Dear Faith Family,
Today our nation swears in our 46th president. Writing this note, I am praying that while you read it, we are not witnessing anything like what we observed on January 6th.
Within our faith family, I am sure that we have a variety of emotions, thoughtful opinions, angsts, and expectations for our nation's current and future state. I am confident; however, we share one thing (at least): a longing for peace. Very few people enjoy chaos. Even those who are at their best under pressure can admit that it's a twisted joy that takes pleasure in people's lives and relationships fractured and unsettled.
Our scriptures call this shared desire "shalom," and describe it as harmony. A life lived in harmony with Creator, creature, and his other creations. Such a life in harmony that brings forth harmony would be a life easily called bountiful or prosperous. Don't you think?
Well, I think so. And, I think this is an image Jesus would have break into our minds as we read the story of the seed and the soil. A story that has me thinking on a day in which all the troubles and uncertainties and doubts swirl within as our past year and future come together. A day in which I wonder, can we (I) really experience harmony?
Jesus' story tells us yes. That as he grows up in us, we grow into ones' whose lives bear a bountiful harvest. Yet while I receive Jesus and his promises with joy, I have to admit that I struggle in the face of tribulation to not stumble over doubts and fears and the costs of holding on to His seemingly slow working. Maybe you can identify with my struggle? If not today, perhaps at some other time?
Jesus describes ones like me (and maybe you) this way, "he has no root in himself" (Matt. 13:21). It's not that I (we) don't joyously receive Jesus and his promises or even that I (we) don't understand what Jesus shows us, but rather that my (our) connection with Christ in us is shallow.
Think about it this way. If I were to experience life, with all its tribulations and troubles, in sync with Jesus as He experienced the same things, what would be different? Would I feel and experience what I do now; a revolving mixture of anxiousness, anger, and apathy? Surely not. Jesus certainly felt the entire gamut of emotions and experienced the entire spectrum of pain and loss, and yet I doubt anyone would ever have described his life as a mixed bag like mine.
So what's the point? We all agree that Jesus would respond differently in most cases than we do because, well, he's Jesus, "God-With-Us." But you can't expect us to be in that kind of harmony with God.
Oh, but I can!
Paul says it this way, "we [that's you and me] have the mind of Christ." (1 Cor. 2:16). To share Jesus' mind is the same thing as saying that Deedra and I share the same mind. We're synced up, we're on the same page, knowing what each other is thinking, expecting, feeling, etc. Why? Because we are in an intimate relationship! We are together, a union, one flesh in harmony. And because our relationship is a primary means for how we function in the world, we are bound to feel and experience anxiousness, anger, and apathy when we are out of sync.
If that's the way it works in pivotal human relationships, why would we think it works differently in our relationship with the One who designed how we relate? So if you are like me, receiving the person and promises of Jesus joyously, with a knowledge of the life Jesus intends for us to live, and yet stumbles in trials and troubles to experience the harmonious fruit of faith; perhaps our issue is intimacy, not information or even fortitude. We have the will, but lack the root, the entanglement with the One in us.
So what's the fix? Like any important relationship where the parties are on different wavelengths (i.e., out-of-harmony!), the straight forward solution is time and attention. There is no magic solution (or a mechanical one), but there is something wonderous (and divinely constructed) when two people intentionally focus on being with the other. Especially when they do so over extended periods of time. Our family practices like Silence & Solitude, Lectio, and Recollected Prayer are meant to help us be with Jesus in an intimate, relational way. But remember, as Luke said, this fruit comes with patience (8:15), so hold fast!
I am sure you didn't expect to end up discussing intimacy issues when the conversations started on inauguration! But that's the marvelous nature of Jesus' parables; they way work their way in from the side, often taking us to places we'd least expect!
Holding fast to Jesus with you today and always. Love you, faith family! God bless.