isaiah 52:13

The suffering servant—the one who serves a thing outside his understanding in spite of his suffering—is the one who speaks straight to the soul.  He always is NOT desired, NOT seen.  Christianity shouts from the rooftops with inaudible yelps: “Not majesty! Not splendor! Look lower! Don’t look to the believable! Look to the unbelievable! It is the lowest thing that is lifted higher than all others!”


Man should not suffer. 
No! Man suffers. 
It is the man who strives to avoid suffering that holds the truth of life!
No! It is the man who accepts it...that holds the keys to to life.  The man who is MOST humble is stepped upon. The man who loves most of all is the tenderest shoot in a desert.  The man who bears the ripest fruits of character is bruised and bloody beyond recognition.  Nations, kingdoms, society, families, education, systems, politics, philosophies, stoics, gnostics, science, doctrines, the crowd and the individualist alike cannot stand near him without smashing him.
But it is exactly that…precisely this…by definition and design:  that which is unexpected harbors hope.


Take all that is desirable—he is not there.
Take all that is splendid and majestic—he will not be found clothed in those garments.
Look elsewhere to finally see. Listen far from what is obvious to the ears to finally hear.