Walking through the field of life

Recently, I worshiped at Journey Place and the presenter (Jason McCord) shared his own spiritual journey and used the metaphor of a familiar forest to talk about his journey. He challenged us to think about the metaphor that would best describe our personal understanding of our spiritual journey. Mine would be an open field or meadow.

Why would I compare my spiritual journey to an open field or meadow? When I think of an open field, I think of four things, predictability, beauty, warmth, and diversity and such reflects my spiritual journey. Let me explain.

Growing up in the home of a pastor, my year and my week was predictable. So much of my life and the life of my family revolved around the predictable calendar of the church. Such is why I have chosen a field to define my spiritual journey. Human experience knows what a field looks like. It is usually overgrown with tall grass, low-lying shrubs (perhaps raspberry or blue berry bushes) , and a number of wildflowers are seen. In addition, one can see across the field perhaps to another field, a stream, or the edge of a woods and this is what makes a field predictable. In almost any field, I can see to the other side and I will not get lost. My spiritual life is shaped liked that. I can stand at the beginning of the church year and find my way through the seasons and by participating in its life, if find comfort and joy. In the midst of the church year, I enter and re-enter the God's presence and experience again the newness of God's salvation -- a re-creation of a new day.

In the predictability of my spiritual journey, there has also been beauty. Along the way, from town to town, from congregation to congregation, there are beautiful people, beautiful traditions, and beautiful expressions of the personal and corporate faith. Like the wildflowers in an open field, we are distracted by their beauty, only to discover that God's paint brush is still painting and still creating. Each new day, each new opportunity is yet another day for me to discover God's handiwork in my life. Like the flowers of an open field, each experience is different and each one an inspiration that keeps pushing me along through the field of God's grace.

Because a field is open and on a sunny day, we can feel the warmth of sun beating down upon the open field. Although it is not always the case, most of the time, I have found warmth in the people of the church. I would define this warmth as community. Although, I enjoy my alone time, as a Christian I have also understand the importance of community. In the context of the community, we share a common experience, participate in Holy Communion, and together we do the hard work of sharing the love of Christ Jesus with all the world -- always working toward the fulfillment of the great commission -- "go and make disciples of all nations." It is in this context that I have been encouraged, affirmed, and challenged. It is the warmth of the community that is not limited to that "warm, fuzzy feeling", but it is the one that speaks the truth in love. As the sun shines down upon an open field -- its wonderful creation is held accountable to its destination -- to be fruitful and multiply and along the way, we give our life to God's service just as Jesus gave his life for us.

Finally, my spiritual journey has been blessed with a diversity of experiences that I will covet as long as I have memory. In an open field, there is diversity. Amid the gently blowing grass is the safe hiding place of a rabbit, a chipmunk, or a wild cat. In a meadow there is the annoying buzz of a mosquito or the beautiful song of a lark. The flowers show off their colorful clothes and the sweet surprise of a raspberry bush scratches the skin of an unsuspecting human finding his way to the other side of the meadow. All of this is God's wonder and beauty which opens my eyes to a global community that is more than the borders of nations or the religious and cultural differences that define a nation and its people. My faith is personal and global, seeking and growing, and all of it sustained by the promise of resurrection hope. This is my spiritual journey -- a journey that is predictable and beautiful, warm and diverse and that feels right to me and so I babble on with my thoughts as I make my way through this winding, amazing, field of grace.