One of my childhood legacies is living outside the lines. To be candid, I thought it was normal. Didn’t everyone break the rules?
I find two boundaries in life; one box uses tradition, societal norms, and the “seven steps to success” to form a fence around what is “good and proper” behavior while the other box is defined by what physically, mentally, and morally helps us sustain and enhance life. Both boxes vary in shape, size, and depth as you move between people, locations, and cultures. It is as our value systems define the norms and tolerances communities accept.
I think intuitively my parents knew this but never accepted it applied. Others might consider them rebels but I see something quite different. They wanted to live life within the framework that they saw as true, just, and nurturing to future development. Was it different? Absolutely! Did it come with a price? Yes and they willingly paid it at the time. Did they know where it was headed? I don’t think they had a clue. The driver was being true to their hearts, the God they saw, and the opportunities that life presented.
One of the outcomes of this approach was passing it on to their children with outcomes that were beyond the horizon of their imagination. As a result I see life and God differently than most of my peers. I find that God and life lie out of our traditional boxes. When one is determine to live life to the fullest, breaking free of the boundaries others would shackle us with, and listens, really listens to what the Spirit has to say, then anything and everything is possible!
In a story of old there were some who found themselves on point of decision.
“Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn't believe he [Jesus] was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.” (John 4.27)
Life presents unknowns everyday. Your response determines the future. Are you ready for something new?
