“They were there a whole year, meeting with the church and teaching a lot of people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were for the first time called Christians.” (Acts 11.26)
Our days are filled with appointments, tasks, breaks, as well as many things that do not fit in a category. Demands consume us from the inside out. Exhaustion asks more from us than we can give. What we cannot accomplish often tries burden our bodies and souls with guilt. Long ago, I gave up trying to catalog my day. Each is filled with too much stuff.
In looking at others in my community, it seems that each is chasing a god/God of their choosing. For some, money trumps all options. For others, it is status, power, or simply indulging in whatever whim is dominating the present. If you are not sure that you fall into this category, simply project a picture of your god from the activities that fill your day.
Increasingly I hear God calling us to something different. There is no guilt in this calling. The call is one of freedom, intention, and priority. The mantra that overlays our daily lives plays out along the following lines.
First, we are call to embrace the freedom that we have in our lives. We are not obligated to others or institutions. We are free and accountable for choosing the path that we walk.
Second, being responsible to our freedom is at the heart of living engaged. In time, we will be accountable for the actions, decisions, and reach of our lives. Using ignorance as an excuse will not make a difference in how we are judged. Saying that we were too busy, that circumstances demanded a particular response, or that we did not have a choice will not change the evaluation.
Third, we paint the god/God we hold closest to our heart in our steps. Our community knows that we believe. Our family understands the image within our soul. We may attempt to give ourselves a fictional story, but our body knows the difference.
