Can You Resist?

     The Day of the Tiles. Despite what it sounds like, it is not an event that has to do with a visit to Home Depot. It's actually the day that sparked the fires of the French Revolution and it took place right here in Grenoble on June 7, 1788. Grenoble is called the cradle of the revolution because the actions of the people here on that day inspired the rest of the nation, including Paris, to have the courage to stand up to tyranny. The king had sent his troops to quell dissent in the local parliament and put down a brewing rebellion. What he didn't count on was the improbable audacity and the impeccable aim of Grenoble's citizens. Unappreciative of His Majesty's show of force, they spontaneously ascended the roofs of buildings and began hurling tiles down on the heads of the soldiers. Weapons of mass construction. It's days like that where it doesn't pay to be head and shoulders above the rest. The soldiers took that as a hint to leave, and the parliament quickly reconvened, where it drafted the rights of man that still exist today as the motto of France and which  helped shape the future constitution.  Later, the storming of the Bastille in Paris became the more well-known catalyst for the revolution. But resistance had already found its naissant spirit in a small alpine city in the south of France where a nation was inspired to follow suit.

     Fast-forward to World War II.  Just outside the city in 1940, French forces repelled the Nazi army that had previously advanced with success everywhere else. It wasn't until the French government eventually capitulated to the Germans that Grenoble was finally occupied. But by that time, most of the troops in the city had refused to collaborate and retreated into the mountains surrounding the city to fight a drawn out war of resistance until the end of the war. Such was the success and resiliency of this sabotaging underground force of former officers, students and common citizens, that General de Gaulle came to Grenoble and awarded the city.He gave Grenoble the title, Companion of the Liberation, to recognise what he called "a heroic city at the peak of the French resistance and combat for the liberation."

     Revolution. Resistance. Liberty. It is what Grenoble has always stood for. It's part of its fabric  and one of the reasons we believe that God has called us here. France is in need of a new revolution, but this time it is one of the Spirit.  We believe that God will again lead Grenoble  to play the part of catalyst for a new thing that will spread and radiate from here. There is a need for freedom from a religious spirit as well as liberation from stark individualism and militant secularism. We are here to lead a band of counter-culturists who mount a resistance of revolutionary love for all peoples, spiritual vitality in all spheres of society, and personal authenticity.  It's a revolution of living  the good news everywhere. Of being a real community of Christ-followers who lay down our lives for one another. A resistance against judging and controlling others as we love completely, welcome wholeheartedly, and give extravagantly. We are praying that the anointing that rests on Jesus continues to set at liberty the captives.  And that He shares that anointing with us.

     The revolution has started in Grenoble.  Again.

Don't Shudder, Open the Shutters

Something is not right. As I took my daughter to school this morning at 7:30am, it was dark outside. Then later in the day when driving home after picking her up, I had to turn on the car's headlights again.  So that was all the light this November Monday had to offer us - one school-bell book-ended day's worth? Granted, I know Grenoble  is not the frozen tundra of northern Finland.  I know this because the French do not eat canned decayed fish remains. And because we also get the occasional December sun rays. But really, as we edge our way closer to winter, night creeps in just a little too quickly for my liking.  I was explaining  to Emma as streetlights illumined our way home, that each year, from June 21st to Dec 20th, it gets darker one minute earlier every day.  Then I thought the same could be said for the spiritual atmosphere -  the world  getting a bit darker day by day, until one day you look around and say, "Is that all the light we've got?"  A little too much world, and much too few Christ-followers shining. The problem with that is that an overdose of darkness can cause some to sink into  depression or just feel like ordering take-home and hunkering down for a long night. But I hate giving in to darkness.

I instinctively want to turn on all the lights possible, despite high electric bills. And the Green Party. And I love flashlights. Never saw one in the store that didn't appeal to my purchashing instincts. My wife says I can never have too many of them.  I also don't like French shutters. Or should I say I don't like them closed. Almost every French house has shutters, a hold-over from the early days in ancient Gaul, where the state would tax citizens on the evidence of wealth that could be seen in their homes. As the king's officers came around for a little looky-see in the windows of the neighborhood, shutters became a sort  of  medieval tax-evasion.  Sure, they make the outside of a French home look quaint and post-card worthy. But when closed, they turn a man's castle into a cave.  One of my first jobs in the morning is to open the shutters and let the sunshine in. Ok, actually you already know what one of my first jobs in the morning is. But directly AFTER that is when I open the shutters.  I like there to be light. And not just any light, but natural light. The problem with artificial light is, well, it's so... fake.  But there's nothing like real, true, bonifide sunshine to illumine a room, light up a smile, or brighten your life.

One great thing about the winter solstice, is that right after it marks the year's darkest day is when the momentum begins to change. Light begins to hold sway, as we are led by increasingly longer-lasting days  to early spring sunrises and late summer sunsets.   Authentic light. This is what we need more of as our days get increasingly darker.  God is going to do His part. He's the father of lights, not shifting shadows, in whom there is no darkness at all. He has already programmed into the seasons of history that bright Day that will illumine every dark word and shadowy deed. A world plunged into darkness will one day be bathed in His light. No matter how dark it gets, He is destined to shine. But in the meantime, how bright am I making it in my corner of this dark planet?  We should neither run from nor curse the darkness. Let's break out every flashlight, candle and lantern we have and throw open the shutters, illuminating every home and every neighborhood with as much of His authentic light as we can as the Day approaches.

"Taking the Wind out of my Sales"

     It was a day we had been waiting for with anticipation for almost two years. We were almost giddy with excitement and brimming with anticipation. The Tour de France? No, Grenoble was rebuffed this year for smaller, prettier suitors.  A dream vacation?  Hardly. A trip to the Greek islands wasn't in the cards nor the budget. No, I am speaking of the once-a-year extravaganza called the Gières Vide Grenier.  Gières is the little suburb in which we live, and a vide grenier (literally "empty attic") is our version of a community-wide rummage sale. We don't have an attic. But we do have a garage, which is a lower altitude version of an attic that a car is supposed to go  in but rarely does. And our garage was badly in need of being vide. That's right. We finally were going to participate in this major event that afterward would allow us to walk through our garage without stubbing a toe or snagging a sweater. It was an event we were forced to wait for, even though we had barrels full of stuff. Just accumulated this-and-that that got shipped from Bangladesh but that either wouldn't make it into our more down-sized residence here  or had been broken by the thugs who loaded/unloaded our container.  Why a wait of two years to participate?  First, we were not permitted by customs laws to sell,  give away or otherwise dispose of anything we brought duty-free into France  for a minimum of one year. Why a second year of waiting?  We hadn't taken advantage of the opportunity last year because, frankly, we didn't feel that our French was  up to the task. We imagined ourselves approached by interested buyers, asking us various questions in French such as "Ceci coute combien?" ("How much is this?") or "Prendrez-vous quatre-vingt dix centimes?" ("Will you take 90 cents?) and us botching a transaction by inadvertently saying something like "Écoute-moi, Crétin!" (Listen to me, you moron!") When we meant to say "Ça coute moins que tu crois"  ("That costs less than you think"). Nothing hurts sales like insulting the customers. Its one of those timeless business principles.

     We've done more yard sales than you can shake a stick at.  But in France, there's no Wal-Mart, selling garish fluorescent poster board. And here you're not allowed to duct-tape badly written signs to lampposts in the wee hours, directing weekend bargain hunters to the sale held in the comfort of your garage driveway.  No, this kind of clandestine self-promoting activity is frowned upon by the authorities. You must wait for your town's annual vide grenier where everyone breaks out their old VHS tapes and scuffed ski boots to sell all at once and all together at what inevitably becomes one huge blur of junk. With the exception of our table, of course. But we couldn't get most of the people looking down their noses at our neatly displayed wares to see that.  We had stellar crowds, but sub-par sales.  They kept gawking and going by, but few reached for their wallets. I think most of our comrades had the same experience, based on the amount of full boxes seen going back into vendors' cars at the end of the day.  It just reminded me of an important principle - if you have junk, just get rid of it. No one else is probably interested in my junk. And I shouldn't hold onto it in the hopes that I can profit from it before letting it go.

     There's different kind of "junk" all of us have. There's the stuff in the garage and attic. And then there's the soul variety.  Sometimes we need someone else to come around and look scornfully at what we've been holding onto to realize it's not really worth what we imagined. Better to just cut your losses and let it go. There's no more room for it and it's really just clutter anyway.  Thankfully, we also have a recycling center in our town called a déchetterie that is open almost every day. I can drive right up to the big container any time I want, dump what I don't want and drive away. That simple. I don't need to wait for the big yearly moment to see if it's really worth tossing out or not.  Needless to say, we won't have a table to sell things next year.  But my garage is staying junk-free just the same.