September 30, 2019
We are creators, innovators, builders. We are teachers, philosophers, deep thinkers, researchers. We are scientists, farmers, machine operators, technicians, IT specialists. We are pastors, counsellors, administrators.
We can do it. We have done it. We used do it. We wish we could still do it. We were good at it.
Comes a time when we cannot do it. Not like we used to.
Reduced in capacity by too many years, by illness, by dementia.
Once strong, now vulnerable. Brittle.
Where now the strength, the prowess, the creativity and agility of mind and body?
The Illusions of weakness and irrelevance seek to wrap us in dark clouds.
There are ghostly calls upon our spirit, Illusions tempting us to fear and panic in our pain.
The Great Illusion of Death hovers on the edge, seeking to prise open our spirit, gain entry by pretence.
In our darkest moment the Spirit of Life speaks to us of the Jesus Story
Not in trumpet sound or lightening flash but in the quietness of dawn when the tomb was opened.
Illusions are shattered for us who open to the Jesus Story
New Freedoms created to reinvigorate our life:
FREEDOM OF AWARENESS
A renewed awareness of ourselves: who we are, where we have come from, what we have done, the person we have been, the person we now are. An exultation of our goodness and worth because of – not in spite of – our pain, frailty, fear and loss of vigor
A renewed awareness of our relationships with family, friends, colleagues. This brings us to the heart of the matter, our connection with those we love and who love us, our connection with a world both redeemed and wounded. We wear the badge of authenticity with brazen courage, for we have walked through fire to be cleansed.
FREEDOM OF CREATIVITY
In our limitations, sickness, frailty we are free to recreate our humanness in many different ways and modes: through color, art, reading, meditation, sharing our spirit and reflections with those whose shadow we enter. In our weakness we are powerful in our creativity.
FREEDOM OF RESPONSIBILITY
We are free to take responsibility for the way we act, respond, relate, think. In ways optimistic and beautiful. We will not take refuge in negativity, wanting to be useless, seeking pity or wanting to be alone, alone on a lonely shore. We take command of our ship and sail where we are called.
FREEDOM OF COMMITMENT
We are free to fully commit to our life and that of our neighbor, without reservation. Regardless of limitation. We will not lower the flag, we will speak the truth always, when our voice has no more sound, our spirit will reverberate with others across the universe, joining with a myriad other songs and stories that speak of life, goodness, hope, redemption and … light at the end of each tunnel.
The Spirit breathes upon the world whispering in the wind the Jesus Story
