where your treasure is...

last night small group was amazing. we had a full house of regulars and a few guests fellowshipping over ground nut stew, fried eggplant and watermelon. we listened to shane claiborne's talk from the beggars society and while that was certainly good...it was the conversation afterwards that was truly amazing and powerful.

two things stood out to me...the most powerful question was this...if what we do has benefit to us (which we all agreed being here in kolkata in relationship with the poor is a gift in our lives) then what is the cost? is there a cost? having come off a couple of amazing weeks at sari bari i am currently living in the benefits. because i am seeing transformation and in the process of working with the women to see their lives made new, my life is being made new. the benefit of being in relationship with poor persons is powerful, meaningful and life changing. everyone sitting around that room confessed it. the couple of weeks i have been realizing that leaving here does not feel like much of an option...i think this is a good thing. so the costs are there....but the benefits are real which leads me to the next thing that really ripped my face off...

the second thing was "where your treasure is there you heart will be also" i think we usually get it turned around the idea that where our heart is then that's where our treasure is....but our heart goes to the place we treasure not the other way around right? so if my treasure in things like finding the perfect guy and getting married, having a sucessful life, a comfortable life then that's where my heart will be....but more and more everyday, my treasure is here in the faces of the gach and certainly in the lives of the women at sari bari and so that is where my treasure is...that is what is changing my life. because my heart has followed and what i treasure is changing....my need for things is changing, because i see my friends without these things...so it makes me re-evaluate what i need. my treasure is in jesus and the things he cares about...some of the time, hopefully moving to all the time. my treasure is in the lives of the women of kolkata and so that is where my heart is these days....more than ever.

this is so unprocessed but i am still kind of reeling from the goodness of the last couple of weeks and amazing gift it is to see a 35 year old woman write her name for the first time, and another woman to be proud of herself, and all of us this last week learn about the power of forgiveness and what unforgiveness costs us.

alright its friday morning i am off to the gach today. planning to have time this weekend to blog more.