Threshold

I just crossed the threshold of a transition into the unknown. Reflecting, giving thanks, and looking forward. Celebrating endings and beginnings. Taking a leap of faith and setting foot in a curious direction.

The Creator knows what’s up, and what’s awesome is that the Spirit knew that I needed to receive this blessing from a friend (unbeknownst to him) just a few days before my last day at work… So I’m taking these steps and embracing these words to guide me.

The gift of the labyrinth walk:

At the entrance, may you sense a renewed invitation to enter into an unknown corner of God’s kingdom. May you have the courage to accept this subtle calling you hear in your interior self.

As you follow the twists and turns of the labyrinth, may you have peace to handle the frustrations of life, clarity to remember you’re on the right path and tenacity to continue the journey,

In the center of the labyrinth, may you know exactly what you need to do: receive a dose of divine grace, or feel the warm embrace of love, or let go of unnecessary baggage.

As you walk back through the labyrinth and reach the exit, may you feel the renewal, experience the refreshment of purpose and offer a word of thanks for the experience.

And now slowly walk back into the world ready to be the human being that God has made you to be… that unique self that has so much to offer the world: love, compassion, kindness, goodness, gentleness, understanding and joy.

what if...

... we could live the questions of our lives confident of the answer that we need to live into the questions.

"Are you still searching for your calling? Are you still wrestling with your purpose on this earth? Our calling is to please Him--to wake up every morning saying, "Yes, Lord," then live through the day to discover His questions." (Beth Moore, Living Beyond Yourself)

Remember, God is LOVE, and He is only and always good. His Spirit is the evidence of His "Yes".

"Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete." 2 Corinthians 1:19-21 (in Context)

living the questions

I love having deep & deliberate conversations around faith, spirituality, life, and matters of the heart. So it's no surprise that I've sought out opportunities (and that I've been invited) to engage with folks on that level.

For one such engagement, one co-inspirer of the group shared this with us to spark a very fruitful discussion:

When we were together last, I mentioned this quote from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet:

I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

My suggestion is that, to frame our time together, we think/talk about the questions we are “living”—those “unresolved” matters that keep us searching, even if the answers are elusive. My experience is that “living the questions” yields something better than answers; it stretches our capacity for wonder and mystery.

So what is/are the question(s) that you are living out in your life?

affirmation

although it's a great source of connecting, networking & sharing information, i gave up facebook for lent. the reason: i felt that i was somehow looking for affirmation, identity, acceptance & belonging in it rather than in my Creator. i know i'm not alone in this... so this devotion is for those of you who can relate and who need affirmation.

this is Jesus Calling:

STOP JUDGING AND EVALUATING YOURSELF, for this is not your role. Above all, stop comparing yourself with other people. This produces feelings of pride or inferiority; sometimes, a mixture of both. I lead each of My children along a path that is uniquely tailor-made for him or her. Comparing is not only wrong; it is also meaningless.

Don't look for affirmation in the wrong places: your own evaluations, or those of other people. The only source of real affirmation is My unconditional Love. Many believers perceive Me as an unpleasable Judge, angrily searching out their faults and failures. Nothing could be farther from the truth! I died for your sins, so that I might clothe you in My garments of salvation. This how I see you: radiant in My robe of righteousness. When I discipline you, it is never in anger or disgust; it is to prepare you for face-to-Face fellowship with Me throughout all eternity. Immerse yourself in My loving Presence. Be receptive to My affirmation, which flows continually from the throne of grace.

Luke 6:37; John 3:16-17; Isaiah 61:10 (NASB); Proverbs 3:11-12

random acts with purpose

i'm finally breaking the silence...

"clinging to the promise that you're not through with me yet"

our stories involve process, purpose, and a promise of completion. there's no wishful-thinking hope; there's always confident hope in the One that weaves us all together and openly completes us with His perfect love once we ask for it. everything happens for a reason, so as we continue to contribute to the "ongoing creation of the world"*, it's our choice to respond.

all last year, i wondered about Purpose... the ultimate question "Why?"... the big picture. the reason things happen the way they do. the reason i haven't posted anything in a year. the reason i bother with it anymore.

searching for the real reason for being here, doing what we do, feeling what we feel... desiring to understand what happens naturally... seeking an explanation of pain, suffering, war, earth wakes, political oppression, social & spiritual suppression, mental illness, distance, miscommunication, prejudice, disease, death... noticing the effects of our choices: the time we manage, the decisions we make, the actions we take, the phone calls we answer, the emails/blogs we write, the feelings we act out, the emotions we let consume us, the places we land, the people we love...

science can't explain Purpose and i can't understand "Why?" any more than eluding to its magnitude, diversity & complication... but that's what faith is all about -- confidently trusting and knowing Someone who can and does.

sometimes, we'll never know how it all fits together. other times, we'll learn and then refine that understanding down the road. and in all ways we can come to know the Way of Truth & Life through the One that testifies to it. pure & simple.

life is God’s gift to us, so life should be our gift to God. unfold it. make life the dangerous wonder that continually gives back and uncovers the mystery "Why".