calling

Today’s Word: Journey

Steve · August 25, 2013 · Leave a Comment

For me, the best descriptor of a life of faith has always been “journey.” Like a great road trip along a classic highway like California 1, what happens and what we see along the way of faith is as important as the paradise we discover at the end. So while we’re all shooting for heaven, we have a responsibility (and a privilege) to use the journey to build the kingdom for others and draw ourselves closer to God along the way. Whether we’re cradle Christians or newer to the faith, the journey to and with God is what makes us who we are.

We don’t become Christians in one brief, emotional moment. Neither do we become “complete” in a sacramental instant, however important and meaningful that may be. We are loved by God from our moment of conception, but the journey home to God — our life of faith and family — is the legacy we leave to all those we eventually leave behind. When we arrive home with God at the end of our lives, we will claim our treasure and inheritance as children and heirs of God. But the journey along the way will stand as witness and testimony to the life we have lived and the lives we have touched.

Ask yourself in silence: Where am I in my journey to God? If I died tonight, what would the legacy of my journey be? What do I need to change in my life?

Today’s Word: Vocation

Steve · August 24, 2013 · 4 Comments

Historic schoolhouse, West Branch, Iowa. SJG photo.

“Vocation is where our greatest passion meets the world’s greatest need.”
– Frederick Buechner

The word vocation has, unfortunately, become all too familiar. We use it synonymously to mean, “what we do for a living.” And while that might be true, it only tells part of the story. The word comes from the Latin meaning “call” or “summons.” Thus, our vocations are not just what we do but what we are summoned to do. Summoned by whom? That’s up to the listener.

As people of faith, we hold to the idea that this call comes from God and reflects God’s desire and will for our lives. It is one of our great responsibilities to prayerfully discern our call and then respond. Importantly, it’s good to remember that we are perhaps called to different things at different times over the course of our lives. What we are called to in later life may be quite different from the call we responded to (or didn’t respond to…) when we were much younger.

Like any call, the answer to our vocation question can be found by listening. We need to listen to ourselves and trust our hearts. We need to listen to those who know us best. And we need to listen to that still, small voice that whispers (and hardly ever shouts): “Follow me, I’ve got something for you to do.”

Ask yourself in silence: To what are you sensing a call? Has there been a call you ignored because it seemed inconvenient? Do you have a passion that meets a great need in the world?

Today’s Word: Alive

Steve · August 13, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Detail of America Windows, stained glass by Marc Chagall, the Art Institute of Chicago. SJG photo

The second-century Christian writer Irenaeus once wrote: “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.” What a contemporary sounding idea! God is most happy — is in his glory — when we are fully alive. So what does it mean to be fully alive? This thought reminds me of that great question in Psalm 8 (and I paraphrase): Who are we that God pays any attention to us at all?

Irenaeus has a comeback for the Psalmist: I’ll tell you who we are…we are his GLORY — as long as we’ve living lives of abundance, as long as we’re living lives that complete God’s purpose and hope for us. To be fully alive is to live fully in God, for God, of God. It is to seek God with every fiber of our being and in every moment of our lives. Or as a much more contemporary source (songwriter David Crowder) writes: “You make everything glorious. And I am yours. What does that make me?”

Ask yourself in silence: What am I doing when I feel I am most fully alive?

Today’s Word: Busy

Steve · August 3, 2013 · 5 Comments

cross — The Great Cross, St. Augustine, Florida. SJG photo.

In the Biblical story of the two sisters Martha and Mary (Luke 10), Martha is buzzing around the house, cooking, cleaning, waiting on everybody and “getting stuff done.” Her sister Mary, on the other hand, has seated herself at the feet of Jesus, resting serenely in his presence and words. When Martha objects to her lazy sister (can’t you just hear and see this story unfolding?), Jesus sets her straight: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

So we should just pray all day and not worry about keeping house or going to work, right? Hardly. We still need to do the stuff of life. But we need time at the feet of Jesus, too. If we make prayer and the presence of God the foundation for the rest of our lives, we will find ourselves with less anxiety and worry, and with more peace of mind and heart. There is one thing we need. The rest will fall into place. The work will get done. But the better part — peace — will not be taken from us.

Ask yourself in silence: Do I use busy-ness as an excuse to not spend time at the feet of Jesus? Do I let the presence of “stuff to get done” keep me from the presence of God?

Today’s Word: Marrow

Steve · July 27, 2013 · 6 Comments

votive — Votive candle at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, outside Sedona, Arizona. SJG photo.

When we say we sense something in the marrow of our bones, we mean that we sense some truth deep down inside us, at the very core of our being. And although we say this in a metaphorical and perhaps even metaphysical sense, there’s some physical truth involved in the saying. As someone who has had my bone marrow tapped a couple of times (a wonderful experience…) I know what the doctors found there. They found my stem cells, those building blocks of who I am, telltale signs of what makes me, me.

Those of us who feel called to lives of faith sense that call deep down at our centers in a way that is even more profound and meaningful than the biological material that makes us who we are. We sense a quiet voice that beckons us toward a presence that has been named God for us, a divine light that both urges us to serve others and invites us into communion. That’s what we feel, in the marrow of our bones, and so we respond.

Ask yourself in silence: What do I sense in the marrow of my bones? What is at the very core of my being?

With thanks to my wife, Sue, and our good friends, John & Karen and Larry & Dianne, for this “word of the day challenge” and for good conversation and lots of laughter around the table last night. These kinds of evenings remind me of all that is important in life. Yet another thing I can sense in the marrow of my bones.