Finding God Here and Now

 

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  Ephesians 3:20-21

Yesterday, we explored how Spiritual formation was more than information, but a sensation that entered through the doorways of our hearts, crept in through the stairs of our souls, ticked the soles of our feet, and is found in the web of life that teethers us to each other and all God’s creation.  You are continually being formed (and sometimes misshaped) by the world within you and around you.  I’ve encouraged you to journal about people and places (the good and not so great or grand in life).  All this is important because it is how God shows up disguised as our life.  Paul says that God is at work in your life.  God is the painter, poet, composer, conductor of the symphony called your life.  And God is also the painter, poet, composer, and conductor of the symphony called the life of others you meet this day.  The world is filled with music, but not always harmony.  The world is alive with sound, some is dissonate as banging on a piano with your fist. 

Part of faith is the truth that God can take the beauty and chaos to create something good.  This is the truth of Genesis.  In the beginning there was just God and a swirling, sloshing inky sea.  God loves beginnings, but beginnings are messy.  (Hold that for your New Years Resolutions).  God is continually calling light and darkness to work together, to hold boundaries, and to work in our lives.  God is singing forth life to all creatures great and small. God is finding ways to move in our midst.  Let’s face it, most of the time we miss the new creation within us and around us.  We might look at the rearview mirror and see what was new more clearly, but when we are driving down the road of life at the frenzied pace we live, most of what we pass is blurry.  Because we don’t see people/places/experiences and encounters clearly (even though we think we do), we can tend to have a negativity bias ~ that this (whatever this is) is not good.

Go back to your list of saints (past and present) who have left fingerprints on your soul; your list of the good, bad, and ugly of the art project of life, and prayerfully ponder how God is at work in all of this.  You are being formed and reformed, you are dust/starlight and breath, you are limited and eternal, you are called to dream and dance, because God is here and now in your life.  I pray as you let these words sink and settle and sing to your soul today, you might sense the sacred stirring in ways that awaken and enliven you for this day.  To the glory of God we dedicate every moment and breath, Amen.