Engaging the Journey
- Christine Labrum
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
An old post... from 2017
ARTWORK
Our journey with God is a sacred adventure. The journey of our lives is physically lived in the external world, and we navigate our internal world, our soul. It is indeed one journey.
How do we deeply engage our journey with God rather than resist or withdraw from either aspect of our journey? We are invited to live wholeheartedly in partnership with and responsiveness to God.
In recent weeks an image started to form in my heart to depict this sacred adventure. The image blends elements from previous drawings such as trees, seasons, and the river of life. The tree represents a soul, and the paths surrounding the tree are a reflection of our life's experiences (You can see this image on my website, Seasons on the Journey) while the landscape and paths within the tree reference the inner life. The Sun, the Flame in the center of the tree, and the River represent the Triune God. The seeds and leaves speak of a fruitful, thriving life rooted in God.
What happens when we encounter a particular stretch of the path in our journey of life?
How do we navigate an experience, body and soul, noticing the emotions that inform us, setting our intention, and choosing to engage life with God?
What does it mean to move through emotions, passions, and perspectives with God and remain deeply rooted in Him?
Whether comforting and delightful or uneasy and painful how do we listen to our hearts and attend to our inner lives as God intended?
What are the seeds of my life? What are the losses and scars of my life? What are the seasons of my life?
What does it look like to fully engage the journey and to live steady, fruitful, and anchored lives?
REFLECTION
What is pulling at you today? this week? this month? Is there a storm approaching and you can feel the wind beginning to intensify? Are you in the midst of a trial? Or, is life stressful and overwhelming (sometimes the weight of good things can threaten to pull you under)? What discomforting emotions pull at you and me, perhaps from old wounds, tumultuous storms, or new challenges?
Right now, today, I am steady. But, I have felt the strength of the wind and the storm in recent months. And I may waver this afternoon. But, my roots are sinking deep into Christ, my Love, my Source and Living water. I lean into the Light.
Let me tell you about one of the challenges in my world which tied a knot in my gut and stirred threatening thoughts and tangible fears. For me, the squall that caught me unawares was a skin cancer diagnosis. It was not a full blown hurricane, and it was not life threatening. But, it was startling and it was real. And I was scheduled for a surgical procedure for March 8th. That was yesterday.
I could feel fear tickling the edges of my consciousness these past weeks. Sometimes that fear along the edge seemed to rise up like a wave at the ocean, larger than all the rest, to tumble me. My mind spun the questions. Would the cancer be resolved as expected, or would it recur? What would the procedure be like that required a whole day? And, rather unnerving, what would the scar on my face look like when all was done?
I had been considering for a couple months the tension between the journey of our lives in the external world and the journey we navigate in our internal world, our soul. It is indeed the same journey - but it is possible to significantly withdraw from either aspect of our journey. There was a drawing in my heart that I wanted to create to “imagine or portray” this tension. We encounter a trial or a blessing in our journey of life, how do we navigate the experience, body and soul, noticing the emotions that inform us and setting our intention? What does it mean to move through the emotion with God, anchored and steady, to deepen our hearts capacity to partner with God and be transformed by His presence? Whether comforting, uneasy, or painful how do we listen to emotions as God intended us as our designer and creator.
When fear strikes how do I process the real or perceived threat that my radar screen has detected. What does it mean to engage this journey with God? to lean into trust? I do not want to deny reality and squash emotion. And I do not want to allow emotion to control my mind and heart. So, how do I navigate this internal world with God and with integrity? It is a question that surfaces again and again in this journey of life with God.
For me this particular challenge required me to face some fear and idolatry, and perhaps, even acknowledge strength. If you were walking in my shoes perhaps the shades and hues of your emotions would have been different. We each navigate particular challenges uniquely. Our story, our strengths and weaknesses, our context will shape how each of us navigate a particular crisis internally and externally. For me, I noticed fear of the procedure. I am uneasy with medical interventions, but we have the gift of so many life-saving and life improving treatments in our day. I needed to intentionally face fear and choose courage (and quite frankly, although a long day, the procedure was quite manageable). I needed to face my concerns about the healing process. I also realized that I deeply trusted God’s presence with me. That strengthened my heart for the unknowns in this experience and for the future.
As I worked on my drawing the last week and a half it was a good creative outlet for emotional energy as my surgery date drew near. But, as I reflected on the unfinished drawing Tuesday, the day before my surgery, I noticed that the core of the tree was stable and strong, The tree was gnarly and scarred, there were dark places and deep crevices. But, the tree had a strong core for it was rooted in Christ, the Living Water. It was living in the Light. The branches may sway….it could even lose a limb or two (and it has in the past). But, this tree is alive and thriving; it is steadfast. May that be true of you and me.
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