A Sacred Longing

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Finding my radical faith...

Has it really been so long since I have written?!

I wish I could say that I was on an exotic adventure but that wouldn't be the truth. Rather, my absence has been more of a tilling of the soul.

This dormancy on my blog has been born out of a seed planted in March. A seed, in truth, that was planted long before March 2010. A seed that found itself trapped in soil that was too hard to allow its birth. My experience in Haiti appears to have provided the crack in the clay of my soul allowing what was sown long ago to sprout and grow.

Sadly, I am not a gardener. My parents were and we enjoyed many fruits of their labors but I have grown little more than basil with any great success.

Gardening is not for the complacent and comfortable. A seed must be planted in soil that has been broken, prepared and cleared. A seed must have the right nutrients and be continually nurtured in order for it to grow. Weeds must be removed. Pests must be kept at bay.

…somewhere along the way we had missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable. We were settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.

excerpt from Radical by David Platt

Somewhere along the way I settled for the comfortable faith. Could I tell you when? No, I fear that the majority of my faith walk has been comfy and contented. For the most part, I did the “right” things and I said the “right” things. Of course, the gauge I was using to measure the “rightness” of my actions was, shall we say, not as accurate as it should have been. Then came this tiny island with an immense disaster.

My “rightness” felt maimed when my feet walked next to tents housing families. My “rightness” fell silent when requests for food echoed in my ears. My “rightness” became wrong in a matter of a mere seven days.

So this is where I have been of late, figuring out how to trade my comfortable life for one that is radically abandoned to Christ. It isn’t an easy process but it is one worth all the sweat and tears.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

We meet again...

She sits under the shade of an umbrella watching people pass by. It has been awhile since I have seen her. Yet in the passing days, I haven’t stopped wondering – who is she; what is her story.

We all have them, don’t we? Stories that is. Some are filled with abundance. Some are full of joy and laughter. If you were lucky, you had a good measure of both. There are those, however, whose stories carry more sadness and pain than we can ever guess to imagine.

Those stories aren’t easy to read. They lie hidden behind the eyes. We don’t get access to them with formalities and acquaintance. The pages only turn with grace, love, compassion and time. You earn the right to know the story. Not by what you give but by what you are.

Real.

Today, her story unfolded just a bit. In the warmth of July afternoon we shared time, a cool drink and a few words. Today, I know her name and now she knows mine.

Joan has a story.

And so do I.

© A Sacred Longing 2009-2010

I am joining in at Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky. Join us in the celebration of the moments that make up our lives.