Fire has set itself as a life theme for me these past few months. If you were kind enough to read my letter in our spring issue, you know that on Ash Wednesday I experienced a house fire (theological coincidence, no?). Well, I’ve never really quite thought about the way the seasons of Lent and Easter roll right around to the time of Ascension and Pentecost. Of how exactly the ashes left by the burning away of our selfish desires are necessary to make room for the bright flames of new community, new words to speak, and new ears to hear. We are made to realize that the same things that come with destruction in mind can pave the avenue to new life—new life, together.
This issue is about traveling that path, the journey toward Jesus, marked by obedience. Not the task-master, destructive connotation of obedience per say—though the seasons of self-denial, correction, or simply growing pains are real and important. But, as Liz so aptly shares in her article “Listening In,” (p.4) we welcome the joyful obedience of deeply listening to the voice of God in our lives, and moving faithfully to respond to that presence. The subtext of obedience, then, might simply be the thought of making room. Creating space to hear and to heal. To rest and reflect. To, as our friend Sarah says, reclaim and restore. Knowing that at every point of the journey, God is present in the fire. To paraphrase Jean Vanier’s words in the final thought (p.16), obedience, like a brightly burning flame of love, is what actually brings a community to life.
I’ll leave you now with a beautiful array of perspectives on the subject, all of which have brought me again to contemplation and prayer of my own life, and my life together in Christian community. As you reflect on the modes of obedience in your own life, I pray that the sweltering heat of the summer sun reminds us all of the nearness of God, and the ways we might make a bit more room in even the tiniest of spaces to hear that still, soft whisper above the noise of everyday life. That we might exhale a bit, as Cara notes (p.10), taking a moment to pay a little more attention to freely give and receive as we celebrate together obedience in grace. That we would have wisdom to resist complacency (“Disobedience,” p.12), while growing in trust and mutuality (“From absurdity,” p.3).
And of course, that we might all burn fiercely with the compassion and love of God. Amen.