Monday, January 29, 2024

I Wonder--January 29

Yesterday, in Sunday School we addressed one of those truly hard, challenging, concepts of our Christian walks that lives in the Sermon on the Mount. And while I would like to state that we 'solved' this one, we didn't. Frankly, no one since the Lord Jesus walked the earth has anyone truly been able to live up to the standard that Jesus taught in Matthew 7. But as Paul reminds us, we keep working at it diligently and we trust the Holy Spirit to help us (Phil. 2.12). 

But I value the conversation yesterday. I value the ability to think deeply. I value the vulnerability that it takes for men and women of the church to look at each other deeply and speak from their hearts . . . and as you know, I appreciate people willing to come alongside of me and: wonder about such things. 

In the book that I just finished I read these words which ring true to my heart: 

"The ability to look deeply [to wonder]
is the root of creativity. 
To see past the ordinary and mundane
and get to what might otherwise be invisible."

I believe that we are called by God to look deeply at ourselves, and at our community. We are called by God to notice what is easily noticeable and act--that is the easy part. A lot of people do that each and every day. A lot of churches do that every week. 

Yet at the same time we are also asked to stand beside God, look out into the community deeply, and wonder about what we are seeing. . . that is where transformation takes place. Long-lasting change takes place. 

Certainly the things that we are seeing and witnessing might mean one thing--and that one thing might be clear and direct. 

But what if it isn't? 

What if God is asking you and I to creatively linger in one spot. Gaze a little longer. Notice something mundane. Something that might be present the whole time but because no one else is looking at it, it is invisible to the vast majority of the church and community at-large? No one sees it. . . perhaps no one cares about it.  

I wonder what would happen to that thing, in the life of that one person (or persons), if we and God creatively spoke about whatever it was that we saw? 

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