[Renaissance = return, rebirth, revival, a restoration of the original beauty.]
A Renaissance Story…
Once upon a time…
A good King created a perfect land where He could spend time with His people.
His kingdom was good, so very good.
There was joy and peace throughout the land.
It was a wide open place of wild wonder.
But the Good king had an enemy.
There was a cruel, evil dragon, who was bent on destroying everything the Good King cared about.
The dragon whispered lies to the inhabitants of the land.
Rather than listen to the sweet voice of the good King, they believed the seductive lies of the dragon.
The people chose to walk away from the good King.
That changed everything.
The land was broken…
The people were broken…
The heart of the Good King was broken.
A new kingdom invaded the land…a dark kingdom ruled by the dragon.
The dragon unleashed fear, insecurity, selfishness, shame, greed, pain, sickness, war and death.
The people died to the ways of hope and wonder, entirely, completely dead.
The King knew that he had to rescue his broken people.
He sent His Son, the Prince of peace, to restore order and to bring renaissance.
The Prince left the palace and came to the broken land to change everything back, to restore the original beauty.
He lived amongst the people and everywhere He went, he reminded them of the Kingdom, the good Kingdom that was invading the kingdom of darkness and bringing renaissance.
He gave glimpses of renaissance by restoring original beauty and wholeness to the people.
But the dragon mounted a resistance to renaissance.
He deceived the rulers of the land.
Darkness infiltrated the land.
Evil ran wild.
The Prince still loved the people with a wild love that was grounded in promise rather than performance.
He loved the people so much.
But, in a betrayal that could have only been forged in the darkest places, the people brutally killed the Prince of peace.
The Prince was dead, entirely, completely dead.
The dragon thought he had won.
All hope was lost…
But…
The
Story
Wasn’t
Over.
The Prince was about to unleash “happily ever after”.
In a shocking turn of events, the Prince rose from the grave.
He killed death.
He slayed the dragon.
The Prince was alive, entirely, completely alive.
The Prince of peace became the King of hearts.
It was all part of a completely ridiculous plan.
The King of hearts had allowed Himself to be broken and ugly so that the world could, once again, be whole and beautiful.
This made renaissance possible.
This made “happily ever after” possible.
As people realized this, they returned to the kingdom.
They let the King reign in their lives.
His good dominion overcame the kingdom of fear and darkness.
Hope was reborn.
Wild wonder was awakened.
Grace ran loose.
People were set free.
They became alive again, entirely, completely alive.
In the good kingdom broken things were made brand new.
“Happily ever after” had begun.
THIS is renaissance!
carbonated joy 