May 2008
The end of the school year brings with it a lull to which I have looked forward. However, now that I’m in the lull I find myself both leery and lonely. Leery because all year I have been driven to pursue answers to the question “What is a life of faith?” and now I find without the push of the programs I do not ask myself the question nearly enough. And I find myself lonely for the students with whom I have had such deep and rich conversations and whom I have watched wrestle with this faith life have now left for summer work, great adventures or life under their parent’s roof . The lull has liabilities of both laziness and loneliness. However even with its liabilities the lull does give one time to reflect on where we have been and where we wish to go. And so I offer these reflections...
We began the journey this year by asking the question, “What is a life of faith?” As we journeyed together, we did not come up with a list of answers but we did ask a lot of questions and challenged each other to live in the tension of a vision that has no destination in sight. We pushed one another to keep going on this beautiful and difficult journey, a journey that is traveled in faith and for faith.
We found out that a life of faith does not just arrive at one’s doorstep ready to be unwrapped and put to use. Rather a life of faith evolves out of a love relationship between the Creator and the created, a relationship that is constantly engaged, a passion that is pursued moment by moment, and a life time of work that is made up of a multitude of day to day decisions. We learned that a life of faith requires intention.
We came to recognize a great lie in the sales pitch that a life of faith can be accomplished in 40 days, purchased for $9.95 or checked off a list. We learned together that a life of faith requires a lifetime and will cost more than we had realized. We have come to recognize that every decision requires consulting with at least One other and that a life of faith means that not all passions can be pursued and that to live it well we would have to come to terms with the fact that there will be no days off.
Still interested in a life of faith? Read on and be reminded of what we have learned before you quickly respond.
A life of faith will call you into a community that will often bless you and just as often make your teeth itch. A life of faith will move you from ownership to stewardship, where nothing is your own but where you have access to even greater riches. A life of faith will call you out of your comfort zones and in exchange give you a purpose greater than yourself. A life of faith will tell you that who you vote for and whether or not you recycle are not neutral decisions but rather reflections of how you choose to live as a person of “the Way”.
Still with me?
A life of faith will command you to present your body as a living sacrifice, challenge you to move out of the shallow end of just singing songs and into the deep end where you sing because without it you would drown. A life of faith will cause you to pursue disciplines that disrupt your life and dig into the depths of your soul. And life of faith will not fix your struggles and doubts but it will wean you off of blessing so you can consume the real meat of faith.
Still interested in a life of faith?
Well then, as we come to the end of the year I would like to pose the question, “What are your intentions during this lull?” Are you planning to work on your relationship with the Creator? Will you spend the summer discerning your passions? Do you plan to do the hard work that a life of faith requires? Then ask yourself the question “What are my intentions?”
And now as we each go on our intentional way I leave you with this prayer:
As we come to the end of one leg of the journey we pause to ask for God’s presence as we step out into the next.
We ask that you would go before us, to guide the way into radical new visions, significant new seasons and exciting new possibilities.
Guide us, so that we might walk with confidence and intentionality in your ways.
We ask that you would go behind us, to encourage us for we know that this journey is long and not for the faint of heart.
Go behind us to encourage us;
When the journey before us seems overwhelming and when we are unsure of which way to go, speak clearly to us.
When we lose sight of the way, whisper sweet words of encouragement and correction.
We ask that you would be above us to watch over us.
Protect us from those things that would hold us back;
from doubts, discrimination, and discouragement;
from busyness, behaviors and boredom;
from old wounds, new worries, and an overwhelming world;
from lies, laziness and a lack of resources.
We ask that you would be beside us to be our most intimate traveling companion.
Continue to remind us that no matter where this journey takes us, that we do not travel it alone, but rather that we go with the One who came to earth to walk with us, who will not leave us orphaned and who will never leave us or forsake us.
And we ask that as we go that you would go within us, giving us the peace that passes all understanding (the peace that makes no sense), that we may go into this world full of confidence that we have been well equipped for the work to which you will call us.
As we come to the end of one leg of the journey, we pause, to say, we are grateful for the many steps that have already been taken and we say with great expectation that we are trusting You for the next steps we will take. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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