Fine Young Man

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet
And whither then? I cannot say. – J.R.R. Tolkien

I’m in a love/hate relationship with options. I love to have options. When I do, I don’t feel stuck. I feel like if it gets too bad, I can just walk away. Options, like this, bring some measure of peace.

But, options also distract and often to the point that they paralyze. You dream about them, you play with them, you court them, and if you aren’t careful, they prove to be your undoing.

If I had to choose, I think I’d choose no options. I’d rather have a single path to walk, so that I could just get along with walking it. Deep inside I crave focus and purpose.

If I may paraphrase Jesus: “Father, if there are options, I want to know about them. But, if there aren’t, I walk the road before me.” There were no options. He walked the road.

Where does this road lead? I cannot say, but I must follow it.

Here’s Dad with some big catfish he caught.

I keep hearing comments about us needing to be more spiritual or grow spiritually. I think I know what people mean by that. No, I take that back, what do we mean by that? Do we intend to go through each day in a trance with God telling us every move to make? That’s not what I intend. Here’s my question: what does ‘more spiritual’ look like? What would we be doing if we were?

I asked the apostle, Paul, that and the answers I got were surprising. Take Ephesians for example. Starting in chapter 4, maturity is maintaining unity and loving each other. Maturity is using our gifts to serve others. Maturity is living our lives in the light of Christ’s goodness and grace, watching how we live and talk and think. Maturity is being a good husband or wife, parent or child, slave or master. Spiritual maturity is not some gnostic trance but working out the real-life implications of God’s grace in all our lives. If that’s what we mean by ‘more spiritual’ then yes, we need to be ‘more spiritual’.

I haven’t kept up with the news about Haiti or the Nashville flood. I have seen a lot of stuff on Facebook & Twiiter about both. It is all very encouraging to see the good reports of churches responding in the ways they are. I must confess, though, that I mostly want to retreat as if nothing is going on. I feel faint of heart at all the need that is present in our world. I can’t help but wonder, “If disaster hit close to our home, would our church be able to respond effectively?” Or would we collapse from the exhaustion of our busy lives and endless activity to ourselves?