In the midst of God's love I find my life.
In the midst of my life I find God's love!
I went to Maryland for a prayer retreat a couple of weeks ago. I took the red eye from Seatac at 5pm and arrived in Maryland early the next morning. I arrived the day before Hurricane Sandy hit. I got to the retreat center in the afternoon and spent the early part of the afternoon, before the retreat began, in the Peace Garden in the middle of the trees with the wind blowing and the leaves falling, but the storm yet to come on shore.
I remembered another hurricane that I traveled through some 35 years before. While living in Tokyo as a high school student my brother and I were invited with a Danish friend of ours to go on a bicycle trip around the northern island of Hokkaido by one of the local college students. We jumped at the chance and prepared for the trip. The day we were scheduled to depart by boat a hurricane hit shore (typhoon actually, being in the Pacific). We had to ride our bikes to the boat and we did so in the eye of the storm. Of course the eye passed before we actually made it to the boat, but we did get to the there safe and sound, albeit wet and wind-blown.
The trip around Hokkaido was incredible. It was a once in a lifetime experience and well worth the risk and excitement of riding our bikes through a storm to get there.
When I headed out to Maryland for the retreat, people asked - surely you aren't going out there. The storm will make the event impossible. The retreat I attended was on Courage and Hope in contemplative leadership. For the forty of us gathered together we couldn't imagine a better focus or a more fitting consideration than this theme in the middle of a storm. Once again it was well worth the risk and excitement to get to this profound and life enhancing experience.
This activity just reminded me so deeply of what I already was so aware, with the love of God completely and totally involved in all aspects of my life and the lives of those around me in every moment of everyday. That the big moments of crisis are merely a very real part of a greater whole of life. That the common, mundane, everyday, seemingly meaningless routine is filled with blessings and incredible joy. That each and every moment is a gift filled with possibilities and hope waiting to be seen and realized.
So often I fail to be aware of this very important truth: God is as close as God will ever be in this moment right here right now. We don't need a crisis to see that God is at our beck and call. We don't need our ongoing familiar routines as a distraction from this impactful truth. God's love is truly in the midst of my life all the time. All the time my life is in the midst of God's love.
This moment is not about abilities or lack of abilities; it is not about issues or illness; it is not about struggles or accomplishments; this moment is about the grace of God, the love of Christ, and the connections we share in God's Spirit. This is not merely a focus for a ministry - sharing the love of Christ with folks with disabilities and those without. This is the focus of life that makes life worth living for everyone!
