Waiting to Hatch

I'm reading this book called Velvet Elvis, and it's really good. This morning I was reading about Something Bigger. In my book, on pages 74 and 75, there are now numerous things marked and underlined, but one paragraph especially stood out:

"Whatever those things are that make you feel fully alive and like the universe is ultimately a good place and you are not alone, I need a faith that doesn't deny these moments but embraces them. I need a spiritual understanding that celebrates these kinds of transcendent moments instead of avoiding them. These moments can't be tangets. They can't be experiences that distract from 'real' faith. These moments can't exist on the edges, because they are a part of our faith. A spirituality that is real will have to make sense of them and show us how they fit. They are expressions of what it means to live in God's world."

In this section Rob Bell descirbed instances where he felt God's sacredness in an overwhelming way, both good and bad. Instances where he realized there was something bigger holding this world together, holding ourselves together, and holding us to each other. We've all had those moments. On mission trips, beaches, incredible sunsets, in adorable sweet kids' faces, or just a group of friends. But also in funerals, tragedies, and broken hearts. We see that this world, this God that we serve is so huge. And sometimes we put those moments on a different level. Like they are these rare things that we have to seperate and can't touch except for those times when we transcend into them. But in reality, they should be a center for faith. God is everywhere and can be experienced everywhere. I don't want to seperate those experiences of pure joy into a different category. I want to just be in them, in truth, in God whenever I can.

posted by Shari @ 9:52 AM