Of Acorns and Me

The trees are starting to change and the rhythms of the fall season are starting to come together. In the spirit of the season I gathered some acorns, shelled them and am currently getting the bitterness out of them, so that I can munch on a great nut that normally just gets crushed beneath my feet. 

There are a lot of things that we pass by without noting their worth. That is part of why we are going forward in this mission to actively live out the calling of being the church where we live, work and play. Specifically that we: hear the Word that God has revealed, listen to the places we inhabit, share community with those we have been sent with, wonder about what could be and finally to rest in God. This is all a part of what it means to be a faithful presence. 

Lately, I have been wondering about the great polarities in life — and have been trying to live out a middle way that validates real struggles and narratives of people I care for — and also trying to find a middle place to care for myself and family as well. 

I just want to say a short bit on that. This mission that we have as a church is enormous — by saying that we are living out the call of being the church where we live, work and play means there isn't really a place that is simply "mine." There is no "me" time. Everything I do, every breath I breathe is just borrowed from the creator. It all has purpose! It is all meaningful! My life is a sacrifice to God. I am called to live as a living sacrifice because of God's incredible grace for me. It is not that God's mission depends on us, but God absolutely calls us to this life and it is incredibly abundant and is exactly what God made us to do. 

Despite being called to this life, one aspect that I have been focusing on is that we, humans, are often caught sleeping. In Genesis 15 Abram was caught sleeping while God carried out the covenant. The disciples were caught sleeping while Jesus fought with Satan before going to the cross. And then we see Paul calling the church to (be) awake O sleepers! (Eph. 5). 

Simply put we need to wake up and realize all of life is a call to live abundantly! 

However, God also allows for his creation to rest. Often we need to remember that God really does have the whole world in His hands "He's got the whole world ... in his hands ..." After working hard, we are called at the end of the day to rest. We are called to be sign posts of the kingdom of God, a foretaste of the great immeasurable grace of God, and instruments in the coming kingdom. Yet at the end of the day, we are called to rest well amid all the pressures.