A New Season

This is a season of shifting sand. One person close to me referred to it as liminal. "Liminal" meaning on the edge. I certainly feel like I am living in the outskirts of the life I once knew. So, today I center on the image of the Abbey of Iona (you can see it at the top of my blog.) This tiny island has become a place where my spirit feels so centered and at peace. Below, I share my centering thoughts for my blog's name as well as the journey I am on.
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I have long thought about life in terms of fluidity. Something instinctual inside of me has been able to acknowledge that nothing in this world is static. Rather all aspects of life and who I am are ever changing, shifting, growing, being made new.

Perhaps that's why places and images that have come to mean the most to me relate to nature and the elements of the created world (earth, wind, fire, and water). Rivers, waterfalls, the ocean, cleansing fire and falling rain, rocks and pebbles...the tides and waves of the ocean, rising and falling rivers....and the change of the seasons.

Somehow in my life answers have never come easy; nor has walking by faith, not by sight. Truth has been revealed through deep spiritual wrestling. And even in the midst of the rest which usually follows that wrestling, I question what I sense has been revealed.

I have long felt that my call to ministry has not fit traditional expression. Yet, I have struggled to figure out a life-giving way to answer that call. After all these years of trying to make my tradition and my call fit together, to discover another way, or to take a leap of faith only to find myself paralyzed by the fear of leaping into financial uncertainty and the unknown, the river of my life has taken a sharp change of direction providing no other choice but to walk into the unknown.

This change is not simply spiritual or even vocational. It is also an absolutely new expression of home. It means packing. It means moving. It means home ownership for the first time. It has meant job hunting and going through the arduous task of filling out paperwork and gathering necessary documents so that I can start secular work in a way that still allows me to be present for my family.

But, the "venue" for our new sense of home is a space in which give me a view of the river. That view is spiritual, meaning it is a place where I can continue the journey I have long been on for self-discovery and growth. It is also a literal view.

I moved to Pennsylvania the summer of 2001. In the over 18 years I have lived here, I have lost track of the number of hours I have driven along or walked along either the main or west branches of the Susquehanna River. I have no idea how many times I havehad to cross the river. I have lived in proximity of the river. I have had numerous occasions when the ebb and flow of the Susquehanna has disrupted my life.

I am blessed by the ways my God provides. As my life shifts in dramatic ways, I am blessed that I have the space to ponder spiritual changes. I have a view for examining the shaping the River of Life is washing over my life. But, God is providing a space for physical shelter as well. The venue of the space for home with my family and my studio for my work will have a view of the River. My home and studio will have an actual view of the Susquehanna River which has marked much of my adult life already by it's physical presense. I am grateful that my life will continue to be shaped by the River's natural beauty.

Going forward, I plan to share from my perspective of the River View. These sharings may simply be an expression of praise for the natural beauty of the world. The sharings might be related to personal transformation.  Prayerfully, a few of you might want to check in from time to time to hear what the River of God is up to. I invite you along for the journey.