Bless it And Leave it
However we talk about it, the point is that our spiritual growth and maturity will always require us to leave behind our previous ways of thinking about God, self, and others. Then, we’ll move on to different forms that will take shape in us through a process of trial and error. Much like a teenager moving into young adulthood, when we operate with the default settings there will always be hiccups and abrasions.
At The Edge
Edges are the places where we are pushed to either recognize that we are out of our depth and our strength is dismantled or they are places where we stare into an unknown with little understanding of how to go forward.
What I have come to learn, however, is that no matter how I grit my teeth against the edges I experience in life the edges are necessary. Why?
A Book is Just A Beginning
I feel so strongly that life with the Divine is about starting something…the Divine is beginning something today in each of us. There are, of course, our “works in progress” – our life story as it is up to this point – and yet within each large overarching story there are little beginnings as well.
to return
What I have learned over the years is that there are places that help us return to our life with the Divine, with ourselves, and with others.
They might be beaches on islands far away. But they don’t have to be.
It might be a humble hermitage where we go for a day. But maybe not.
A specific chair in our home, during a specific time of the day when all is still, and a cup of coffee may be all we need.
The point isn’t where the “return” happens, but that it happens.
Lost in manhattan
The word “lost” in Christian circles is often used as a descriptor of a group or a type of person, particularly an irreligious person. But if we’re honest, both religious and irreligious people get good and lost all the time.
I do appreciate the sentiment of the words “lost people matter to God” but the sentiment makes little sense when we realize we all get lost sometimes.
A Thought About Words
The journey of spiritual transformation is one that is built on words. Words that create worlds. Specifically, one Word that created and sustained and redeemed the world.
That’s why when John says “the Word became flesh and dwelled among us” he could have added a second layer that was “and that scrambled our vocabulary forever.” Why?
a Sweat shirt
When we have a daily threshold moment, however it may look for us, it teaches us the humility of our own edges. We learn the limits of our competency and capacity. Rest becomes not an enemy or a weakness but the natural result of a life lived honestly and courageously with the Divine.
Photo by Daniel Cañibano on Unsplash