a series on being: part three

:: part 3 ::

All of this leads to relationship. Relationship to the world around you and to the people in it, a way to live a sacred life that dignifies and sees others.

But there is an order to all of this. There are the secret things. There are the things you share, the stories you tell. There are the things you try to say but can never quite communicate. The way your life is not really like anyone else’s life, the way you search for similarities and because your imagination is good, you can sometimes find it in the rural life of an old poet, or the wandering life of a preacher in the dustbowl, but not really, it’s not really you, is it? Those people have the kernels that we all have, but they maybe do have not your bridges to cross, your definitions to shake.

So you hold these things, and you try to find the connections, and you share your stories, but here is something true: You do not share your stories to have them validated. They are. That is all. You are who you are. No one can tell you that your existence is justified. There is no work you can do to make the space you occupy worth it. If anything you do is for this purpose, it will feel empty. You can run and run and run in this direction and never find anything but air.

Because no one less than God set you in this space. God says you are here and it matters that you are here. That is enough. Any other reason you seek will be empty. You are made of God’s imagination and creative power, as you are, in this broken world. First, the love between the two of you. This is the first thing.

It’s nice to see you awake, God says, early in the morning. I’m so glad you’re here. Come to me for everything you need. Do not name my love anything else. This is for us, this is between us. This is the beginning.

(More later.)

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