Shine

Picture a lightbulb just barely glowing, the filament giving off just the slightest hint of orange light. Now what if I held up a second lightbulb that was completely off, giving off absolutely no light, and then I ask you if the first lightbulb was 'on' or 'off'. What would you say? Most likely, compared to the second buld which was completely off, you'd say the first was 'on'. Now what if I held up a third lightbulb that shined so bright that the contores of the bulb were not even distinguishable because of the glow. Now would you say the first lightbulb is 'on' or 'off'?

The correct answer is that it depends. If the entire range of a lightbulb's capabilities were between the first and the second then the first would certainly be on. But if the first lightbulb had the potential to shine as bright as the third then we would probably be right to say that, in its present state, that bulb is by all rights off.

With all that in mind, lemme ask just one last question. Is it possible to be living but still not be alive? Everyday we are surrounded by people with a pulse but hardly anything that could be called a very lively life. Since when did our lives get so boring that we sit down in front of the TV and watch other people live their lives?! True we're not dead, but many of us, Christians included, never come close to the quality of life we have the potential of experiencing. Jesus said this when he said, "I came to give you life - life to the fullest." He came not only to save us from going to hell when we die, but to model a quality of life that we could take on and model to the world - now. Jesus would look at the quality of many of our lives and says that's not life at all.

Jesus calls us the light of the world and tells us not to hide our light but shine like a city set on a hill. Would people look at our life and want it? More importantly, would people look at our life and want to know Jesus more? So how do we begin to achieve this quality of life Jesus says is possible? Your passions, your attitude, the rhythm of your day-to-day life - all of these things play into it but there is no simple answer. Jesus does get us a long way there when he said to "seek first the kingdom of heaven, and all these things will be added to you."

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. This is the kind of life I want to live. I'd invite you to think about it as well and feel free to leave your comments.

Spirituality at the Speed of Life

So my goals of regular blogging have been somewhat stifled as of late but I am going to make it a goal to post at least once on the weekends at the very least. I will build back up to more posts from there. On to the update...

Katie and I finished our first week of work a day ago and it went really well. I'm working as a Software Consultant for Captech Ventures and Katie is a Leasing Consultant for Bramblewood Estates. God has blessed both of us with incredible companies that are really doing well. Captech has about 100 employees and plans to hire around 20 more people this year alone! Beacon Residencial, the company that owns Bramblewood Estates, continues to acquire new property all over the region as well. Katie spent her first week learning the ropes at the property while I spent my week learning the ropes at Captech and waiting to hear where my first client would be. On Friday, I received word that I would be going down to work for CapitalOne on the south side of the city. It's about a 20 minute commute (a little long) but I will be doing some Project Management which is what I wanted to learn more about anyways. I start there on Monday so I'm excited to see how it goes.

We also just came from our third Sunday at Commonwealth Chapel. What an amazing community. I've been interacting with their pastor, Rob, for several months but today was his first "official" Sunday there as their new pastor. My favorite thing about their community (other than the fact that they genuinely love God and each other) is the diversity of the church. There are babies there and 80 year olds, blacks, whites, latinos, college students, singles, newlyweds, families, and all sorts of other flavors of humanity - its awesome! I met a woman last week who sat behind me that had gone to that church for over 50 years!!! The worship is great and Rob is a great communicator. Katie and I were going to spend the summer church shopping before we decide on a church but the more we go here, the more I don't want to check out any other churches. I still think we will check out some other churches but am starting to think that this is where God might want us to be.

Starting with Week 2 of work tomorrow, I am hoping we can start to develop a routine, or weekly rhythm. We have two nights planned to do social stuff, probably one or two nights where Katie and I will get out of the house and do something, and a night or two of just vegitating around the apartment. I can't yet say that I feel swept away by the speed of life, that I feel helpless to really do anything but come home from work and just go to bed to do it all over again - frankly, I don't think this is the inevitability everyone swore it would be for us. By the end of the year I fully expect to be back in ministry doing my best to serve at whatever church we feel called by God to call home. I fully expect to get with God today, tomorrow, and everyday, same as I have for a while. Life does fly by at a pretty incredible rate but I hold to my belief that you make time for the things that are truly important to you. That with a little optimism and forethought about how you want to spend your week, spirituality is possible at this, and every, speed of life.

Too good to be true?

After what seems like an eternity, I am finally able to sit down and blog. After graduating, getting married, going on my honeymoon, and moving to Richmond, I have finally settled in my apartment to begin this new chapter in my life - which I now share with my wife Katie! I still wouldn't describe life at this point as "calm", perhaps maybe "subdued chaos", but now I can actually see calmness rising over the horizon emitting a light of peace I am beginning to feel the warmth of.

This entire experience, by that I mean the last month of my life and also the last six years or so following God, has brought me in regular contact with the concept of "too good to be true." Is that last statement actually possible? I will say that my present experience is so absolutely amazing that it does seem surreal sometimes. But the more I've thought about it over the years, "too good to be true" has turned out to be a cynical, and ultimately baseless, outlook on life. This is especially true if your worldview includes an infinite loving God like the One I am utterly convinced does, in fact, exist (without God, such a statement could make absolute sense-but that's for another blog). The even more remarkable fact is that in the Kingdom of God, which Jesus spoke so often about, this "absolutely amazing" quality of life that I am currently experiencing is what in kingdom-speak would be called "normal". Jesus calls this "life to the fullest" and tells us that his purpose in coming to earth is to give access to and model such a life. In fact, anything short of absolutely amazing in the Kingdom is odd. According to God, normalcy is found in the miraculous, joy is the rule, and love is a law more reliable than gravity. And in the world we live in it is possible to experience in part what we will one day experience in all its fullness.

Sitting here tonight, I've now come to believe the opposite about what I once believed about life - most things in this world are "too bad to be true." And even now, as I look ahead beyond the horizon of my present experience, I know that tough times and trials will lay ahead. But as I experience those times I will be resolute in my belief that they, in no way, bear any resemblance to the Kingdom I am ultimately journeying toward.

That's not just optimism - it's realism in its most profound sense.