SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY

Category: CU Div School

  • Sacred Steps

    Ever hear or say – “I’m tired of walking…how much further?…do you have to park so far away from the door?…how many steps have you taken today?”   It is as if every step in our world seems to be measured.  I purposefully park far away from the entrance of where I am going…I want to save the closer spaces for those who don’t have those capabilities.  I wear a Garmin and the number of my steps are tracked every day.  My steps lead me to work and around my house…to church… But, rarely do I see my steps as sacred…at least not when I am taking them.  Sacred – connected to God, holy, hallowed, blessed…

    Looking back over the past, though, is a different story.  The sacred begins to appear as I consider where my footsteps have taken me.  I remember taking the sacred steps as I walked down the aisle almost 20 years ago with my beautiful bride arm in arm and we started our forever journey.  I remember walking the steps of the hospital as we made our way to experience the unbelievable birth of our babies.  I have experienced sacred steps in that same hospital of life and death…the long stark halls filled with tears of pain and of joy.  I have watched as God entered a life and as life left…all sacred steps (and a whole different picture all together when those steps are with you on the stretcher).  I have walked the journey with people that celebrated miracles and mourned loss.  I walked sacred steps to be baptized and ordained into the ministry and walked those same steps to baptize others.  I have walked sacred steps as I crossed the platform at Campbell Divinity School to receive the Master of Divinity Degree.  And I walk sacred steps as I begin a new journey in pursuit of another degree.

    Do steps become sacred simply because of that particular moment?  I don’t think so.  I think steps become sacred because God is in them…because we are walking a little closer to him…because he is guiding us.  When I consider sacred steps, I am reminded of some of the most sacred recorded in the Bible.  Adam and Eve walking with God…Imagine actually taking steps WITH God…that had to be sacred.  Moses had an experience with God and God told him to take off his shoes, he was on Holy Ground…sacred steps before a burning bush.  It is recorded in Romans that the feet of those who bring the good news are beautiful…I have to imagine that the steps they take are also sacred.  Jesus took the journey on the road to his own crucifixion and then on the road with friends after his resurrection to Emmaus…sacred steps.  Those who walk by faith, not by sight are walking a sacred journey.

    It is important to also understand that some sacred steps aren’t actual steps at all.  Some are traveled in a wheelchair or even on a hospital bed.  Some are traveled in the hearts of those who cannot move physically.  Sacred steps take us on a journey to and with God.  Know that they can be frightening….painful…tiring…sorrowful.  They are also peaceful…joyful…rejuvenating…enlightening.  These are steps taken with our Creator.  They carry you somewhere you have never been before or places you have visited many times, just in new ways.  Where might your sacred steps take you today? May we find our way on this journey…no matter the bumps, bruises, scrapes, hills, or valleys…just step forward…God is there.beautiful-feet

    image from Google Images

  • The Dream

    This all started with a dream…but isn’t that how most things start?  Yet, this dream wasn’t pleasant…it wasn’t pretty…it was scary and it shook me up… I’m in my final year of Seminary.  I finish this degree in December of 2015.  It has been a long journey.  This journey has challenged me in ways that I never thought it would.  In these last years, so many things have happened – including losing my father to cancer.  I left the church I served as pastor for over 10  years.  I have struggled financially.  My income has decreased but my needs have increased…So, I guess you get the point – it has been difficult.  Many times along this journey, my family has asked me if all this was really worth it.  Was it worth it to get this Masters Degree?  I have heard, “I sure hope you make something of all this.”  I have pushed my limits and continue to do that.  I’m in my last year…I can see the end.  So, why worry about it now? Sunday night, I fell asleep just like normal…right away without a problem.  I pack so much into a day that when I finally lay down, I am out.  I can’t possibly even think any longer.  I had not eaten anything unusual or weird.  It was a normal evening.  But, the dream was anything but normal… I was driving by myself and came to a stop sign.  I put my car in park because I was having trouble seeing out my window.  I decided that it was better for me to roll down my window because it was fogged up – it is cold outside after all.  Unfortunately, rolling down my window didn’t help because it wasn’t the window, it was my eyesight.  I was going blind.  Everything was going dark.  I had initially put the car in drive, but put it back in park since my vision was becoming worse.  I turned on my emergency signal and picked up my cell phone.  Surely I could figure out how to put my passcode in and call my wife…even blind…I mean, how many times had I done this in my lifetime?  This part of the dream ends… I pick up sitting in an office (I can see).  It is a small office and the lady working at the desk is NOT happy to be there.  She really does not enjoy her job, people, or the others in the waiting room that will not be quiet.  She is at a small desk with a window between her and the waiting room.  I am at her desk with paperwork.  She keeps cutting her eyes at the people in the waiting room.  She hands me something… I end up at a house with people who I do not know there.  They know me.  They can tell I am distressed – but I am not one to show my emotion.  I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me.  I don’t want any attention.  I just want to go to my room.  It seems I have a brain tumor.  I am alone.  I tell no one. Now, here is the part of the dream that keeps playing in my head… I hear a voice ask me…was it worth it?  The voice asks me that and I realize that I cannot do anything further with this degree.  I am going blind, I have a brain tumor – it doesn’t appear I will ever do anything more with what I have learned.  But, I turn to the person and I realize that YES – it was all worth it.  All that I have learned along this journey has meant so much…the journey was the gift…the goal was not the degree…the goal was the journey and it was ABSOLUTELY worth it!  By the way, in the background, I hear my favorite song playing, “Overwhelmed” by Big Daddy Weave.  I am overwhelmed with what God has done and is doing. So, this blog is written because life is worth it.