Good morning…
“I’m glad God is not fair,” said the middle aged man who battled through life-shattering addiction to become a husband at age forty-two and a father at forty-four then again at forty-six. His story reminds me of the quote that ends Falling Upward by Richard Rohr.
“Just remember: no one can keep you from the second half of your own life except yourself,” writes Rohr. “Nothing can inhibit your second journey except your own lack of courage, patience, and imagination. Your second journey is all yours to walk or to avoid.”
He goes on to explain: “My conviction is that some falling apart of the first journey is necessary for this to happen, so do not waste a moment of time lamenting poor parenting, lost job, failed relationship, physical handicap, gender identity, economic poverty, or even the tragedy of any kind of abuse. Pain is part of the deal. If you don’t walk into the second half of your own life, it is you who do not want it. God will always give you exactly what you truly want and desire. So make sure you desire, desire deeply, desire yourself, desire God, desire everything good, true, and beautiful.”
Rohr concludes: “All the emptying out is only for the sake of a Great Outpouring. God, like nature, abhors all vacuums, and rushes to fill them.” (160)
You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set (Psalm 119:1-3, MSG).
…Sue…
P.S. If you live in the Atlanta area, please join us for our annual Women’s Lenten Communion Service, on Tuesday, February 25th. We will hear an inspiring story from a young woman whose understands Rohr’s conviction: “Pain is part of the deal.”
2020 Women’s Lenten Communion Service
Tuesday, February 25 | 6:30 – 8:00PM | Northside Music Suite
“I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother… and in your mother…” says 2 Timothy 1:5, “and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” Betty Wallace, a beloved matriarch of Northside Church, blazed a path for our feet as she faithfully followed Jesus. On this special evening, Lisa Miller, Betty’s granddaughter, will share how Betty’s walk of faith has steadied her own steps as she has traveled up from a deep, unexpected valley. Join us for an open Communion, and receive your complimentary 2020 Lenten devotional book.
