Integration

Overwhelmed, uninformed, and inadequate. Don't worry...I'm not about to do the backstroke through a pity pool, just recognizing reality. Life feels like this sometimes and right now is one of those times. I'm not experiencing any severe "trials" or anything, in fact most of what is going on is good. But sometimes the shear volume of activities is more life-thwarting than life-giving. Multiple worlds or responsibility rightfully demanding attention, but no sense of cohesion or priority to guide my next step. It's too easy to focus on one area to the neglect (or even the abuse) of others. My assumption is your world, while different in specifics, is fundamentally the same.

This is where the value of Scripture as both mirror and map is so evident in my life. Specifically the life of Christ and it's impact on me...here and now. There is a holistic reality to His life that convicts, encourages, and spurs me on. The weaving of the 3 strands of Christ as means, model, and message of salvation serving as a tether to connect me to what matters. I don't think the secret of Jesus' life is simplicity (though simplicity is a virtue worthy of pursuit), but rather integration, the seamless melding of all things in to the sacred rhythms of life connected to God the Father. Maybe that's part of what we lost in the garden...in our quest to know "good and evil" our eyes were clouded to the divine and we've been groping around ever sense trying to make sense of things we have no capacity to fully understand. This definitely puts the arguments and philosophies of men in perspective (Colossians 2:8-10). More than anything I find myself grateful and humbled by the work of Christ in life. And oddly enough...that makes things not so overwhelming. I have to think living missionally is as much helping people experience that as it is anything else.