i've been with the white house congregation for almost a year and a half now. it's one of those weird points in which you look at someone and know them so well, yet you remember when you were strangers not so long ago. i have no doubt that this is where God wants me to be even though i lost some things and people in this move. any time i'm not at church on a sunday morning, whether it be a day off or that i'm on a trip, i miss my family. i wonder how God's word touched them that day, or how their faces may have been overcome with joy as they brought their gifts of praise that morning.
despite this bond, there are still a lot of ways in which we see things differently. isn't this the case with any relationship? one party thinks this, while the other thinks that. it's the beauty of our uniqueness.. if that's even a word. recently i made a change that was... well, unpopular may not be a strong enough word. but you get the idea.. and it wasn't in spite of anyone or anything. it wasn't to stir up any controversy. and though i will benefit spiritually, it wasn't even done with me in mind.
let me put it this way.. christmas vacation is my favorite christmas movie, so i'll use an example from that. some of you at this point are saying "what? you're dumb. a christmas story is the greatest christmas movie of all time.. etc, etc.." yeah yeah, we get it. he wants a bb gun and has to wear bunny pajamas. and when he gets what he wants, he furthers the stereotype that adults have been throwing out the whole time by being irresponsible with the gun and hits his eye. wee. i digress.. in christmas vacation, clark griswold is hard at work to make his house the best one on the block in order to enhance his family's holiday experience. he works through the night, he suffers several falls, but he gets the job done. and when he urges his family to come and see what he has done, they are hesitant. they're comfortable inside, it's cold outside, they're perfectly content where they are. but he keeps on them until they come out as if to say "it'll all make sense once you see this!" all of the hard work, all of the time he put into his work would make sense once they saw the result, and in turn it enhanced their holiday experience.
so for a few months i'm sitting in this situation of "it'll all make sense once you see this.." and as i sit, i know what's coming up. i'm so excited that the words of ellis "red" redding from the shawshank redemption come to mind when he said "i find i’m so excited i can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head." i can't help but contrast this with our salvation. it's like as God is inviting us to receive this free gift, we're yelling back that we're ok where we are. it's cold out there, and it's warm in here.. we're content with where we're living. maybe because in the beginning, this is the only life we know. we're used to it, we've adapted. and God is saying, "look, i have something better for you. it'll all make sense once you see this." once we accept this gift, we get that excitement growing in us.. red goes on to say "i think it’s the excitement that only a free man can feel. a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain." the only difference is, we know the conclusion. but the journey, though uncertain in so many ways, is exciting and full of adventure. embrace it. live it. feel alive.
and rest assured, it'll all make sense once you see.
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