...the tempo of a God-breathed life

Life on the Potter’s Wheel

And yet, O Lord, you are our Father.

We are the clay, and you are the potter.

We are all formed by you hand.

Isaiah 64:8

 

January 27, 2013

 

This week I’ve been reminded of the precious fragility of life.  As a part of my role as a hospice chaplain I got to spend a couple of evenings with a family whose mom was getting ready to see the end of her earthly life. What a privileged place to be at such a tender time.  One evening as I was heading home from their house I got a call from one of my cousins that our cousin Judy had been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of lung cancer and was not going to survive it.  She and her husband had just gone down to Arizona where they have spent the winter for years and when she got there she just thought she had a bit of a cold. Saturday morning they had to make the heartrending decision to remove a ventilator and let her go.
 

The next day I got a call about a man I know who had been struck by a car.  I had the opportunity to spend a week with him and his family out in Colorado a couple of summers ago as part of a group who were attending the Covenant Church’s “Feast” celebration prior to our annual meeting.  He has suffered extensive head injuries and the road before them is long and at this point still quite uncertain.
 

Interestingly the last couple of days of the “Jesus Calling” devotional has really resonated in a way much differently than I might have expected in another week.  Yesterday’s entry included, “Through the intimacy of our relationship, you are being transformed from the inside out. As you keep your focus on Me, I form you into the one I desire you to be.  Your part is to yield to My creative work in you, neither resisting it nor trying to speed it up.  Enjoy the tempo of a God-breathed life by letting Me set the pace.  Hold My hand in childlike trust and the way before you will open up step by step. (January 25^th)
 

How often do I try to control the way my life unfolds, far too often without going to God first? And how often is that predicated on the idea that my days are unending here on earth?  This time last year the patient I sat with had no idea that she was sick.  This time last month, my cousin had no idea that she had cancer. This time last week, my friend had no idea that his life would be so dramatically changed just by walking back to his office from lunch.
 

God alone is the one who knows and the wondrous thing is we have a God who loves us profoundly, intimately, perfectly.  Why do I not cling to him daily with great joy and profound confidence just like a child who is completely certain of their relationship with a loving parent?  Certainly there are tears; certainly there are times of frustration, disappointment, heartbreak and uncertainty but a relationship of intimacy with Jesus means that when we suddenly find ourselves in these times which turn our lives upside down we lean into a God who we have experienced personally before.  We have seen God’s hand in small and large events of life and that familiarity fosters trust. So, I am choosing again to lean into Jesus.  I know that there are hard times still ahead, there always are but the truth is that Jesus is always present.  
 

This morning I was reminded of a quote by Theologian Frederick Buechner, “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen.  Don’t be afraid”

God’s Peace,

Mary