Choppy waves

Sometimes navigating this life is like a sailboat voyage out to sea. Days of comfort and calm, and days of stress and wandering into uncomfortable places. There is the knowing how to sail, and then the putting up with and going through the storms that you aren't quite ready for.

How do we navigate life when the choppy waves come flying in? How do we handle defeat? Worry? Financial struggle? A spouse who starts forgetting things as dementia takes their rightful loving place? How do we handle the hardest things in this world? Cancer. Kids going hungry. People being sold into slavery—still today? How do we handle what is inside? Those times we’re in choppy seas ourselves and no one else knows? What about that family member that wronged us? Do we reach back out? What about the guy with the F Kamala flag flying proudly in his front yard? What's his story? Why do I secretly hate people who hate people? Is there any room for love in that?

Life's questions in the arena of the world's tension and pains can be overwhelming. Whether it is internal, familial, friends, community, the world. Some days I really don't know how to navigate it. But, I'm learning that being here is truly a miracle. A gift—the things we get to see, and do, and be a part of. The opportunity we have to help someone. That changes things. Even more—when we're in a good group. One that is centered on Love. One that sees you and "they" more for who they can be, than who they might still be. I think as I try and pursue what's meaningful in life—I see that is God's heart. Redemption. Grace. And one I'd also love to have.

I saw this last week…As I sat in a large chapel at 8pm on Thursday. There was a group of churches in my city who’ve come together to be "Justice in Action." I was invited by a good Friend, and it was cool to see him caring about others in our city. The group is trying to help make practical advancements in areas that are hurting the least of these in our city. The imprisoned, the evicted, and the mentally unstable. Rather than talking about what they individually believed—it was a moment to connect on what we could actually do together. To love our neighbor. To not be too far removed from the tension. To hear stories, and not just sit on the sideline. But plan, and meet, and try to help. Even in the awkward. Even in the differences.

Trying is big. Then there is grit. But I think also a bit of surrender needed—We can’t do this whole life on our own. There’s a savior in our midst who has been through it and has a way. We just need to remember to get in the boat sometimes. Maybe that is what’s so cool about sailing. It takes all of you, and your crew and as the sail rises—surrender.

We like to see the end of the story, when the hero makes it past the villain. But in the beginning, the middle, the almost end—there's doubt, and hope, a mixed bag. You believe, we believe in things that matter. You pray and hope. Each of our pursuits- collective or not, mattering. You question though. Why? Is this going to work? Going to matter? You really don't know. But I'm learning that you keep trying. You keep showing up. Getting around good people. Rubbing shoulders with Grace and Love. Riding more in that boat and you’ll see life starts to mean something, and always has.

As I sat in that old pew and my back began to give out lol—I felt so thankful to be next to so many people different than me. Yet the same. A group of people that God had flown into the depths of hearts to show the gift of His Love and how much that can change a life. Our own. Our neighbor. Those struggling. And even who we think might be our enemy. I don't think this tension we might feel in life will ever go away. Maybe that is ok. Maybe we need it to remind us that it's not all about us. And when we find more than us, we find what it's all about…in the surrender.