Sin relies on deception to strike and thus eliminates free will in order to cause you to stumble (i.e. you have to lose your freedom before you sin; it is not something you lose after you sin when you are subject to the consequences you can no longer avoid).

Take Adam and Eve. When they ate the apple they were choosing to “become like God”. They were presented with a choice for something that looked really good. Instead they got misery. Who in their right mind would eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil if they fully knew (and believed) the consequences? Adam and Eve got something different to what they choose – their freedom was overruled. Imagine if you walked to a bakery and ordered a sausage roll but always got a meat pie. You would not really be choosing. Freedom only exists when we get what we choose. Adam and Eve did not get what they choose. They did not have freedom (although they are still guilty for their lack of belief and self-centred thinking).

Sin always works this way. It works by polluting our vision, confusing the data, and making a bad choice look like a good one. When you sin you almost always justify it in your mind thinking it would satisfy you in some way – but in fact you have been fooled by a lie! The results are never as good as righteousness and the only reason you ever “chose” it is because you were deceived into thinking it was the better choice. You did not get what you choose. Between a choice of A and B you chose B but got C. You never asked for C, you wanted B (because it genuinely looked better than A), but C was forced upon you against your free will.

Sin is not a wrong choice between good and bad. Rather it is a choice between good and bad masquerading as “better”. Sin itself is a symptom of the evil in this world. Evil can be understood as a disease transmitted by sin (like flu is transmitted by its symptom of sneezing). We are born into this world filled with this disease, someone inevitably wrongs us, and this sin against us tarnishes what was supposed to be a perfect creation. In our ruined state we place ourselves before God, becoming or “catching” evil ourselves, and soon begin to spread it to others with our selfish sins against them. The end result is a world full of ruined people who, because they are ruined, strike out against one another ruining each other even further.

This is hardly what you would call freedom, and a God who sat back and allowed it all to happen whilst this trap forced us into hell (which we didn’t want) would not be respecting our free will. Sin is hardly what you would call a “choice” although our ability to choose is what allows it. If God truly respects our free will he would be compelled to intervene in this cycle, not dispassionately sit back and allow it to continue.

Justice

It’s a sad thing to see a Christian who stuffs up and then cowers as they expect God to begin punishing them for their mistake. Such a view is based on a western understanding of Justice. Justice as executed in our court systems is punishment for doing something wrong. It is directly opposed to mercy which holds back punishment. Thus God is perceived as a being whose senses of Justice and Mercy contradict each other. The end result is a God who appears to have unconditional wrath (everyone is sent to hell) except where mitigated by his conditional love (based on our faith).

Biblical justice is closer to what we would call reconciliation (Isaiah 1:17, 30:18, Jeremiah 21:12, Zechariah 7:9, Matthew 12:18-21, Luke 4:18-19). It is correcting a wrong not via punishment but through the healing power of grace. It is about undoing the damage done by evil in this world. Violence cannot do this. It only inflicts more damage where damage has already been done. Two wrongs never make a right. Redemptive violence is a myth.

Now there are places in the bible where God displays his wrath and punishes people. This however is a preventative measure, not a redemptive one. When a child breaks something and his parents punish him it is not so that what he has broken can be repaired, rather it is so that he does not do it again. God’s wrath works the same way. It is the desperate attempt of a father to teach his children not to run onto the road during peak hour. It is conditional and it is disciplinary (not redemptive). After a child has been hit by a car and is in a coma there is little point in punishing him for it, the time for healing has come.

In the case of humanity that healing comes through love, and not just any love, but the unconditional, infinite love only found in a relationship with God. It is through this love that our ruined state can be repaired, and the symptoms of it will begin to desist. This is why relationship must be made central to Christian theology: God does not need to forgive us of our sins so that we can have a relationship with Him; rather it is through our relationship with Him that we are cleansed of our sins. Jesus did not need people to be clean to eat with them. The idea that we are cleansed of our sins and can thus get into heaven at salvation and then after this, we can begin to have a relationship with Christ makes the relationship optional (we can get into heaven before we have the relationship). If we understand the cleansing of our sins as something that happens through that relationship it becomes vital for salvation.

Salvation

Viewing salvation as a mere key to heaven however greatly minimises it. He we are trapped in a cage: broken, ruined, diseased humans. God, whose love stirs in him a longing for justice, longs for our freedom, our repairing, our healing, and our curing. He cannot sit back and let sin ensnare and drag his creation into hell. So He sent His own son to die for us. Did he need Jesus to die in order to declare us righteous? Did he need a scapegoat to satisfy his wrath or some law he was bound by? No, but we needed Him to die. We needed to know that we were loved enough for Him to die. We needed to know that we were beautiful under all our scars. We needed to know that in our discussing state someone cared so much to go through so much pain. And so as Jesus was struck by a blow designed to put His message of love out of action what really happened is that God turned this own blow against the devil, amplifying this message of love a hundred fold, and defeating evil once and for all (or put differently: whilst on earth Jesus teaches a message of love, the devil tries to stop it, but by Jesus’ death He pays our ‘ransom’ and makes the greatest statement of love of all).

That message – that we are loved – changes us. It begins the healing process. It acts as a cure. But Jesus work is not done yet. In his resurrection we find hope. We find hope that a dead man (like we are) can find life. We have hope that a man wrapped in our chains of sin can find freedom. That a man locked in hell can escape – just as we are trapped in hell even whilst alive. We know we no longer need to try to escape these chains on our own because someone is coming to us with the key. That key is grace, and that grace is experienced the only way it can be – in our relationship with Him.

The gospel is not the story of God giving us a choice to avoid punishment in hell whilst He sits back and hopes we make it. The gospel is the story of God coming to us whilst we are bound in chains we cannot escape and tearing them from us before it is too late. It is the story of God giving us freedom, not expecting us to act with a “free will” that we do not have. As God woos us we fall in love with Him. As we fall in love with Him we begin to place Him first – the criteria upon which we base judgements begin to change. As that criterion becomes love filled we begin to sin less (because sin no longer looks like a good choice). As we sin less we contribute less to the mess this world is in and instead begin to get to work helping God to save it.

That is freedom – not choosing something that we want to do based on criteria ruined by our selfishness, but choosing what we ought to do based upon love found in Christ. Freedom is a good thing, not something that causes us to sin, but something that causes us to be righteous. Something found in relationship. The result of redemption. The purpose of salvation.

(Disclaimer: I am aware that the thoughts in this post are not complete and need some refining. It is a base upon which to think about a relational theology and not the final product. I encourage you to build upon this base just as I have built upon the base built at The Rebel God and by authors such as Donald Miller and even John Eldredge. As my fellow blogger says, “Theology is something that should be done in community.”)

I haven’t posted here for a while. Usually I write a lot because that’s how I process the insane amounts of information I absorb every week. I then figure I might as well post it here. But over the last two weeks I have had more questions then answers and thus haven’t thought anything I have written worthy of posting.

But I do have questions. Perhaps you can answer them for me.

Once upon a time I thought I had faith. I was well versed in evangelical doctrine (even matching my pastor in tests) and felt like I could look up any answer in any book and feel satisfied. I don’t trust those old answers anymore. I’m not sure any of us can really know the whole truth. Why do people with opposing view points each think they know the truth? Are we so proud as to think we have a monopoly on correct doctrine?

And why is it that although I am less certain of my hold on truth I feel like I have more faith in God? If faith is not tied to certainty in belief then what is it? Perhaps trust despite not knowing? And how much faith do you need? I am realising that every time I think I have faith I latter come to realise that I did not. Fortunately, this is usually because God has grown my faith. I’m starting to wonder if I even know what faith or love or peace really is. And how much faith is required to be saved? I thought I had faith figured out a long time ago – I was wrong.

Why do so many things work in theory and not in practise? Healing is a classic example. It works every time when preached from the pulpit but it doesn’t seem to happen in practise much. Also, in theory non-Christians should convert instantly when they hear a good argument for God. They don’t. And supposedly God should be willing to help me do His moral will, yet despite how much I pray for help that often doesn’t work out.

Why do many Christians seem more hateful than anyone in the world?

Why is it that I can know what is right and want to do right, and then not do right when the opportunity comes?

How much does God direct my life? He forced Jonah to do His will. He hardened pharaoh’s heart. How much of what I do is completely my choice? How much of what I do is directed by God?

Why are we told to pray for our needs? God already knows them. And why do we think that more persistent prayer or more energetic prayer is more likely to be answered?

Why is life so unfair? Why is it that some people get life so good (especially in western society) whilst the rest of the world lives in poverty or pain? And why do western, democratic cultures think they are better than other cultures when they have the highest suicide rates? If the virtues of democracy and the Anglo-Saxon world are so good why are thousands of teenagers so desperate to leave it that they would leave their lives?

 Why are Christians more interested in how I spend my Sunday mornings than what I do during the other six days of my week?

Why does having questions humble me so much? Why does it make me feel unable to offer any advice on other topics? Why don’t we all ask more questions and expose our doubts?

I know the simple answers to all of these. I don’t want simple answers.

I think God is more satisfying than answers anyway.

Once upon a time there lived a king. This king was very great and very wise. He was noble, loving, and very powerful. One day he thought to himself “I shall make myself a beautiful garden that shall encompass all the things I love.”

And so a garden was made. It was very big for the King had lots of land. It contained every kind of wild flower and tree organised into beautiful patterns. It had exotic animals of every description and mountains and canyons to fill in the landscape. When the garden was finished the King thought it was good and was glad that he had made it.

Now, the bachelor son of the king loved to play in the garden. He would capture and ride the stallions. He would paint the flowers. He would camp on mountain peaks. However, he was alone. The King thought to himself, “I must find the prince a beautiful princess so that he can get married and enjoy sharing his life with someone.”

So the King found and presented a beautiful princess to the prince and it was love at first sight. The two would spend countless hours playing in the garden. They would explore dark undergrowths. They would climb great trees. They enjoyed each other’s company extravagantly and grew to love each other intimately.

One day however, whilst the princess was alone, she was approached by one of the King’s servants. “The prince is holding something back from you,” he said, “In a corner of the garden he has hidden a beautiful jewel that he does not wish to share with you.”

“But the prince loves me and would never keep anything from me,” the princess replied.

“You precious child,” replied the servant, “Do you not see this garden and this kingdom? Do you think someone of your calibre is truly fit for one like our prince? Follow me and I shall show you that what I have said is true.” And for a moment the princess doubted all that she knew about the prince and his intentions, so she followed the servant.

The servant led her through a maze in the hedges and to a place the princess had never seen. Then he pointed towards the base of a fruit tree. The princess ducked down and looked where the servant was pointing, but as she did so the servant attacked her and tied her up.

Latter the prince came into the garden looking for his bride-to-be but could not find her. “Where are you?” he called. But the reply was only a snicker. The prince turned towards the sound and saw the servant leaning against the wall.

“For so long you have ordered us thinking you are better than us. I know that you are nothing special. I am just as good as your king. We are sick of your orders and have taken your bride as hostage.”

The prince grew furious, “Who are you to challenge our nobility?” He demanded, “My father shall punish you, but in the meantime I shall rescue my princess.”

And so the prince left the palace grounds on a quest to rescue the princess. He marched over great deserts and swam through wide rivers. He navigated dark forests and ran across wide plains. Eventually he found where the disobedient servants had hidden her. The place was a great dark castle and the princess was locked in the highest tower. Around the castle was burning lava and as the prince walked he heard the roar of a beast.

The prince approached the tower, desperate to free the princess. As he approached he saw the remains of another knight the king has sent out. Sir Law lay in ruins. Without fear the prince continued on towards the tower.

Just as he almost reached the base of the building he caught sight of the beast. It was a great dragon, many stories tall. It had ten horns upon ten heads. It had teeth longer than his skull. Its claws were as thick as his sword. It stank so strong the prince could barely breathe and its nostrils were filled with smoke from the fire in its belly. It wore armour several inches wide and on the breastplate was written “Sin” – the name of the beast.

The beast had been placed there to keep the beauty trapped and as it spotted the prince with its piercing eyes he knew he would have to fight. The prince did not fear but rather he drew his sword. “You shall not stop me!” the prince cried. With that the beast rose upon its hind legs and as it came down it shot a massive ball of fire at the prince who rolled to dodge it by just an inch. The prince ran around a corner feeling the heat on his back. The beast was quick to follow, the scales of its tail tearing bricks as they brushed the tower.

As the beast turned the corner the prince leapt upon its foot and stabbed his sword deep into its flesh. The beast fowled and shook his foot high into the air but the prince held on as tight as he could. Then the foot fell to the ground and the prince collapsed as the sword was thrown away. As the prince got back up the foot rose and kicked him several metres back to the ground. Its nail slashed across the prince’s cheek drawing blood from deep into his flesh.

Before the prince had landed the dragon rose it’s other foot and bought it thundering down onto him. The prince rolled just before it handed sending dust into his face. The prince looked up into the belly of the best just as its foot came crashing down upon him again this time catching the hair on the head the prince had only barely moved. The prince grabbed hold of the foot again and as the dragon raised it he climbed upon the dragon’s leg; stabbing between the scales with a dagger he pulled from his clock.

The beast roared in anger and thrust itself against the tower. The tower began to crack and the princess screamed as it slowly tilted on its axis. The price held on to the beast and leapt for the armour of it’s back in an attempt to hold on high in the air as the breast threw itself around. The beast turned its heads on its long necks and began to bite for the prince who narrowly dodged its great teeth. The prince fell off its back as he dodged and only just grabbed the breast plate with one hand as he struggled to hold himself high above the ground.

The beast rose on two legs and started striking its chest with its powerful claws. The prince only narrowly dodged the tremendous blows. But the prince held on. Then suddenly a great crack in the earth was heard and the prince looked down. The beast had stood to close to the cliff and was about to fall into the fire. The beast saw its mistake and tried to turn but the ground fell apart and the beast and the prince fell down towards the hot magma.

The princess was looking out the window and was terrified as she saw her prince fall into the abyss. She ran out of the tower (for it was now safe) and peered over the edge of the crevasse. Her lover had come for her, but he had died in the battle. She wept. She thought of how she had doubted the prince’s character back in the garden and how that had now led to his death. She thought of all the things she had done since then, thinking the prince would not come for her.

Just then a hand appeared from over the edge and the prince rose from the deep. He had just caught the rocks during the fall. He was tattered and bleeding. He bore the painful scares of the battle. He crawled to the princess in her tears and he asked her, “Princess, will you be my wife?”

The princess looked back at the prince and she told him, “Why would you want me? I believed what your servant Lucifer said about me. I thought you would never come after me for what I did and so I did many things in the tower that you would not approve of. I drank and entertained many evil men and, in my hopelessness, gave in to every desire.”

The prince looked upon the princess and he told her, “I know you are dirty now. I know you need a clean. I know you have given in to the evil enemy. But I also know that you are the same beautiful woman I danced with in the garden. I know you hair is the same hair I would watch blow in the wind. I know your eyes are the same eyes that would watch the sunset with me. We can clean you and heal you. I have travel far to save you. I have beaten the beast and paid for you with my blood. I carry the scars that you cost me. You are my reward for what I have done. I have a beautiful palace and a great garden. Will you enjoy it with me or have you fallen in love with another? What more can I do to convince you that I love you and that I am worthy of your affection?”

After those words the princess cried and the prince held her. “I cannot believe that you would still want me,” she sobbed, “but who am I to doubt you again. Yes, I will marry you.”

And so the prince and princess returned to the kingdom. There Lucifer and the evil servants were punished and a great feast was held for the wedding. And they lived happily ever after.

The prince’s name was “Jesus”. The princess’ name is up to you.