Shaped and Centered

          If summer’s blessings sometimes include permission to wander and imagine, autumn breathes its own, different blessing: the urge to gather in and to bring order to life, to heed a call to discipline ourselves (maybe in preparation for the trials of the winter to come).

          It’s the season of new pencils and notebooks and organizing files (or in these days, maybe, the computer equivalent of these things). It’s time to make certain the house is fit and snug for withstanding winter storms.

          God’s people are called to live by an inner discipline; and the coming season is a good time to remind ourselves of it. There are things we can do to give order and resilience to ourselves as spiritual beings.

          At a conference Cathy and I attended in spring, a potter demonstrated her art and reflected on its connections with the life of faith. Two things I noted:

          When one is throwing pots (as working with the clay on a wheel is called), contrary to what an observer might think, it is most important to shape the inside you want this vessel to have—and then, work the outside to conform to it.

          Second, when the clay is not centered on the wheel, it “fights back” against the potter.

          It isn’t hard to see the relevance of these two things to our lives. Who we are on the inside matters most, and ultimately shapes our whole being. God seeks to give us the shape that is right for us.

          And while humans are famous for fighting back at God (like Jacob, who became Israel, for example), we are most whole, most ourselves, when we are centered on God.

          Paul wrote: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2).

          As a new autumn comes, let God give shape and form to you and to us. Be part of the church’s worship, learning, stewardship…in these troubled days, the world badly needs people who are shaped and centered by faith.

Peace,

Rod