Experience Jesus. Really.--John 20:16

Day 5

What if you don’t recognize any of what you do as being spiritual?

You just do stuff and stuff happens to you and you think about stuff that you need to do and stuff you want to do and then more stuff happens–then you take a nap and stuff happens when you get up.

Yesterday, I played golf with a friend of mine whose girlfriend said she wanted to take a look at our tiny-home living condo because she wanted to downsize.

They came over and toured our condo.

(It takes less than 5 seconds to walk from the front door to the sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony).

It’s a short tour. 🙂

I kept asking myself–why are they here? What spiritual purpose is being fulfilled?

I don’t believe God wastes time; so there must be a reason for spending time with them.

The girlfriend kept saying how cozy and intimate our condo is.

Now that could be a kind of realtor-speak for how unbearably small and cramped a place is, but I don’t think that’s what she meant.

I think she was defining our tiny-home condo as a REFUGE.

I think God needed to show her that happiness and fulfillment could be found in a space no bigger than a garden shed and He selected us to do it AND I think God needed to show us that how we set up our lives matters.

Is that trying too hard to be spiritual and finding meaning in everything?

But I can’t imagine our time together last night being just stuff we did on a Friday night.

Earlier in the day, I picked up a phone call from a reader who was just checking in and wanted me to know the verses I’ve been sharing from John Eldredge’s Experience Jesus. Really: Finding Refuge, Strength, and Wonder Through Everyday Encounters With had been particularly relevant to him.

He’s going through some work frustration and the verses about God as our refuge were hitting his heart exactly as they should be.

Instead of going after his boss with a hammer and tongs, (which is how he feels), he’s letting God work it out. He’s going to be in His shadow and let Him lead.

And he wanted me to know that.

Was this just a conversation about stuff that was happening or was there some spiritual heft?

He was turning toward me.

Like Karen and I turned toward my friend and his girlfriend later.

Like Mary Magdalene turned to Jesus outside of His tomb in John 20.

John 20:16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

Eldredge describes how we “turn” away from people instead of “turning” away:

“You certainly know what it’s like to turn your heart away from someone. A friend hurts you, a spouse or parent says something terribly wounding, and in that moment your heart withdraws. It turns away. I’m not sure I can forgive you for that. We all have experienced this sort of turning many times over. But we can also turn our hearts toward someone.”

It seems as if my whole life has been about demarcating sharp boundaries between the people I have turned away from and people I have turned toward.

I’m too quick, maybe, moving people away from me.

I assign Persona Non Grata status instantly to people who I find unlikeable or are antithetical to my values and because of my ego, will rarely, if ever, revisit that designation.

I can read all the books and internet articles I want about being spiritual and righteous and who God is and what He’s about–but if I don’t ever turn toward someone, what then, am I about?

Justice Bjorke, in He Calls Us By Name, explores why Mary recognized Jesus outside of His tomb:

“Until we hear Christ’s call, we cannot see Him rightly. Indeed, we must first have an encounter with Christ before we can begin to behold Him—not as the mere hero of an ancient fable, nor as an abstract ideal—but rather as a Person who dwells among us and speaks the Word of life to us.”

Jesus calls us by name and we turn toward Him.

Or we don’t hear.

Or we don’t turn.

Or we hear, but don’t turn.

Or we turn…and figure out later why we turned.

I admit I’m rather enjoying the Ordinary Mystic tag.

Doing stuff just got a lot more interesting. 🙂

Lord, call us by name today. In our moments of doubt or sorrow or frustration, help us to hear Your voice and see Your presence in our lives.

Lord, fill us with the hope of resurrection and that we may know You are with us always.

Amen.