…the center of faith

Placing our day into the care of God, seeking at the outset of the dawn of morning to find that place of quiet awareness of the presence of God, is not always easy…but it does not have to be difficult either.  Life…normal everyday life can often seem like a routine, like something we do over and over again, day in and day out.  Rise in the morning, go off to work, go home and rest up, perhaps spend some time with family, go to bed, do over the next day.  But in truth, normal everyday life is a tangled mess of possibilities for extending love and grace to others in need, in ways both large and small, in ways that reinforce that we each are but a part of God’s glorious Creation…called to watch over it and to preserve the wonder and beauty of it even as we live within it and are nourished and sustained by it.

A small word of greeting, a nod to a stranger on the way into the grocery store, offering to help someone cross the street or to carry their things out to their car, a smile for no reason other than just to wish someone well, a whispered prayer at each instance of need perceived, a love that is truly without condition (a capacity that comes only with the deepest humility of knowing how greatly oneself has been graced and uplifted by the Lord already).  A willingness to listen for as long as it takes for another to truly reveal the hurt or fear within, and a willingness to wait on the Lord for the proper word or gesture that will truly make a difference in the life of another…

But living in the center of God’s will is also more.  For being centered in the will and the plans of God gives profound balance to our lives…if we do not remain centered, then other parts of our lives will also be slightly off…slightly to the left or to the right.  Being centered on the Potter’s wheel…being centered in God’s particular and personal plan for you will also give you balance emotionally, physically, psychologically, and spiritually.  For who you are, who you are becoming, how you combine your past and your future, and how your unique history becomes a part of God’s story is a shared responsibility.  It is the result of a relationship that is ongoing between a lump of yielded clay…and a patient and persistent potter named Jesus.

david