Dear Faith Family,
At the end of my senior year of high school, I drove from Wichita Falls, where I grew up, to Flint, a little town in east Texas. My destination was program and counselor training for a family camp where I'd spend the summer working. You might not think this roughly four-hour trip was a big deal, but it was my first relatively long, solo road excursion. Oh, by the way, this was not only pre-smartphone days (so no GPS); it was pre-cell phone days (at least for my family!). So I was making this trek old school, with a foldout map, printed turn-by-turn directions from Map Quest, and a strict demand from my mom to call her when I arrived.
I'd love to say I was confident and relaxed in my travels. After all, I had a map, I had directions, and I knew what I was headed to would be a good thing. But the truth is, my eyes darted from the map to the directions to the odometer (remember having to mark the miles!) and back again for nearly the entire journey! Especially nerve-racking were the interchanges in Dallas, not to mention the drastically different driving styles, as well as the half dozen or so farm-to-market roads seemingly every three-and-three-quarter miles I was supposed to keep a lookout for!
There were multiple times along the way that I experienced all the physiological indicators of anxiety: heart racing as hundreds of cars flew by as I naively kept to the speed limit, head spinning at how many different I-35 and I-20 signs and exits there were, and stomach tightening wondering if I read the directions correctly (Was it FM 349 or FM 439 that I'm supposed to be looking for?!), if the map was accurate (Maybe this thing is dated, every road is under construction!), or if my orientation to the map was just off (Where the heck am I, really!).
Eventually, I arrived at my destination, though emotionally exhausted. A few hours into the training, a year-round staffer got up in front of the several hundred trainees to let one particular trainee know that he should call his mom since she had called the main offices to ensure he was indeed safe and sound.
Maybe you've had similar experiences. Not forgetting to call your mom, but the unease accompanying doing something you've never done, navigating through unfamiliar territory, and dependence on tools that may be accurate enough but don't provide a vivid picture of the path at any particular point.
In truth, much of the underlying anxiety and restlessness we experience in life, especially our spiritual life, stem from our navigational processes: how we relate to the world and others around us based on the maps and models shaping our imagined place and path. Perhaps that is one reason Jesus' first actions with his apprentices was to ensure they were properly oriented.
As we discussed on Sunday, in the opening to the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:2-16), Jesus makes sure those following Him know where they are because of where they are going. In doing so, Jesus empowers us to be content in facing the real rather than imagined obstacles along the way.
This week, I encourage you to set aside some time for our second guided practice to help us live simply to flourish. Today, wherever you are literally or metaphorically navigating life, listen and rest in Jesus' orientating revelation.
Blessed (already happy) are you utterly dependent on God's presence and power,
for you have it.
Blessed (already favored) are you who feel the losses in life;
for refreshment and strength are yours.
Blessed (already whole) are you appropriately angry and evidently gentle,
for you are in peace amid the chaos.
Blessed (already happy) are you whose most genuine desire drives you,
for you have your daily fill.
Blessed (already favored) are you who illogically & inconceivably forgive,
for you share what you've received.
Blessed (already whole) are you laborers for wholeness and health,
for you're living on your inheritance, what was made for and given to you.
Blessed (already happy) are you in conflict with the old navigational tools,
for you're living in/by something new.
Blessed (already happy) are you in the run-ins and put-downs,
for you are distinctively with Jesus,
and those blessed to be a blessing,
shown to reveal in word and deed a world different,
have always been a bit tangy.
Love you, faith family! God bless.