Our needs friendship. Our society needs grace in those friendships. Our society needs positive social interactions that allow people to be “off” and not our best. Our society needs normal again.
Our Identity and Calling (Part 2)
God is Here
“The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” I could tell you that I love this verse, but I would be lying. Mostly, I find this verse confusing – how in the world do I “not be anxious about anything?” And yet, believe or not, managing anxiety can begin with some relatively simple steps.
Our Identity and Calling (Part 1)
As someone who made a major career change from the business world to seminary, I have had to ask myself what exactly is my identity and calling? For many years, although I knew deep down that my identity was rooted in being a “child of God,” I had been falsely identifying with my career, job title, salary, travel, etc. As I come towards the end of my seminary journey, I am beginning to understand finally that my true identity lies with my relationships.
Self-Care and Worship
Take Notice
Written by Beth Waterman, MA (Clinician)
Today, as I was taking my midday walk, I began to think about the changing seasons that I’ve been privy to witness in my neighborhood in a unique way this season. I’d like to think that I’m spontaneous, that I live life on the edge, but the truth is I like consistency. I walk the same route, by the same trees and homes nearly every day. But perhaps there is something beautiful about this now familiar path I walk in hopes of breaking up my day. I notice things. I breathe. I leave my phone behind, and I focus on the present moment. I pray, sometimes. These are the very things I find myself inviting those whom I work with to do: “notice your breath, notice what’s happening in your body, notice what might need your attention right now…” The very prompts I offer, I have been walking out. Admittedly, not even on purpose most days.
But through these urban hikes I’ve noticed the same old trees changing from bare and bald and snow covered, to budding and growing and coming alive, to full and green and vibrant, to deepening hues of yellows and reds, to suddenly crunchy, slippery and piled up under my feet. Today I noticed again that the seasons are changing before us. And in our lives, at least in my life, I have often packed my days, my seasons, so full, that I barely have time to look around me. I barely even breathe, let alone take a midday walk to notice the trees in their constant state of dressing and undressing.
I think about how God reminds us that he too takes notice - of us, of our process, of this profound time we all are walking through. I love Matthew chapters 6 and 10 which remind us that wildflowers and canaries do not go unnoticed to our loving Father, and neither so do our lives. As confusing, complicated, painful, or needy as they might feel. My hope is that I might keep leaning in to the process of expanding this space and willingness to notice what is around my daily world. And I hope that for you too, that you might be able to step outside for a moment and breathe in the crisp air, stomp through a pile or two of crispy old leaves, and let yourself take notice of the world around you. And for a moment, maybe we all can join the wildflowers and the sparrows in knowing we’re not holding any of it alone.
Struggling on Holy Ground
Written by Dan Brown, MA (Director of Operations, Senior Clinician)
"Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, ‘Are you for us or for our enemies?’ ‘Neither,’ he replied, ‘but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.’ Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, ‘What message does my Lord have for his servant?’ The commander of the Lord’s army replied, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so.” (Joshua 5:13-15)
Oftentimes we forget that God is in control of our lives and the battles we are facing. We also can wrongly think that He is always on our side in a disagreement. Both you and the person on the other side of the disagreement are made in the image of God. Our pride can keep us from seeing this as we become caught in a vortex of ME ME ME. Or we just forget. Or possibly our self-confidence can be low to the point where we can only see the ways in which we don’t stack up in the midst of these moments. Joshua was surely doubting his ability to lead, and he too turned inward and forgot God’s presence.
In his book The Gift of Being Yourself, David Benner illuminates the idea of true self and false self. For the Christian, the true self is in touch with its humanity and knows its limits and can deeply connect with the Almighty. The false self is critical of self and others and tries to control and manipulate. In these false self moments, we must realize that we are out of center and return to our true self in order to hear God more clearly and understand ourselves more fully.
St. Augustine prayed, "Grant, Lord, that I may know myself that I may know thee." Similarly, John Calvin asserts in his Institutes, "It is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself." As we grow in our understanding of self and live within our true selves more authentically, we can more easily discern God's voice and presence. We can be freed from illusions and misconceptions and stop striving to be someone we are not or think the world around wants or needs us to be. When we do this, we come to realize that we can be standing on holy ground in the midst of our deepest struggles.