Senior 24: Home and Belonging
“HOME IS WHERE IT’S impossible to overstay and you can’t wear out your welcome.”
Reflecting on this truth (which one of my mentors shared with me) has been wonderfully rewarding and encouraging for me this week. I was also reading (and shared in a brief devotional about) John 15; in the first seventeen verses of that chapter, Jesus makes various statements about abiding in the vine, abiding in Christ’s love, bearing fruit, making requests of God, keeping God’s commandments, being friends of Christ, and loving one another.
As I reflected on this aphorism and the short scripture passage, I was heartened by the strong sense of "belonging" that emerged. So much of life seems to be driven by expectations--of teachers, friends, family, or even oneself. We are positively obsessed with hitting the mark, making the deadline, meeting the quota, and reaching that level; and when we fail, frustration, discouragement, and bitterness often follow. We all sense that critical eye--watching us, evaluating us, measuring and appraising us.
How freeing would it be to escape that critical, condemning eye? To live in the true reality of security, warmth, and well-being?
This is, in part, the picture that emerges in John 15: a branch abiding in the vine. That sense of "belonging" naturally emerges, along with dependence, reliance, and sustenance. And Jesus assures His disciples, "he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit". We don't have to worry about the results; that will be taken care of.
Jesus also says, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." Talk about presumption! Me, ask for whatever I wish!?! Who would endure it? --Apparently, God would. The image of a child asking her parents for a gift comes to mind; there is no presumption in this image because it is quite right and appropriate for a child to make requests of her parents.
And finally, "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you." He calls us "friends." There is no criticism, no evaluation. Instead, acceptance and a loving embrace.
"Home is where it's impossible to overstay and you can't wear out your welcome." Home is where you belong, where familial love is at the center and there is neither presumption nor imposition. And this is the relationship that we have with our Heavenly Father.
ASIDE: It seems to me that this is also the environment most conducive to solid growth. John 15 also speaks of obeying God's commandments; but this instruction cannot be separated from the context.
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TODAY WAS MY LAST day of work at APU Facilities Management. About eight of the staff and student employees took me out to lunch at a small Mexican restaurant. The APU custodial department has an all-around great staff. If you're in the dorms during the morning or see one of them around campus, do say, Hello. And if you have more time, talk to them. (And always be conscientious about flushing toilets, throwing trash away in the proper receptacles, and cleaning up after yourself).
THIS WEEKEND BEGINS MEN'S Chorale choir camp. Interacting with the other two chaplains has been very exciting; I'm really looking forward to this year.
ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH FOR now.
Blessings, all
-----
"God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world."
Reflecting on this truth (which one of my mentors shared with me) has been wonderfully rewarding and encouraging for me this week. I was also reading (and shared in a brief devotional about) John 15; in the first seventeen verses of that chapter, Jesus makes various statements about abiding in the vine, abiding in Christ’s love, bearing fruit, making requests of God, keeping God’s commandments, being friends of Christ, and loving one another.
As I reflected on this aphorism and the short scripture passage, I was heartened by the strong sense of "belonging" that emerged. So much of life seems to be driven by expectations--of teachers, friends, family, or even oneself. We are positively obsessed with hitting the mark, making the deadline, meeting the quota, and reaching that level; and when we fail, frustration, discouragement, and bitterness often follow. We all sense that critical eye--watching us, evaluating us, measuring and appraising us.
How freeing would it be to escape that critical, condemning eye? To live in the true reality of security, warmth, and well-being?
This is, in part, the picture that emerges in John 15: a branch abiding in the vine. That sense of "belonging" naturally emerges, along with dependence, reliance, and sustenance. And Jesus assures His disciples, "he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit". We don't have to worry about the results; that will be taken care of.
Jesus also says, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." Talk about presumption! Me, ask for whatever I wish!?! Who would endure it? --Apparently, God would. The image of a child asking her parents for a gift comes to mind; there is no presumption in this image because it is quite right and appropriate for a child to make requests of her parents.
And finally, "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you." He calls us "friends." There is no criticism, no evaluation. Instead, acceptance and a loving embrace.
"Home is where it's impossible to overstay and you can't wear out your welcome." Home is where you belong, where familial love is at the center and there is neither presumption nor imposition. And this is the relationship that we have with our Heavenly Father.
ASIDE: It seems to me that this is also the environment most conducive to solid growth. John 15 also speaks of obeying God's commandments; but this instruction cannot be separated from the context.
-----
TODAY WAS MY LAST day of work at APU Facilities Management. About eight of the staff and student employees took me out to lunch at a small Mexican restaurant. The APU custodial department has an all-around great staff. If you're in the dorms during the morning or see one of them around campus, do say, Hello. And if you have more time, talk to them. (And always be conscientious about flushing toilets, throwing trash away in the proper receptacles, and cleaning up after yourself).
THIS WEEKEND BEGINS MEN'S Chorale choir camp. Interacting with the other two chaplains has been very exciting; I'm really looking forward to this year.
ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH FOR now.
Blessings, all
-----
"God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world."
posted by Metaphysician_delta | 9:16 PM
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