Arise, and depart.
The hour is approaching when the message will come to us, as it comes to all–“Arise, and go forth from the home in which thou hast dwelt, from the city in which thou hast done thy business, from thy family, from thy friends. Arise, and take thy journey.” And what know we of the journey? And what know we of the country to which we are bound? A little we have read thereof, and somewhat has been revealed to us by the Spirit; but how little do we know of the realms of the future!
– Charles Spurgeon
God said, “Go from your country
and your people and your family home
to a land I will show you…
and you will be a blessing.
—Genesis 12.1-2
These days many of my United Methodist clergy colleagues are preaching their last sermons in their churches and packing up to go to a new appointment. Students are graduating and heading off into new chapters in their lives. Some of us are staying put, but invisibly all of us are moving on, even if it is simply to a new way of living, a new depth of forgiveness, a new place of awareness or openness or compassion. God calls us to go, to leave behind the familiar and to venture into the mystery, because that’s where we meet God. We meet God in the place of not knowing, not being in control. Our unknowing opens our hearts to the presence of the One who is beyond all comprehension.
In the strange place, God is with you. In the awkward, hesitant moment, the Beloved accompanies you. In the tricky passage you have never encountered before, where you don’t quite know what to do, you are a gift, not because of your expertise, but because the Holy One is in you, radiant with blessing. Someone needs you to be right there, even if they haven’t been born yet.
Let go of what you must. Grieve what you leave behind. Do not seek self-confidence but God-confidence. Go into the mystery, where you will meet God. You will be blessed to be a blessing. And know that you are held in prayer, in gratitude and in solidarity as you go.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net
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