In the past twenty-four hours, resolutions have been made around the world. I am confident the resolutions have spanned the good and the bad, what we aspire to, and what we want to avoid. In the past, my resolutions have fallen within this mix. We held and honored the resolutions from minutes to hours and days, and for a select few, through the whole year.
This year, I am taking a different approach. My open resolution is to ask more questions and listen for the answers. The questions will be asked in a spirit of compassion and hope. The questions should be ones that are useful to someone’s journey. The questions will not assume the answer.
Life has taken us on an amazing ride this past year. Things I initially assumed to be bad have turned out to be quiet blessings. As I reflect, I see a model set long before my time that asks important questions in the right time, place, and way.
Paul had been unfairly arrested. He was about to be tortured. He could have challenged their authority early, but he waited even as he was humiliated. At the heart of the wrong, “as they spread-eagled him with thongs, getting him ready for the whip, Paul said to the centurion standing there, ‘Is this legal: torturing a Roman citizen without a fair trial?’” (Acts 22.25)
I need to challenge. If I see a God that unconditionally forgives, am I willing to do the same? If I embrace a God that is working to lift me up to something better, am I willing to do that for others and myself? If I see a God accepting all – in glory and failure, in strength and weakness, in their love and even in their hatred – can I strive to anything less?
I do not know what this will look like in my life. I do know that it means I will question and listen more. Assumptions are acts of ignorance. Deafness is a paralyzing weakness. Life is inviting you and me to More.
