Who We Are

My dear friend Iona has her own blog, and I visit everyday. Sometimes she has a new post, and sometimes I read one of the "old" ones. I never seem to get bored. Today she talked about her blog being the recording of her life and how sometimes it simply records the mundane, but it is not meant to be churchy, just real. She is being honest. That is her goal, and she is very good at it.

The thing is, with Iona she doesn't need to be preachy. Her whole life is a sermon. I've known Iona a long time now, and I've known her to go through different seasons, various heart aches, and some rich blessings. During all of that, she has consistently leaned on God to sustain her. Even when her mind was full of questions, her spirit was full of faith. She doesn't have to be preachy. She just lives the faith she professes. It is far more effective, in my opinion.

I admire Iona. I not only admire her faith. I admire her style of life. I admire her writing. Sometimes I want to be like her. Sometimes I can just smile at how God blesses us with passions that look so different and yet so alike.

I am like Iona in that I write my heart, what is rolling around in my head. Iona tends to give a whole picture book in her blogs, and I tend to give a photograph and then express what it means as it rolls around in my head.

Years ago, a friend of mine told me I reminded him of a mystic. I didn't know exactly what he meant, but he is a Christian, and he said it in a complimentary tone, so I trusted it was a good thing. A few months ago I was in a spiritual disciplines class, and the teacher referred to mystics. He wasn't as complimentary. He was grouping people into categories based on belief in God's activity in today's world. There are those who believe God isn't active at all. There are people who think God is active and responds to prayer, but for the most part, He isn't showy. Then there is the group that believe everything means something that God is in every detail and He is always trying to communicate through all aspects of life. The last group, he said rather contemptuously, are called "mystics". My light bulb of understanding went off, and I smiled to myself. Yep, I'm one of those.

I won't elaborate on it at this time because I am growing tired. It's early, and I slept horribly due to the emotional duress of yesterday and the concern for our puppy we still have. However, I bring all of this up because I've been accused of being preachy, and I've been accused of being "sappy". It isn't my goal to be either, and I don't believe either of those are correct. It's just that I take the Word of God to mean what it says--
All things work to the good of those who love the Lord and are called unto His purpose.
I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to do you good, to give you hope and a future.
The steps of a righteous man are ordered of God.
Romans 1:20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

I could go on, but it truly is my belief that in all things God desires to reveal Himself. He wants us to understand His character, and He uses things we can understand to express complex qualities of Himself. So, if I sound preachy, know that isn't my intent. I am merely taking the situation given to me and seeking the Lord in it so that I might understand Him better. By understanding Him, my faith grows, and by seeing Him, I can emulate Him better. It is easier to be like Him when I know what He is like. My writing is simply a written form of what rolls in my head as I seek Him, and maybe it helps others, too.