February 6th - From Imagination to Sketch

 The story...

What might the only church in town look like?  I asked a sketching-hobbyist friend to paint a one-church town.   She responded with questions regarding what I wanted it to look like.   I asked her not to bias or restrict her imagination - "Please sketch the purpose of the blog."  She agreed to draw her image; yet, seemed a bit uneasy regarding how "good" it would be - would it meet my expectations?  She did good...

I wonder if we'd more readily "draw" from our inner-person, soul, or heart, if we periodically did spiritual reality assessments.  It seems like we'd grow in self-awareness as we pray, quietly meditate, and bend our ear toward God.  Is this part of what it means to walk humbly with God?

Just for today...

"Troubles are opportunities to grow, to make us better, not bitter.  Rightly used, we can learn from them not to repeat our own mistakes."  One Day at a Time (p. 37)

"When in doubt, don't."  Courage to Change (p. 37)

"The idea played; it formed in my soul - The hand worked it out; "wow," it's new!"  Am I a Poet?

February 1st - Imagining the Only Church in Town

The story ... 

Sixth grade was the year that I felt most secure. The school had a sort of code/ethos that I understood. The teachers did a pretty good job of controlling it. The environment and behavior fit the stated and unstated code. The principal enforced the rules.

Most sixth graders knew that they better guard themselves from the hurt inflicted by other "Selfs" or they'd suffer - If they didn't learn how by sixth grade then they certainly learned it when they moved on to middle school. It's easier when you think and act like the group - do groupthink. For me, academics came easy and I was able to work in an around the rules to safely be more like the "true" me - our class was the oldest and most capable within the whole school - we were sixth graders.

The building that was once my sixth grade home

There were so many questions that I assumed that my parents, teachers, or pastor could answer - if I could just ask, sit still and learn.  For me, disillusionment began in Junior High School. They didn't have all the answers and I felt on my own.

I imagine the only church in town spending less time talking about the doctrines that “we” believe and more time focusing on what scripture teaches us about Him, me, and us.  There would be groups of people, within the community, that'd work out their faith together – groups that could be a bit less guarded and open among the safety of their friends. 

Just for today ... 

"They be who they are - yet I want them just so. When each grows his way - me and we are okayer." Am I a Poet?

Step towards better understanding the "good life."

Welcome fellow life travelers who're committed to a more realistic view of ourselves and our faith in God. This blog is an attempt to "flesh out" key points of a life journey within 365 daily buckets.   I'm a curious person by nature and continue to be surprised at the value of introspection grounded in reality.  Might daily reflections "paint" a good life that we can work out and share with other community members?  The kind of community that might be experienced in the only church in town.