In today's excercise for reflection, we're asked to draw a picture of an island representing our lives so far in order that we might better understand where we have been (before looking towards where we are going). What was your island like?
Mine had an X marking the place of my birth, a garden where I grew up and was "tended to" by people of faith in my home church, the dark jungle of public schools, a sunny beach representing my college days at LVC, a warm medow of grad school (I guess I like learning about chemistry), I then started climbing the Career Mountains only to fall over the edge of the waterfall of Billy's death and be swept away by the Grief river. Right before being swept out to sea, I was able to get out and start rebuilding the house of my faith and I'm now in the playground of sharing my faith with others. Hovering menacingly above it all is the meteor of sin which threatens to destroy it all.
The book asks "where is God in this picture?" I guess He would be the sunlight falling on the island... energy available everywhere... perhaps a little hard to find in the dark jungles, but available nevertheless. In some areas of my life, I'm laying out absorbing as much of that energy as possible, in other areas, I'm probably shielding myself from it.
I like spending several days on the concept of God's call. We are to pray today "What are you calling me away from?" and "What are you calling me toward?" I don't usually think of a call "away from" something, but pondering it this morning, I do believe God is clearly calling me away from the wasteful aspects of my life - where I'm expending his energy in persuit of things that don't build the kingdom.
What is he calling me towards? That's harder to answer. I can feel the call to something big, but yet unknown to me. But at the end of the reading, the questions are simpler. How do I hope to grow in the coming weeks? What aspects of my life do I seek to open to God? In what areas of my life am I seeking God's guidance? These I can begin to answer, and I'm sure those answers will help me in the bigger questions.
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