A collection of thoughts remembered or borrowed and accreditation to the many lessons I have learned from John Lynch, Stever Mc Vey, Mike Zenker, and others (but written independently to represent only me)
We are being shaped, like Lithos, living stones, to be part of something we can't quite see yet, with a strong foundation, and a collective willingness to be shaped continually until we are all locked together, air tight. We are one strong and moving body. We, handpicked, hand crafted, created perfectly according to plan, are meant to be shaped in the open, in front of the ones we walk alongside. Yes, it sounds ambitious and even scary, but we are sons and daughter's of the God of the universe. Would you expect any less?
In our communities, we are most vulnerable, most visible, and most able to be formed to fit interlocking with all the others. We are shaped by not running when we want to run, by loving when we don't feel any love, by valuing each and every relationship, no matter how insignificant it may seem. We find our form best when we learn to trust in our own worth, our own value, that we are necessary and we are loved, as is our neighbour, our friend, our enemy. We need to know who we are. We need to know how deeply we are loved.
One of my favorite people, John Lynch (Truefaced, Bo's Cafe), taught that our character is formed in relationship and tested in isolation. Since learning that my lense has changed. Every relationship matters. It is a shaping opportunity. Relationships are our petrie dishes. Miracles' birthing places.
The first thing that ever existed (or always existed) was a relationship. All stems from that. Everything that happens to us is directly related to one central relationship, whether we know it or we don't. If this relationship is our center, we are at the center of the universe, the center of all love and abundance, the center of anything that matters. This is a relationship that cannot be taken from us. It is Perichoresis..the magical mystery of our Father's dance with the Son, the Holy Spirit, and us in the center of that union (Steve Mc Vey of Gracewalk, would explain it much better than I). Other things will be taken, or will be lost, and it will be painful, and it will shape us more. But our center will always be..us, and around us, a protecting and loving relationship.
It is interesting to reflect on whether humans can recreate the structure of this circle of love, this perichoresis, in our communities. Can we imagine the ones we love nestled into the center of our own relationships with others? Or the ones who have wronged us, the ones who don't know God or don't believe the same as us? Can we put them at the center? Can we be vulnerable even in front of them, be shaped as we hold them in a loving center among our rocks and body parts?
Ephesians 4: 16.."from the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipt, when each part is working properly, make the whole body grow, so that it builds itself up in love"
In our communities this year, let's be truthful, let's be non judgemental, let's walk in each other's shoes, pouring mercy at each other's feet as if we are watering our garden..Let's not be afraid anymore, for God's perfect love will always cast out our fear. Let's be courageous, let's be real, let's be shaped and let's stick together strong and firm, embracing the lovers and the haters, the lost and the found, and all that's in between..holding them in our centers of our relationships, and knowing we are hard wired to be this center and to create it for our Father's beloved.
We are being shaped, like Lithos, living stones, to be part of something we can't quite see yet, with a strong foundation, and a collective willingness to be shaped continually until we are all locked together, air tight. We are one strong and moving body. We, handpicked, hand crafted, created perfectly according to plan, are meant to be shaped in the open, in front of the ones we walk alongside. Yes, it sounds ambitious and even scary, but we are sons and daughter's of the God of the universe. Would you expect any less?
In our communities, we are most vulnerable, most visible, and most able to be formed to fit interlocking with all the others. We are shaped by not running when we want to run, by loving when we don't feel any love, by valuing each and every relationship, no matter how insignificant it may seem. We find our form best when we learn to trust in our own worth, our own value, that we are necessary and we are loved, as is our neighbour, our friend, our enemy. We need to know who we are. We need to know how deeply we are loved.
One of my favorite people, John Lynch (Truefaced, Bo's Cafe), taught that our character is formed in relationship and tested in isolation. Since learning that my lense has changed. Every relationship matters. It is a shaping opportunity. Relationships are our petrie dishes. Miracles' birthing places.
The first thing that ever existed (or always existed) was a relationship. All stems from that. Everything that happens to us is directly related to one central relationship, whether we know it or we don't. If this relationship is our center, we are at the center of the universe, the center of all love and abundance, the center of anything that matters. This is a relationship that cannot be taken from us. It is Perichoresis..the magical mystery of our Father's dance with the Son, the Holy Spirit, and us in the center of that union (Steve Mc Vey of Gracewalk, would explain it much better than I). Other things will be taken, or will be lost, and it will be painful, and it will shape us more. But our center will always be..us, and around us, a protecting and loving relationship.
It is interesting to reflect on whether humans can recreate the structure of this circle of love, this perichoresis, in our communities. Can we imagine the ones we love nestled into the center of our own relationships with others? Or the ones who have wronged us, the ones who don't know God or don't believe the same as us? Can we put them at the center? Can we be vulnerable even in front of them, be shaped as we hold them in a loving center among our rocks and body parts?
Ephesians 4: 16.."from the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipt, when each part is working properly, make the whole body grow, so that it builds itself up in love"
In our communities this year, let's be truthful, let's be non judgemental, let's walk in each other's shoes, pouring mercy at each other's feet as if we are watering our garden..Let's not be afraid anymore, for God's perfect love will always cast out our fear. Let's be courageous, let's be real, let's be shaped and let's stick together strong and firm, embracing the lovers and the haters, the lost and the found, and all that's in between..holding them in our centers of our relationships, and knowing we are hard wired to be this center and to create it for our Father's beloved.
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