I've been in a small group of three others from North Carolina, Cincinnati, and Oregon. We've shared life stories, dreamed about how to live our authentic lives, and helped each other craft a 'rule of life'. Am I living the life God wants me to lie?
We've talked about sabbath, about planning for the future, about what God is calling me to be. We've heard from other great voices, like the following poem from Judy Brown.
Fire
What makes a fire burn
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Too much of a good thing,
too many logs
packed in too tight
can douse the flames
almost as surely
as a pail of water would.
So building fires
requires attention
to the spaces in between,
as much as to the wood.
When we are able to build
open spaces
in the same way
we have learned
to pile on the logs,
then we can come to see how
it is fuel, and absence of the fuel
together, that make fire possible.
We only need to lay a log
lightly from time to time.
A fire grows
simply because the space is there,
with openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way.
Now, I'm thinking about what to do when I return to my 'normal' life. How can I bring this sense of space and priority to my days.
One thing I need to return to is my regular practice of sitting with scripture and writing about it. After completing 365 days through the Bible, and writing each morning, I needed a break. Now I need to spend time with scripture once again.
To that end, I did a typically nerdy Carter thing. I made my own devotional. I used some online tools and searched the Bible for all instances of some pretty meaningful words to me - poverty, homeless, demoniac, hungry, family servant. I have a list of over 500 passages. I'll randomly select one, read it and the surrounding passages and write.
Join me on my journey.
