Empty

"We can not change what happened but we can change how we relate to it."
Eva Kur

This quote is good - really good.  Eva Kur was an Auschwitz concentration camp survivor during the horror that was the Jewish Holocaust during World War 2.    She and twin sister, Miriam, were part of a selected group of twins that were used by the infamous Dr. Mengele for medical experimentation when they were 10 years old.  She and her sister were the sole survivors of their family.

After the liberation of the camp and her freedom from horrific circumstances, she returned home to Romania where a new Communist regime took control.  After initially becoming a party member at the age of 14, she quickly saw the ugly restrictions of such a government.  Having regained a sense of normalcy with her twin sister and an Aunt, they applied and gained, after two years of waiting, visa's to resettle in Isreal.

In my obsession with Eva Kur, I have discovered a certain mental attitude that dominated her being.  It's apparent as a 10-year-old concentration camp prisoner, as a teen living in a communist country, and now as a traveling lecturer and speaker: she lived above circumstances.

Despite the debate, there is an absolute truth.  Absolute truth says that we live as foreigners in a strange land*.  As children of God - everyone made in His image -  we have a choice.  We can accept the absolute truth and embrace the plan He has prescribed for living life - abundant and to the full, I might add, or we can reject that plan.  A harsh dictator God is not.  A loving Father who gives US the choice He is!

Because God is all-knowing and wise, He knew that keeping our eyes on this world would cause us to live empty lives.*  When He says empty,  He uses the Greek word mataios which refers to futile, worthless, hollow.  When people live "empty" they elevate things as important on a scale absent of absolute truth:

• wealth
• power
• political correctness

When I realize my value to the Creator of the Universe and live in His power, I resign my rights as a citizen of the world and elevate my status as a citizen of heaven.  My scales of justice will look vastly different from the "world".

• wealth I may achieve, but it won't own me
• power I may achieve, but I will use it justly
• political correctness may or may not be achieved, but I will treat every human as equal

Eva Kur lived abover her circumstances.  Had she adopted the despicable standards of the camp in which she was imprisoned, her life would have been empty.  Her standards would have dropped to the level of her captors.  She maintained and lived by another set of rules.  For her, it was not acceptable nor a viable option to compromise her life philosophy to the world in which she lived.  Her very survival is accredited to living counter her culture.

May I suggest that if you say you believe in an Absolute truth and align yourself with being a follower of Christ, you, like Eva Kur, will live above your circumstances.  Jesus called us to be light. Light shows up most vividly in dark places.  Our identity as Christians may not be popular in this modern world.  But dare I suggest that just like Eva, it will be the very key to our survival.  Others notice Different.   Different, because of Christ, attracts.  Living nonempty in a world full of empty is shocking.

Food for thought,
Christina


* 1 Peter 1:17
* 1 Peter 1:18


(click here to view Eva Kur Interview)