Cracking the Whip

         I woke up and the expression crack the whip came to mind. It is the experience, the sound, the vision that commanded my attention. I consider the moment of creation. It says in the book of John in the beginning was the Word. That word referred to Jesus. I am not sure if it was the silence before the word happened or the actual expression of the word woke on up to the consideration that there was a God and a reason for me to be. How could I in my own testimony of faith not know that something had to happen for me to be here. Some people have come up with the expression "the Big Bang". It is an awesome moment. It was at that same moment we became thought in the mind of God concerning who would be born next. And for all concerned it was in that moment of birth whether it be characterized by noise, silence or a bit of both there is that crack of the whip that says I care about living and I want to be cared about. It is not enough to have a Word there needs to be something done in relationship to it for whatever I know about and discover to have meaning.

         That moment in time is yesterday, because any who read of this moment and know it in happened for them or someone they loved it is a memory of what today might bring. For me it speaks about how I start my day. I bring with it some expectation of what will follow. The today of the Jesus experience is considering what happened. I cracked the whip and knew of it happening. Now I want to know what happened as a result of it. The Word is not enough. The Word needs to become fleshed out to have it mean anything. This will forever involve context and meaning in the context of culture. I can tell and maybe even choose not to tell. That does not mean the crack of the whip has not happened. Like a pebble in the water people are impacted. It will take the work of artists, musicians, writers and poets amongst others to sort out what happened upon knowing that someone mattered. I might express something and after that it will be interpreted in relationship to self, others and God. I want to know what it means to care about life and what it means to be cared about. It is worth my time to attend to the crack in the whip.

         The last part of the whip cracking is the legacy that forever is looking forward to an end from the first breath to the end. I consider that consists of knowing about eternity. In the experience of knowing Jesus is the resurrection moment. I may have known falls in any of a number of ways and yet in the end I will hear the crack of the whip that says it is finished as we hear Jesus say at the end on the cross. This is just as meaningful as what began the cycle. I have completed a story and it is something I hope others will want to read, otherwise my being here will be a complete waste of time. So I rise up to write this piece about cracking the whip. Take it up as you would the cross of Christ and know that others are watching. Their lives depend on it.