We Make the Road by
Walking It
Nancy Gowler Johnson, Pastor -
First Christian Church of Puyallup
Hi everyone,
I get e-updates from Brian McLaren. He's a leading speaker/writer in a Christian movement called the Emerging Church. He's written several books that I highly recommend--a couple of them are even on our website bookstore through Amazon. You should check them out!
http://www.fccpuyallup.com/FCCStore/FCCStore.htm
Anyway, his newest book is called Everything Must Change, and it's a call for Christians to take seriously the issues of world poverty, disease, and environmental issues.
This quote from his email, stuck with me today. He writes about his book and his call to Christians to take action, he says,
"WE MAKE THE ROAD BY WALKING IT."
We're not going to offer a guided tour of a completed road. We're going to determine to start walking together...walking (as my friend Jim Henderson says) off the map, into terra nova, as we go, making a road that, by God's grace, will be available for others in the future in a way that it wasn't available to us."
In other places he talks about a Deep Shift occurring:
"A time of transition
rethinking
re-imagining
and re-envisioning
A time for asking new questions
and seeking answers
that are both new and old
fresh and seasoned
surprising and familiar"
I hear his words speaking to us as well. We're walking off the map...using the wisdom of the past & from the present (as well as learning from the past mistakes) to find our own way. That's exciting. It's also scary. And for those who aren't comfortable without a printed guide from Mapquest, this can be downright painful! For me the exciting part of his words is that not only are we walking this path for ourselves, but we're opening a way for others in the future. For those of us with our children (and grandchildren) and for those who have a deep passion for children, this seems to me to be the great promise. I want a church for the future that is a place where my child, and others too, will find guidance for their spiritual journeys and real challenges that following the way of Jesus offers. Not a gimicky worship or church that's finely-tuned for American sensibilities, but an authentic gathering of individuals on a way of faith together. My prayer is that the church will be that gathering.
Just a few thoughts on a Tuesday morning. May your day be filled with wonder!
Nancy
