life is a journey...

Rebekah in Cades Cove

had intended to write about our unstable world “situation” today, to comment on our (American) foreign policy, and to suggest a new “doctrine” when it comes to how we relate to other nations…. But that’s going to have to wait, because I wrote something else that pleased me and I’m going to have to go with that – at least to get this post started.

Regardless of the topic, I’ll throw in some more Appalachian Adventure photos. Today they’re from Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Historic Methodist church in Cades Cove

HERE’S THE THING: I’ve been involved in a week-long discussion with several people about the character of God, and how difficult it is to wrap our heads around biblical texts where it appears that God orders death, destruction, brutality and even infanticide. My recent post (Saturday, Lothlórien” – woods, old growth, and new thoughts about faith) deals with some of that.

Late-summer wildflowers

So, in kind of wrapping up that portion of the discussion, I wrote the following words in response to one comment: “I’m merely speculating, as I have nothing to go on other than my personal experience of the character of God. I believe that Jesus is the best clue we have as to what God is like, and the atrocity stuff just doesn’t seem to be consistent with the picture of God that is painted throughout the biblical narrative. Again, what I said in my last ‘reply’ is as good as I can do right now….”

IT’S A JOURNEY: Then, and this is what I want to highlight in today’s post, I said this:

It’s a journey; I’m glad I’m on it; I’m pleased that Jesus is my guide and that God is patient with my small mind; I love the community of faith we’re in; I’m thankful for the witness of selfless love that is all around me; I can’t wait to see what happens next. It’s all good – DEREK

• 

  It’s a journey… (Rebekah and Scout)
  It’s a journey;
• I’m glad I’m on it;
• I’m pleased that Jesus is my guide and that God is patient with my small mind;
• I love the community of faith we’re in;
• I’m thankful for the witness of selfless love that is all around me;
• I can’t wait to see what happens next;
• It’s all good.

My focus in writing often seems to be about the journey. To some extent, especially here during this lifetime, I believe that the journey is the destination. This is the life-charged life that we’re living; and because it’s life-charged, I am willing to move forward – always – with Jesus as my guide.

Great conversation is grist for the (Cades Cove) mill

CHALLENGE: It’s a real challenge to try to write about an infinite, ineffable, timeless, larger-than-the-Universe, God – especially when we use terrestrially-based language, and thought-processes that emanate from brains at best a few standard deviations above “normal!” But at least we’re trying! And it’s worth (maybe it demands) these difficult conversations.

And I’m kind of thankful that I can’t make sense of it sometimes because, well, what would it say about God if I could wrap my mind around it all?

View across Cades Cove

And I really do believe that this is a lot of the explanation as to why God sent Jesus, to help us figure out more reasonably who God is and what God’s intentions are toward human-kind.

Peace and love – DEREK