Beauty, Heroes and Dreams
“Wind speaks of our need to lift our sails into the wind, to
learn the arts of riding the winds that are sent to us, and working with God to
manipulate our sails so that we can get to where God has invited us to go.” [1]
A relief to know it’s not all up to me…relief to know that I
can lift up my sail to the wind of the Spirit and allow Him to blow and direct
my life.
Doing that doesn’t come easily, however. My desire to control, to know, and to
understand often overrides my desire to flow, to rest, and to sail by the
Spirit.
It is through the spiritual discipline of quiet and rest
that I find strength to live the inspired life, a life full of passion, full of
love, full of a sense of mission that goes beyond myself and reaches into the
depths of the love of Christ that I might join in His mission of seeing
“humanity restored, new creation coming in people and in the cosmos and
deliverance coming to Israel.”[2] Spiritual discipline exposes the deep places
of my heart to beauty, heroes and dreams.
Intentionally building moments of beauty into my life for
inspiration opens up space for God to refresh and refill me with His Spirit, so
I feel as if I’ve been “’lifted and struck’ like a bell,” [3] my life ringing
with purpose and promise.
I need to find heroes whose lives are an inspiration to me,
those who help me remember that “God has placed greatness in [me], by
reflecting that greatness in themselves.” [4]
I must purpose to spend time learning from them, seeing Jesus in them.
Dreaming with God reminds me I am part of something bigger
and that He has not left me alone; rather, He longs to fill my life with His
strength so that every moment of every day might be lived from a strong center,
confident that He has woven treasures of inspiration throughout my day. These golden threads can be found no matter
how mundane or routine the task, and learning to “be inspired in the midst
of…duties” keeps me childlike, doing the same thing over and over again
“through excess, not absence of life.” [5]
G.K. Chesterton says, “…grown-up people are not strong
enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps
God is strong enough to exult in monotony…It may not be automatic necessity
that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately,
but has never got tired of making them.” [6]
May I grow in my ability to lean into the wind, finding
inspiration in beauty, heroes, and dreams.
May I never tire of loving in the midst of duty. May I always find beauty in my surroundings
and be inspired to live fully present, reflecting the greatness of God in the
ordinary and extraordinary of every-day life.
1 Dan Wilt, Essentials in Spiritual Formation
digital book, 15
2 ibid, 19
2 ibid, 19
3 ibid, 17
4 ibid, 17
5 ibid, 18
6 ibid, 18
No comments:
Post a Comment