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Vision Notes - from the Pastor - December 2009

Submitted by admin on Sat, 2009-12-19 23:19.
"A good journey begins with knowing where we are and
being willing to go somewhere else." Richard Bohr

CalendarA journey of faith begins like any other journey - determining first where you are at the present moment. Internet tools such as MapQuest only function by identifying first from where you will begin your journey. My Garmin, a Global Positioning System I use in my car for directions, usually begins by asking me to "drive to highlighted route." Simply, it is asking me to position my car at a fixed beginning point before providing directions for my trip. Any trip, any journey, begins from a fixed point. Without clarity of where you are it's difficult to plan a journey to another place.

For the Christian, a good place to begin is remembering who we are and to whom we belong. "Christian" literally means, "Little Christ;" people who have made the commitment to become as much like Christ as possible. Naturally, following through on such a commitment requires intentionality - taking specific action, day by day, to arrive at the destination of Christlikeness. What this means, of course, is that we have to take the time to pay attention to Jesus.

The difficulty for most is that our lives are consumed by activity and responsibility. Many of the things that we are busy with may be good things - perhaps even honoring commitments to the church. Paying attention to Jesus in the midst of such busyness often seems an impossibility and our faith journey becomes stalled. Into this frantic activity God speaks, "Be still, and know that I am God!" (Psalm 46:10a) God's call is a reassessment of the value of so much that we concern ourselves with.

What is desperately needed today is a recovery of silence and solitude - a time and place to silence the distractions of work and responsibility to simply listen for God. Only then are we able to hear God and chart a pathway forward toward our common hope of becoming "as Christ." Excuses will be made by some that such a regular time with God isn't possible. The real question that presses is captured in the comment by Richard Bohr printed above: "Are we willing to go somewhere else?"

Joy,
Doug