Reading

I am reading The Shaping of A Life by Phyllis Tickle.

She is a prolific author and has served as the Religion Editor for Publishers Weekly for years. She is a novelist, a religionist, and a pilgrim on the path to authentic spirituality.

She is also a keen observer of American church culture and has recently authored a book entitled, The Great Emergence. It is worth the time to journey through its 150 pages.

But for now I am journeying through the pages of The Shaping of A Life.

Maybe it is an "age & stage" thing. Maybe it is that I am tracking with her writings. Maybe it is because what she writes seems to explain some of the questions that I face.

I was reading along and ran across this statement.....

Reverence may be the road to the sacred

and wisdom may be the natural song of the spirit,

but story is the text of God

and the groundskeeper of prayer.

Reverence Road....to the sacred...I want to walk on that road. To often my road takes me through rambunctious alleys and byways. My prayer is that I will travel reverently toward the sacred.

Story....the text of God....I want my life story to reflect His story. To often my story takes precendence over what He wants to do. My prayer is that I will let my story go and fully embrace His.

EM Forster was right when he wrote....

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned

so that we can have the life that is waiting for us.

As a pilgrim, I am learning to let go. I am learning to take His hand. Phyllis Tickle's writings are falling like fresh rain on parched ground.

All of this rain and dry ground is making lots of mud....and that's OK. Jesus did some pretty amazing things with mud.