Monday, December 31, 2012

Life is Breaking Out



Here we are on the precipice of tomorrow. The start of a new year. The night we look behind to all that has been and the celebration of all that is to come. We mourn. We celebrate. We wonder. The season of Epiphany is approaching. The child has been born, the Son has been given. The gifts are arriving. The hope is growing. Can it be true? Is there one who can save us? One who can help make sense of our little worlds and our not so little battles, disappointments, misunderstandings, fears, confusions, betrayals and broken dreams? Is there one who can hold all these little worlds ‘in the palm of His hand?’

I recently finished a book by Jeff Imbach called The Recovery of Love. He unpacks four Christian mystics of the 14th century, sharing their stories and their lives - their little worlds. In his last few pages reflecting on Dante’s The Divine Comedy, Imbach challenges his readers on their passions and desires, their deep-seated hopes and dreams; their longings. He dares to say that there is a healthy, divine, sacred way to embrace our longings. A way that leads to transformation. Is there one who can save us? Is freedom possible?

Hear some words from Imbach, “Passion is, in it’s essence, the bubbling up of Divine Love at the centre of our being…accepting the passion unconditionally faces one with the reality of choice…choice becomes a real possibility when longing is accepted and fulfillment is celebrated but not demanded. This is the place of freedom, the place where ‘all things are yours.’”

What are you and I longing for? What passion is waiting to break out? What life, healing, longing, hope, dream, desire, ache, or gift is on the precipice? Is it possible to hold it with an open hand? To celebrate the potential but not demand it? To acknowledge the goodness, the sweetness, the opportunity and yet not crush it?

One of my favorite podcasts is from Relevant magazine. They introduced their ‘Best of 2012’ podcast this week with a song from Gungor called ‘Dry Bones.’ I offer these lyrics as a reflection on the Christmas season that has passed and all the epiphanies of the New Year that are to come. Is there one who can save us?
Here’s a YouTube link if you’d like to listen while reading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJWHZnZ9E6k

My soul cries out
My soul cries out for you

These bones cry out
These dry bones cry for you
To live and move
'Cause only You can raise the dead
Can lift my head up

Jesus, You're the one who saves us
Constantly creates us into something new
Jesus, surely you will find us
Surely our Messiah will make all things new
Will make all things new

Life is breaking out, it's breaking out
Life is breaking out, it's breaking out, it's breaking out

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