As we see what is unfolding before us in a world of pandemic, racial divides, and economic uncertainty we desire greatly great changes in our society. Patient and slow have worn out its welcome. We want the change now. We need the change now.
While it seems too trite it does remain true that the only change we can address and effect starts with one – me.
Today I am sharing an excerpt from a resource that is helpful to me. The entire resource is available for free from Renovare.
Daily Meditations on the stages of Tranformation by Jonathan Bailey.
Day 1 – The Slow Remaking of Character
“There’s a great disparity inside me: a gap between my longing and my living. I don’t feel it all the time. But there are moments, usually at night when I’m tired or bored or disappointed—always when I’m angry—that it surfaces, gnawing and tearing at my deepest desire. In those moments I wonder if it is possible for that gap to be narrowed. Can the life I want be the one I actually live? When I read the longing of Thomas á Kempis in The Imitation of Christ, the angst of St. Augustine in his Confessions, or the intensity of Teresa of Avila in The Interior Castle, I discover I’m not alone. I’m not alone in my longing for Christlikeness, I’m not alone in my inadequacy to produce it, and—most importantly—I’m not alone in finding a way forward. None of us are. Shedding vice and securing virtue—becoming like Christ—is not something that automatically happens when we become Christians. Moving from stage to stage happens over a long, frustrating, rewarding, painful, and glorious period of time. Christlike character is not something we get; we grow into it.”
Praying today for the change we desire to be; the gap that appears immense; and the faithfulness to take the next step.
O God, as your Son drew apart to be in prayer with you,
we offer our prayers for the transformation of the world and the church.
You revealed your glory and presence in your beloved Son, Jesus the Christ.
In receiving our prayers, reveal the glory and presence of your Spirit alive in the world today,
free us from all doubts, and empower us to act as a transfigured people. Amen.
(from the Revised Common Lectionary)
Excellent!
So good!
I love Bailey’s repeated phrase about our longing for change- “I’m not alone.”
Thanks for pulling that thread through and highlighting! – “I am not alone!”