Monday, May 14, 2018

Forty-Eight Years Ago, I Believed



The chapel in the Lutheran Home, Monroe, MI

Monday morning. I meditate on Scripture.

I am reading in the Gospel of Luke. Three verses, followed by a full stop.


18 Once when Jesus was praying in private 
and his disciples were with him, he asked them, 
“Who do the crowds say I am?”
19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”
Luke 9:18-20
On a Sunday morning in May 1970, I answered as Peter did. I remember that moment, all the time. It was the turning point of my life.

Now, forty-eight years later, almost to the day, a tree grows where The Seed was planted in my soul. It is a tree of knowledge and experience. It grows fruit and weathers storms. It has seen death, and yet flourishes. It is a tree of life, planted on the banks of the river of God. Attended to, it is unstoppable. This tree of life has become my spirit, bearing fruit even in seasons of drought.

Some beliefs grow beautiful trees. Here is one:

Jesus is the Christ, God's Messiah.

***

My two books are:

Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God


I am working on:

How God Changes the Human Heart

Technology and Spiritual Formation