Philippians 1:22
The Message (MSG)
22-26As long as I'm alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I'd choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it's better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We'll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.
Why does it hurt so darn much to grow? We see it in our kids as they maneuver through each phase of life from toddlers to kindergartners to elementary school student where drama begins to unfold with friendships. . . to adolescence and young adulthood. And it all happens so darn fast doesn't it? At least when you are the parent it does, I can't say it felt like it went fast when I was a kid however. There was always something else to learn to navigate, to learn to deal with, to figure out how to handle or not handle as the case may be. The thing is, we never stop growing. We never stop learning: how to navigate friendships, relationships, life, work, and yes- faith.
Isaac Newton changed our thinking about objects in motion when he said, "An object moves in the same trajectory unless acted upon by an unbalanced force." And likewise, "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." I remember when I first learned this concept, I was 17 years old and in High School Physics with an amazing teacher, Mr. Mizer. He taught us this concept by hitting us all where we longed to be, behind the steering wheel of a car (since most of us back then didn't have cars and barely had driver's licenses that we could actually put to good use). He had us imagine a small rubber ball on the dashboard that sat there minding its own rubber ball business until suddenly the car made a very sharp turn sending that ball out of its forward motion (you see it was moving forward with the car even though it sat there on that dashboard minding its own rubber ball business) and bouncing all around the car that decided to change trajectory.
Each and every one of us is like that rubber ball. We are moving along in life, happily minding our own rubber ball business until WHAM! an unbalanced force acts upon us and moves us out of our trajectory. It could be sickness, death of a loved one, or simply dealing with "growing up" (and no matter how old we are we still have some growing up to do). So the other concept comes into play. . . how we react to a reaction. How do we deal with others' stuff? Not so good sometimes. . . I admit that sometimes I take things WAAAAYYY too personally. But how to separate what is "mine" and what is "someone else's?" The closer we are to a person the harder it becomes. We feel every reaction and we react to it. . . sometimes not so well at that. In Bowen Theory this is called Differentiation of Self: Knowing where I begin and you end and vice versa. Staying in touch and not running away when things get tough. And sometimes it hurts like all-get-out. . . but you know what? That's when we learn: who we are, how to handle things better next time, how love deeper, how to accept someone more, how to forgive, how to stay calm, how to rely on God when we cannot do all the other things we'd like to be able to do that resemble being grown up.
Life is going to take some serious twists and turns throwing us rubber balls bouncing around, but we are not alone in this! St. Paul reminds his congregation that he is with them, accompanying them on the journey as they grow to trust God more fully and completely. As pastors we companion those we serve. . . we also companion one another on the journey because believe it or not, pastors are human too, filled with doubt, fear, darkness, and pain just like every other person on earth.
Growing pains can really hurt. . . but they are necessary! Nothing easy is worth having. . . nothing that isn't hard fought is ever really appreciated. . . well that is except God's gift of mercy and grace! So keep going and keep growing and rely fully and completely on Christ who loves you and said he would never leave you! Amen.
Why does it hurt so darn much to grow? We see it in our kids as they maneuver through each phase of life from toddlers to kindergartners to elementary school student where drama begins to unfold with friendships. . . to adolescence and young adulthood. And it all happens so darn fast doesn't it? At least when you are the parent it does, I can't say it felt like it went fast when I was a kid however. There was always something else to learn to navigate, to learn to deal with, to figure out how to handle or not handle as the case may be. The thing is, we never stop growing. We never stop learning: how to navigate friendships, relationships, life, work, and yes- faith.
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| I remember when he was the size of his baby cousin he's holding! |
Each and every one of us is like that rubber ball. We are moving along in life, happily minding our own rubber ball business until WHAM! an unbalanced force acts upon us and moves us out of our trajectory. It could be sickness, death of a loved one, or simply dealing with "growing up" (and no matter how old we are we still have some growing up to do). So the other concept comes into play. . . how we react to a reaction. How do we deal with others' stuff? Not so good sometimes. . . I admit that sometimes I take things WAAAAYYY too personally. But how to separate what is "mine" and what is "someone else's?" The closer we are to a person the harder it becomes. We feel every reaction and we react to it. . . sometimes not so well at that. In Bowen Theory this is called Differentiation of Self: Knowing where I begin and you end and vice versa. Staying in touch and not running away when things get tough. And sometimes it hurts like all-get-out. . . but you know what? That's when we learn: who we are, how to handle things better next time, how love deeper, how to accept someone more, how to forgive, how to stay calm, how to rely on God when we cannot do all the other things we'd like to be able to do that resemble being grown up.
Life is going to take some serious twists and turns throwing us rubber balls bouncing around, but we are not alone in this! St. Paul reminds his congregation that he is with them, accompanying them on the journey as they grow to trust God more fully and completely. As pastors we companion those we serve. . . we also companion one another on the journey because believe it or not, pastors are human too, filled with doubt, fear, darkness, and pain just like every other person on earth.
Growing pains can really hurt. . . but they are necessary! Nothing easy is worth having. . . nothing that isn't hard fought is ever really appreciated. . . well that is except God's gift of mercy and grace! So keep going and keep growing and rely fully and completely on Christ who loves you and said he would never leave you! Amen.
