Be Grateful for the Lump

We are leaven,
spark-plugs, jump-starters.
We see the pan-vision picture
with all the exciting possibilities.
We are restless for progress
that others can’t even imagine.
We are bucking for the change
that others fear or resist.

Galatians 9:5: “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”
All of us are leaven in some arenas and part of the lump in others.
Leaven is put into three measures of meal “until the whole was leavened.”
But in any category, there is a lot more meal out there than leaven.
As the leaven, it’s hard being a minority.

Sometimes it is frustrating or lonely to be leaven.
Sometimes the lethargy of that lump make us want to scream.
Sometimes it is exhausting and we want a break or to just stay away.
Sometimes we feel discouraged and overwhelmed at the sluggishness around us.
Sometimes we feel defeated, and want to quit trying.
It seems so obvious to us how to go up higher:
why isn’t anyone else motivated to do so?
Why must they drag us down?

You could eat meal without leaven; they do it every year at passover.
It’s not great, but it’s quick and somewhat serviceable.
So it’s not surprising that we, as leaven, sometimes feel shunned as unnecessary.
But remember that leaven alone makes nothing; it is spit out awful!
No wonder we’re hard to take on our own;
We come across too strong.

But leaven and meal together
– embracing each other instead of disdaining each other –
are totally awesome,
mutually improved beyond belief.
Working in conjunction
we are lighter
more appetizing, more effective,
more delicious, more satisfying.

Yes, it would be appropriate if an enlightened majority
took the initiative and accepted and included the agitating minority.
Sometimes it happens, but usually it is the other way around:
just ask Martin Luther King or Gandhi.
Stop seeing that lump as a cancerous malignant mass,
an impediment,
or the bane of our existence
and get on with transforming it.

It’s our job as leaven to lead the way
from within.
Work on expanding to your own full potential
for as you stretch and extend, the lump rises.
Are you leavening your own thought and life?
Love all the inertness out of every morsel you come in contact with,
each one, separately, is doing more than you could possibility notice;
they are all already capable of all good.
They’ll eventually see
what you knew all along
and claim it was their idea.
Invest the patience, fortitude, and faith required
to persist in supporting their ability to burgeon
for we are baking nothing less than the bread of Life
with all members of the body of Christ
essential in particular.

Yes, that means us leaven too;
they are not the only crucial ones after all.
God is cooking up something for everyone to enjoy feasting on:
an exceptionally excellent loaf
with every contributor vital to the recipe’s success
all effectively present and accounted for.

So start a love-fest surrounding yourself with all types.
Your purpose, to be fulfilled, depends on uplifting theirs.

Don’t wait for them to make a move;
take action yourself.
Thrive on it.
This work is natural to you
so don’t shirk the rare responsibility of it.
Somewhere out there, others as leaven, are soldiering on too.

And each individual piece of meal is wonderfully lovely in itself
and will gleefully hug you back, euphorically buoyant
once they feel your genuine acceptance of their importance.
As your love elevates those you come in contact with,
all are exalted.

The taste buds of the future thank you in advance
for the delectable nourishment their soul.