by Terry Tripp, Director, Spiritual Formation Program

What does it mean that the Lord will make all things new?  That God creates out of nothing, something that will glorify God’s name and bring righteousness to the earth? How does life come from death? How does it happen that we participate in this becoming new – in bringing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth?  These are the questions of those who seek Jesus and His righteousness.  I’m pondering them anew as I begin a brand new season of my life; living in a new home in a new town with new spaces to fill.

This last year I have had the great privilege of watching my new home being built where there was nothing.  Stage by stage, the foundation was laid, the walls were erected, the roof covered the insides and the house took shape while we had the heaviest rainfall in recorded history in the NW!  Now, as I’m still putting away the “things” of my life – finding where to hang a beloved picture or the best drawer to put the silverware in, I’m struck by how this is a metaphor for choosing to discern what God is doing in new places when clouds cover the sky.  How does God fit together the pieces of our lives, chosen and mostly not chosen?

God’s work of building our lives into the beloved daughters and sons of the Lord’s choosing is a mystery.  But we can long for God, desire God’s will, look for what is happening deep within our souls and name it in order to bring beauty and participation in our Lord’s action in and through us for the sake of the world.  For me, it might as well boil down to love.  How am I participating in God’s love today?  How am I not loving?  Looking at both is necessary to the self-awareness that brings God-awareness, which creates intimacy, which gives discernment around choices that fill in the spaces of your life.

Choosing what plants – what trees and flowers to populate my garden with has been lovely.  The roses and peonies, especially remind me of my Mom.  She was a great gardener.  I think the best part of her garden was the ability to give away the flowers she grew in order to bless others with beauty.  We give away all that God gives us every day, so that we can fill the earth with the aroma of God’s righteousness played out in real time in real people in real ways.  How is God making all things new in your life today?  Look within and without, and find yourself in the middle of a new day to play with life as the beloved of God in a world in need of your love; making all things new.