I love the suggestion that we just soak up the grace that God has richly provided us as a gift. No need to worry about our checklist or bucket list as everything on it will pale in comparison to our experience with Him in eternity. I find myself even now living expectantly for that time and channeling into the fact that I really am not meant for this world. I am just passing through. Are we leaving it better than we found it? I pray that the answer for me will be yes. I assure you brother that the answer is yes in your case. Praying for you all as the results and next steps are assessed.
Sometimes the most provocative question, I think, is the one we've heard so many times that it becomes almost inaudible.
"Are we leaving it better than we found it?" is one of those questions. Thank you for asking it. I want to take it seriously. Not in a breathlessly, frantic, urgent sort of way, but in that way that demands we consider, perhaps, that even if we are merely passing through, then our visit still has purpose. A purpose that might be or might not be revealed to us in time, but a purposed that we serve only when we surrender our false selves and have the courage to be who we were made to be.
Who God made us to be. No more. No less.
And if that is so, then I pray you can rest assured that your prayer will be answered.
So grateful for your note and your invitation to consider things through a different lens. So grateful to see you yesterday. So grateful for your love and compassion.
Chris, been quietly reading for awhile, thanks to mutual friends. Grateful for the words God’s given you, that you’re sharing them. They are a ministry. Prayers.
Thank you for your note. So meaningful to me that you would take the time to connect. I look forward to the day we might meet and I can tell you face-to-face how much I appreciate your encouragement.
How I wish I could live my life always confident in the knowledge that grace will always be grace and not focusing on the "what ifs" that surround us. As you walk your path, I have learned more about the concepts of grace and belovedness and their importance to our shared life on earth. Thank you, Chris - it is my dearest intention today that the answer is no progress -
Thank you so much for this. Your words encourage, probably more than you know. I often wonder if this isn't the whole happy enchilada for me. https://youtu.be/cNu46mpJC60?si=FHvK3m2thfq6u-CM- to remind people of their innate belovedness.
It's a pretty good gig, especially when someone tells you they are rediscovering theirs.
Abi is really smart! You should consult her often. Praying for a choir of loons to be in your path today. Praying for you and Kathryn and Dr. Daras today. 🙏🙏🙏
I just read this from the C.S. Lewis Institute and thought of you. Several of your wonderings seem to dance around the same ideas
We—or at least I—shall not be able to adore God on the highest occasions if we have learned no habit of doing so on the lowest. At best, our faith and reason will tell us that He is adorable, but we shall not have found Him so, not have 'tasted and seen.' Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are 'patches of Godlight' in the woods of our experience."
⏤ C.S. Lewis Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer
How I love this. Every word of it. That these "patches of Godlight" exist in the woods of our experience (a sometimes scary place), and that they are pure, spontaneous and not ever manufactured. This is pure joy to consider for me.
Ironically, you've added to my reading list. Thank you, brother.
I love the suggestion that we just soak up the grace that God has richly provided us as a gift. No need to worry about our checklist or bucket list as everything on it will pale in comparison to our experience with Him in eternity. I find myself even now living expectantly for that time and channeling into the fact that I really am not meant for this world. I am just passing through. Are we leaving it better than we found it? I pray that the answer for me will be yes. I assure you brother that the answer is yes in your case. Praying for you all as the results and next steps are assessed.
Keith,
Sometimes the most provocative question, I think, is the one we've heard so many times that it becomes almost inaudible.
"Are we leaving it better than we found it?" is one of those questions. Thank you for asking it. I want to take it seriously. Not in a breathlessly, frantic, urgent sort of way, but in that way that demands we consider, perhaps, that even if we are merely passing through, then our visit still has purpose. A purpose that might be or might not be revealed to us in time, but a purposed that we serve only when we surrender our false selves and have the courage to be who we were made to be.
Who God made us to be. No more. No less.
And if that is so, then I pray you can rest assured that your prayer will be answered.
So grateful for your note and your invitation to consider things through a different lens. So grateful to see you yesterday. So grateful for your love and compassion.
Thinking of you today ❤️
Thank you, Janice. And I of you, today.
Chris, been quietly reading for awhile, thanks to mutual friends. Grateful for the words God’s given you, that you’re sharing them. They are a ministry. Prayers.
Theresa,
Thank you for your note. So meaningful to me that you would take the time to connect. I look forward to the day we might meet and I can tell you face-to-face how much I appreciate your encouragement.
How I wish I could live my life always confident in the knowledge that grace will always be grace and not focusing on the "what ifs" that surround us. As you walk your path, I have learned more about the concepts of grace and belovedness and their importance to our shared life on earth. Thank you, Chris - it is my dearest intention today that the answer is no progress -
Suzanne,
Thank you so much for this. Your words encourage, probably more than you know. I often wonder if this isn't the whole happy enchilada for me. https://youtu.be/cNu46mpJC60?si=FHvK3m2thfq6u-CM- to remind people of their innate belovedness.
It's a pretty good gig, especially when someone tells you they are rediscovering theirs.
Suzanne, you are in my prayers today.
Gratefully,
Chris
Abi is really smart! You should consult her often. Praying for a choir of loons to be in your path today. Praying for you and Kathryn and Dr. Daras today. 🙏🙏🙏
I just read this from the C.S. Lewis Institute and thought of you. Several of your wonderings seem to dance around the same ideas
We—or at least I—shall not be able to adore God on the highest occasions if we have learned no habit of doing so on the lowest. At best, our faith and reason will tell us that He is adorable, but we shall not have found Him so, not have 'tasted and seen.' Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are 'patches of Godlight' in the woods of our experience."
⏤ C.S. Lewis Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer
Scott,
How I love this. Every word of it. That these "patches of Godlight" exist in the woods of our experience (a sometimes scary place), and that they are pure, spontaneous and not ever manufactured. This is pure joy to consider for me.
Ironically, you've added to my reading list. Thank you, brother.
Chris
I hope we get the chance to meet too.
Grateful!
Hope you and yours have a meaningful Holy Week!