Taken from the Book All is Grace, by Brennan Manning

“Scripture is full of ragamuffins. I’ve overlooked one, no doubt for the obvious reason that he doesn’t appear to be a ragamuffin at first sight. His exploits are heroic, the stuff of legend. But stretching my mind to look deeper, I’ve seen his rags. His name was Sampson, the long-haired strong man who took Nazirite vows, the last and most famous of the Old Testament judges, the warrior who slew the lion with his bare hands and a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. But his storied life ended in a prison, his hair shaved, his eyes gouged out, weak, blind, dependent, little more than a child. In one final mockery, Samson was chained between twin temple pillars at the feast of the god Dagon for the amusement of the people. But not everything was as it appeared. Had the Philistines assembled on that day looked closer, they would have noticed a lengthening shadow on the ragamuffin’s head; his hair had begun to grow back and therefore his strength. In one final witness to the God of Israel, Samson seized the chains and pulled. He brought the house down, literally.

With what strength I have left, I want to grab the chains and pull, one last time. My hope, as always, is to point to the God too good to be true, my Abba. I’ve no delusions of heroically bringing down the house of fear that imprisons so many. My desire is to witness, nothing else. My message, unchanged for more than fifty years, is this: God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be.”