For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen's University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt
"We are caught on a small island near the point where these tectonic plates - heaven and earth, future and present - are scrunching themselves together. Be ready for earthquakes!" [1]
I don't mean to make light of the situation in Haiti by referring to earthquakes, although I think there is an analogy here to be explored another day, but this quote from N.T. Wright grabs me because I feel the turmoil of tectonic plates in my life as I've committed myself to the pursuit of being fully human.
Last year while doing Essentials Blue for the first time, I was blown away by the notion that heaven and earth overlap within me and that I am a place where people can encounter God. This possibility of God-encounters only increases as I become more fully human, more Heather.
I always thought I had to be less Heather to be more like God, but come to find out I need to be more Heather in order to most accurately portray the image of the One I bear. To say this has caused upheaval would be an understatement.
But in the earthquake that has rocked my miniscule part of the planet, old structures (faulty, embedded beliefs) have fallen, treasures of the deep have been uncovered, natural resources have begun to grow again, and I am finding a pace and a peace that draws me nearer to God and releases me to glorify Him more completely.
As we become more fully human in our recognition, acknowledgement, and full acceptance of who we are uniquely created to be, may our lives make this declaration:
“God rules in this place. God’s goodness, love, mercy, kindness and grace are your shield and protection – offer your allegiance to this benevolent Sovereign who will rule us with mutual joy!” [2]
1 N.T. Wright, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense (New York: HarperCollins, 2006), 161.
2 Dan Wilt, Essentials in Worship Theology, 29.
