All week I’ve been considering what to share with you this Memorial Day Weekend. The sudden unexpected home going of my friend Wayne Tuesday morning was bittersweet- he was certainly ready for the journey, but since his passing, I have learned there was so much more to his life than I knew about, and now it is too late to ask. Although in the past five years, I’ve been profoundly touched by a number of local brothers, numerous authors, etc., with the exception of Loretta, I can say Wayne has pushed me out of my spiritual comfort zone more than anyone else.
Wayne is the only person I recall who got me riled up sufficiently to write him a 1500 word email and then never sent it. Understand though, there were some longer that were sent and likely had been better not sent! Experiential wisdom perhaps! For by the time my epistle to Wayne was done, I was healed since God revealed that its message was really more for me rather than him. I must say however I still think it was some of my best writing so far as I did reread it twice since his passing.
A book by Matthew Kelly “A Call to Joy: Living in the Presence of God” has been on my “to be consumed soon” pile for several weeks and I just finished it this evening. I am realizing of late I am now developing an attachment to certain books I read, perhaps similar to the artist who admires a particular panting by another artist, or a musician for another performers rendition of a certain piece. Only with me, it is not because of any identity with the struggle of process or inherent ability, but rather because of an identity with the message. This book could have been my message, no, actually it should have been my message when I was 23 in 1971. Just one small problem though, when I was 19 and a sophomore at Hesston College, I was not listening for a whisper from God, or spiritual insight from our campus pastor, Peter Wiebe, or even my roommate, Lavern. Strange, how I earlier knew I was called but then veered so far off the track for so long.
Perhaps that explains the propensity I have for this author and the message of this book. It’s simply me. It connects the dots. It explains me and the way I think, and the way I think many others think… the under-girding realization that we were designed to live in the moment, always. Not in the future, not in the past, but right now, and totally captivated by the immensity of God’s love for us. Not merely a box we checked off as a youth during Bible School or summer camp, or rechecked again as young adult when we blew it and everyone knew it. No, discovering God’s love for us is such an adventure, living in the moment is breath-taking, like doing 360’s on a stretch of deserted icy Rt 30 and experience no damage. In fact no one else even seen it so you get out and take pictures of the tracks for proof later. I’ve done that. That’s living in the moment. Friendship with God. Real relationship. Acknowledging appreciation for his protection. Realizing I need friends that will do three things for me: teach me to love; teach me to be loved; and lead me to God! And of course, we must reciprocate.
Sometimes I summarize books and email my summaries to the “qualified inquiring minds” ready for such truths. However, this paperback ranks high enough to be read by everyone and in their library for quick referral or loan. For example, consider this clip taken verbatim starting on page 33 before we introduce the book properly.
To breathe is not a right; it is a gift.
One of the first steps toward being able to recognize and be in touch with your divine plan is discovering the difference between a right and a gift. In the modern Western world we have an interesting combination of an overdeveloped sense of rights and an overdeveloped ego. When the two are mixed together, they form an extremely harmful formula known as U4, (unfulfilled, unhappy, unsatisfied, and unbearable).
Even a small dose of this U4 in our lives prevents us from being able to see the plan. Worse still, it renders us blind to the miracles in our life. And failing to recognize the miracles in our lives is one of the major problems in our world. I don’t understand why I am alive, or why I wake up each day, how I breathe, and many other things, but I do know that one day I will not wake up. Death, however, is not the mystery. Life is the mystery. Life is sacred.
Life is to be reverenced in all its forms.
Life is a miracle. But like most people who have wandered through this world, I do not spend enough time pondering the sacredness, the mystery, the wonder, the gift of life. However, whenever I have reflected on the mystery of life, my days have been greatly enriched.
Now I try to open myself to this life by trusting that I am right where I am right now for a reason. There is a plan, a glorious plan – a plan full of miracles.
What follows is the way I have chosen to introduce you to this book; its first four paragraphs and then the final six pages. Enjoy the read!
In the midst of all the hustle and bustle of the world, there is a whisper in the marketplace. The whisper is the voice of God. He is calling to you. He is beckoning to you. He is gently inviting you to a quiet place, and His call is a call to joy.
If you listen, you can hear his voice saying, “Come to Me.“ He is calling you into His presence so that your life may become a dance of joy.
Joy is not simply a feeling of happiness. Joy is the all-intoxicating feeling of becoming. It is the greatest of emotional and spiritual sensations. We experience joy when we grow, and we grow when we live in the presence of God and listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I have spent 23 years on this earth and just four years ago I heard the call to joy.
As I was preparing for bed on the evening of April 7, 1993, I realized that I was at a crossroads in my life. Getting into bed that night, I reached for my Walkman from the bedside table so that I could listen to some music before I went to sleep. As I did, I sensed a strong external presence that was urging me not to pick up the Walkman. I ignored the sensation. When I put on the headphones, I had a similar feeling, only this time it was twice as powerful. Again I ignored it.
I turn my Walkman on, and after a few seconds of listening to the music, I felt the same urge for a third time. This time, however, it was almost overpowering. I knew it was something I had never experienced before. I took my Walkman off, got out of bed, and fell to my knees. As I knelt there in the darkness and silence, I asked myself why I was kneeling in the middle of the room at this hour. But before I could answer this question, I heard a voice speak to me – a voice as clear as any voice I have ever heard. “Keep doing what you are doing. Believe in yourself and believe in Me,“ the voice said.
I looked around. There was no one else in the room. My brother was asleep and snoring in the room next to mine. I looked around again, but somehow I knew I wouldn’t find anyone. Thirteen words, yet because of them, my life would never be the same.
An Invitation Pg.198
In these pages I have tried to share with you the plan of life that the voice of God has proposed to me over the past four years. I have established that the purpose of each human being is to struggle and grow toward his or her fulfillment. It is the struggle, this growth that brings a person joy. This joy is a foretaste of the union with God we called heaven.
For more than four years now, I have engaged in this struggle. It has been the most fulfilling exercise in my life. I have never known such joy and serenity as that which I know when I engage in the struggle.
Just as there are many aspects of our daily lives as human beings, so there are many aspects to this spiritual struggle. I have tried to cover as many as possible in these pages. However it is not important that we cover every aspect. What is important is that we understand the general principle.
If your goal is to allow the image of God to increase in you by struggling to grow in the likeness of Jesus Christ, then this is the general principle: every moment comes bearing a gift.
Each moment is an opportunity. Every set of circumstances provides you with a chance to learn, to grow, and to love God, yourself, your neighbor, and all of creation. Prayer opens your heart and mind and allows you to see these opportunities. Often they will cost you something. What you receive is always more than what you are asked to give. He that gives lives.
Love is about stepping out of the comfort zone.
Life is meant to be a dance for joy. Be careful how you define joy in your life. The soul hungers for this joy and the journeying soul is always seeking it. The journey is the joy. The joy is the struggle. The struggle is the journey.
Take time to listen occasionally, and to remember the following:
The journey is the struggle to seek, discover, and live truth.
The joy comes from the struggle.
Remember “the struggle“ is the struggle to better yourself, to change, and to grow with courage and patience.
Only two things exist in eternity: joy and misery.
You will not be any happier today than you were yesterday unless you do something different, or at least in a different manner, with a different state of mind or heart.
There are some basic guidelines for making resolutions. Make few of them, preferably one at a time. Write each resolution down. Resolve first to perform your duties and obligations. Examine yourself with regard to your resolution early in the morning and before you retire at night. Do what you resolve. PS And when you do fail, do not quit. Trust in God, humble yourself, and renew your resolution.
Often it is the ordinary, the everyday, the material stuff that connect us with the spiritual.
Love is truth lived.
Joy is the fruit of appreciation. It is impossible to love someone you do not appreciate.
Suffering puts us in touch with what is really important. Sacrifice spells out commitment and confirms love.
The Spirit is joy. When we sin, we choose misery and reject joy.
Prayer allows us to see the person we are and the person we can be.
Truth is the only thing worth living for and the only thing worth dying for.
My obedience to what I know is right brings me joy. My disobedience to what I know is right brings me misery.
Joy is not the absence of pain.
Strength of character comes from prayer.
Your fears are a passport to a new state, to a higher level, to a greater joy.
We become what we love.
What you become is more important than what you do.
This path is a difficult one. It is a path of struggle and heartache, and you will experience both victory and defeat, and defeat upon defeat, but if you persevere you will emerge victorious and fulfilled.
The struggle has a single goal. The tools that help us to maintain the struggle have a single aim. The goal is to live in the presence of God – to recognize that “God is with us, and indeed, within us.“
When Mary came to visit Elizabeth, we are told that the child, John the Baptist, danced for joy in the womb of Elizabeth. Why? He was in the presence of God.
We also read in the Scriptures that David danced for joy before the ark of the covenant. Why? He was in the presence of God.
When we live in the presence of God, our lives become a dance for joy.
There is only one goal, there is only one aim, to live in the presence of God. It is what we desire for eternity and indeed for every moment of our existence.This single idea represents everything good that we desire. Peace, joy, love,happiness belong to those who live in the presence of God.
I have shared with you the principles and ideas that the voice of God has shared with me. I offer them to you as they were offered to me, to be accepted and employed, or rejected and discarded.
For Your Reflection (FYR)
There was once a very wise old hermit living in a small cave high in the mountains. Late each evening, he would walk for many miles, praying and reflecting on the beauty of creation with which God has surrounded him.
One night when he returned to his cave, he discovered a thief who had come to rob him. The hermit’s presence startled the thief, and an uneasy silence filled the cave. After a few moments the wise old man said to the thief, “I have only three things in this world: The bowl from which I eat, and you can have it; the mat on which I sleep, and you can have it; but the third thing I could not possibly give you, so gather the first two and be on your way.“
Far from being satisfied, the thief only became curious about the hermit’s third possession and said, “What is the third thing you cannot give me?“
The hermit replied, “Follow me,“ and led the thief out into the night. They walked through the mountains for miles without exchanging a word until they came to a lake. They stopped on the shore and the hermit stretched his arm out toward the lake and pointed to a beautiful shining silver disk in the middle. The thief stood and stared in silence.
The hermit said quietly and gently, “There is the third thing. It is the face of the moon reflected in the water. It is the wonder and the glory of God reflected in His creation. I come here often, and I contemplate the wonder of God and His creation. I recognize the love that God has for His creation. I see that his love for me is great. It is out of this love for me that he has surrounded me with such beautiful, complex, awesome wonders. Yet while they are magnificent and beautiful, glorious and mysterious, I know that they are only a dim reflection of the God who created them – so great is God. It is in recognizing how wide and deep God’s love is that I see that the love of God I have experienced in my life is only a portion of the love that he has for me. I see the need to open myself a little more to His love.“
A silence fell between the two again. The thief knew he could not possibly take this from the wise old man. More than this, the thief was in awe of the fact that here was a man who had something so great, something of greater value than anything he had ever possessed, yet nobody could ever take it from him.
The hermit stretched out his arm toward the disk once again and broke the silence, saying, “I can point you to it, but I cannot give it to you.“
Go now and seek it and you will receive abundantly.