Becoming Your True Self

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Earlier today, I was watching a couple of little girls playing and a thought occurred to me. Granted, I am not a parent, so forgive me if I speak out of ignorance in what I’m about to say.

Newborn babies are all cute and precious, but they’re pretty much the same. They have typical newborn behavior that all newborn babies do.

It’s only as babies grow into children who mature into adults that their distinctive personalities really begin to emerge. The older they get, the more their uniqueness shines to set them apart from everybody else.

In the life of faith, it’s only in becoming more like Jesus that we come into our truest selves. The more we grow in grace and take on the characteristics and behaviors of Christ that we truly find out who we really are and what our purpose is.

That’s the irony. It’s only in losing yourself that you find yourself. It’s as if gazing on God reveals more about ourselves than looking inwardly ever could.

As always, I share these things not from on high, having mastered the art of living and figured out all the mysteries of the universe. I come to you like one beggar telling another where to find bread (an image that I still love).

I also believe that you only become truly rich by giving yourself away to those who have need. But that will have to be a topic for another day when I am less sleepy.

 

Christ in Me

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It’s Thursday, or as I like to call it, Friday Eve. That means of course that tomorrow’s Friday.

I joke about looking forward to Friday, but so many of us live our lives that way, just getting by from Monday to Friday at 5 pm. That’s not really living as much as it is existing.

If you’re job is something you have to endure to get to the weekend, maybe you need to look for a new job that better suits you.

Maybe what I need isn’t a new set of circumstances (or a new job– I like the one I have) but Christ in me making for a different me in the same circumstances.

Simply put, what I need is Christ in me. As a friend of mine once said, I don’t need a stronger, faster, better version of me. I need a whole new me. That’s Christ in me.

Maybe what I also need is people surrounding me who will bring out the Christ in me, calling forth my best self and not my worst.

Thankfully, Christ in me is not dependent on how super spiritual I am or how disciplined I am or anything like that. It’s all about how Christ is always faithful to His promises to finish the good work He started in me way back when.

My part is to stay surrendered and willing, no matter what.

That’s my everlasting hope, Christ in me.

 

Two Things You Can Do Right Now

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I believe that there are two important things you can do right now. Well, maybe not at 9:45 on a Wednesday night, but starting tomorrow.

You can give blood and you can recycle.

That’s it. This is your assignment.

There’s always such a shortage of blood, so you are really making a difference and saving people’s lives. This truly is life blood you’re giving.

My dad had surgery a few years ago that required a lot of blood. Thankfully, he had what he needed, thanks to donors who gave willingly. Some others may not be so fortunate.

You can recycle. We throw away an obscene amount of garbage. We also throw away plastic and aluminum cans that could be recycled.

We don’t have an infinite amount of landfill space. One day, sooner than later, we will run out. When you choose to recycle, you are at least taking something out of taking up space and further polluting the environment.

Remember, give blood and recycle. Give blood and recycle.

The Abba Father Prayer

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“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are” (‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:15, ‭MSG‬‬).

A few years ago I learned a simple little prayer from Brennan Manning. 

As you breathe in, you say, “Abba Father,” and as you exhale, you reply, “I belong to You.”

That’s it. It’s a short mantra that you can insert into the margins of your busy life or something you can repeat over and over when you have nothing else to pray.

Tonight at Kairos, Pastor Chris Brooks reminded us that we not only can but will cry out, “Abba Father,” a term that merges the intimate nearness of Abba with the infinite otherness of the Heavenly Father. We need both to truly know and reverence God.

This little prayer can become as natural as breathing in and breathing out. Lately, I’ve come back to praying this Abba Father prayer when other words fail.

It works for any believer from a newbie all the way to a seasoned and tested saint. 

Abba Father, I belong to You.

Amen.

My Big Hike

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Normally, my friend and I meet at Radnor Lake State Park and choose one of the trails to hike while discussing all sorts of random topics (and of course throwing in bad puns wherever appropriate).

Today, I went solo for the day. I challenged myself that I could hike both the Granier Ridge Trail and the South Cove Trail (the two difficult hiking trails at Radnor).

Halfway through Granier, I thought I’d made a serious mistake. I was wheezing like a 90-year old and it was all I could do to keep putting one sandaled foot in front of the other.

Still, I persevered. An persisted. And I didn’t give up.

At some point, my strength revived. I got that proverbial second wind. I don’t know if there’s such a thing as hikers’ high (similar to runners’ high), but I think I might have experienced that at some point.

The key to it all was that I never quit. I did take a short break on the second trail.

At the end of the day, I tallied over 22,000 steps, according to the app on my Apple Watch. That’s a lot of steps.

The old adage remains true. Every journey of 10,000 (or 22,000) steps begins with a single step. And each and every step counts, no matter how hesitant or small or feeble.

Every journey of change also starts with the smallest of steps. All God needs is the most hesitant of agreements and He can still bring about the most amazing transformations. All He’s looking for from you and I is the “I believe. Help my unbelief,”  as a good place to start.

Jesus looks at you right now right where you are and asks, “Do you really want to be healed? Do you really want the brand new world of uncertainty that comes with change and transformation?”

Oh, and yes, my feet hurt. I suppose that’s a given.

 

A Song of Hope for Those Who Wait with Heartache

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“Walking around these walls
I thought by now they’d fall
But You have never failed me yet
Waiting for change to come
Knowing the battle’s won
For You have never failed me yet

Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I’m still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You’ve never failed me yet

I know the night won’t last
Your Word will come to pass
My heart will sing Your praise again
Jesus You’re still enough
Keep me within Your love
My heart will sing Your praise again

Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I’m still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You never failed

Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I’m still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You never failed me yet

I’ve seen You move, You move the mountains
And I believe, I’ll see You do it again
You made a way, where there was no way
And I believe, I’ll see You do it again

[x3]
I’ll see You do it again

Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I’m still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You never failed

Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I’m still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You never failed me yet

And You never failed me yet
I never will forget
You never failed me yet
I never will forget” (Do It Again, Elevation Worship).

Very rarely does a worship song bowl me over anymore, but this one just about did. I’ve never resonated with a praise song’s lyrics like I did this one.
Granted, I’m not there now, but there have been times in the past when I would have seriously questioned whether the writer of this song had been reading my private journal. And I don’t even have one.
My prayer is that the words to this song wash over you and that God speaks though this song as powerfully to you as He did to me earlier today.

Even If

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“Lord — yeah, and even if today didn’t go as planned,

and if it’s not at all what we hoped, 

and if “we’re* not yet quite what we hoped, 

and if life’s not unfolding to our Plan A

and if it’s not even close to Plan B

and if the diagnosis is not great

and if the forecast is not good

and if not… and if not… and if not… 

*You still are.* You still are Good & You still are God.

And we will be the people who will still… 

The people who will still rest in it & sing it into the dark: 

“and if not — He is still Good. He is still God… so we can still & be & be at rest.” #HonestPrayers (Ann Voskamp)”

It’s more of that open-ended hope seems to be showing up everywhere these days.

This hope perseveres no matter what, even if my expectations don’t come to pass, because it knows God has something far better in store for those who keep believing.

I will hold on to hope because the God of all hope is holding on to me.

The Trinitarian Prayer

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“O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action” (The Trinitarian Prayer of Elizabeth of the Trinity).

Right now, I feel as though I could sleep for 36 hours straight. That might be a wee bit difficult with a tiny 12- week old kitten who will probably want me to play with her and feed her at some point. She’s literally pouncing all over the bed as I write these words.

My prayer echoes the prayer of most of you. I want rest– not sleep but rest. I don’t necessarily want to be lazy and do nothing. I want to have a rested and peaceful mind, as opposed to the rushed and frenetic mind that most of us have that won’t settle down for a moment.

The world is saying, “More! More!” and “Faster! Faster!” It never wants for a second for you to slow down and wonder why you’re racing yourself to death to accumulate more trinkets and plaques. God says, “Slow down and savor and live this one life to the fullest.”

May we be so absorbed by the mastery of the Trinity of God that we forget ourselves and cease to obsess over how miserably we failed last week or how many flaws we seem to carry lately.

May the glory of God be so blinding to us that we can see nothing else and live for nothing else. May every thought, every word, every action, every deed be born out of a deep contemplation of the love of the Trinitarian God for us. May our lives be an expression of that love and may we be the love of Christ manifest and made visible to every person we meet.

Amen.

 

The Old Franciscan Blessing

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“May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts. 

May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace. 

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we may reach our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy. 

And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done” (Old Franciscan Saying).

I like to post this old blessing periodically to remind myself what my faith is really about. 

I’m not blessed so I can grow fat and lazy and complacent. I’m blessed so that I in turn can be a blessing to someone in need just as I was once in need (and still am).

May we all be blessed with enough foolishness to believe that not only can we make a difference in the world but that by the grace of God we are making one.