Stardust of Experiences and encounters

 

Last week, you pondered the places and people that left impressions on your soul.  The four walls where you received snail mail still reside and rest in the cobwebbed corners of your soul.  Perhaps you felt a bit of nostalgia; the Israelites, even though Egypt was a place of oppression, still wanted to return.  You may have some longing to go back to a place in your past, as Dorothy longed for Kansas.  In addition to our homes, countless people have crossed our paths, leaving traces of grace and grime on us.  People can live rent-free in our minds, and we can’t seem to evict them.  We may discover that we are volunteering at a particular place today because we want to impress our mother, who died years ago.  We may be trying to quiet that inner critic who will never be satisfied, even if you leapt over a tall building in one jump while solving world hunger and forever bringing world peace.  The truth is that everywhere we’ve been shapes us, and everyone we’ve spent more than a few seconds with can take control of the steering wheel or choose the radio station as you drive down the highway of life. 

 

This week, we will add to the chart and art of the story we tell ourselves.  In the space beneath the places/people, I invite you to add stars that reflect some of your experiences/encounters in that place.  The moments that left a lingering/lasting impression.  For example, under Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where I was born, I might write down times I went fishing with my family, and we cooked breakfast on a propane grill (yes, the pancakes got burnt to a crisp, and no amount of sugary syrup helped).  From my time in seminary in Minnesota, I could write about meeting my wife, which was/still is the best day ever!  Also, consider some of the challenging times.  From my childhood, I might have written down my dad losing his job.  During my time living in Minnesota, I would write down, trying to figure out if I was cut out for local church ministry after my first internship.  You can do this in chart form.  Or if you want to let loose your inner artist, draw a star.  At each of the points, write down the spontaneous joy times for that location in life and also the difficult or demanding moments. 

 

I choose stars as a symbol because we have both soil and stardust in our souls.  You are a stunning, sometimes scattered, sacred mixture of people, places, events, and experiences that have gone into the recipe of your life.  The story you tell yourself about yourself, the narratives you repeat at a party when you meet someone for the first time, are a combination and culmination of the past and present.  The stories of yesterday shape us and point us, like a star, toward the future.  Please remember that if all this is feeling too much right now, you have permission (not that you really need it) to not do any of this.  This invitation does not have an expiration date.  You can pick up this prayer practice of listening to your one wild and precious life anytime your shy soul says, “Let’s do that together; it would be fun!!” 

 

It is my prayer as you rewind and remember, reflect and review, God would stir up the beautiful dustiness (remember this image from Genesis 2 ~ God crafting the first human out of dust, which is true for you too).  My prayer is that you would hear God hovering and humming to you.  While God may not call your name from burning bushes, God can be heard in family and ordinary days and beautiful ways.  May you and I discover the Divine who has been part of us and led us thus far on the way.  Amen.