Some Things are Plain
How strange it must all look to our sweet little dog Abby as she sits pondering the world from her perch atop our couch. She peers out to 5th Ave. NE in Seattle through no doubt blurry eyes, occasionally rising to bark at the passing pedestrians and dogs, though, old as she is now, she's not as apt to leap up and down as she used to be. But Abby doesn't think about the strangeness, I don't think--at least she has yet to be forthcoming about any doggy angst she might have. To her, the world is fairly plain: cats and birds are to be barked at and chased, Mom is the one who loves her most, and the couches are far better beds than her cage ever was.
I got an email last night, one of those I get from time to time, commenting on Leaving Ruin, the novel, saying nice things about what it meant to them, etc. But at the end of this pretty effusive note, there was a phrase that caught my attention, and I've been thinking about it all day. The final sentence was this:
"I hope this helps you and encourages you in the ways of God, not all mysterious."
...the ways of God, not all mysterious.
Now for those of you who come by and read this thing, help me out here. I think this is something I need to reflect on, acknowledging that there are things that aren't that mysterious about what God has done and is doing in the world. But I'm wondering what those are.
The way of God calls us to love, which on the surface of it, isn't too mysterious, after all. To sacrifice our own lives for the lives of others, to see other people as more important than ourselves, to actually set aside what we want so that others might have what they want...all of these are straight forward (dare I say "plain") ideas. The need to refrain from sin, the need for prayer, the need for contemplation of the wonder of God's creation--again, all fairly plain ideas. Tell people about Jesus, give money to the poor, be truthful, rule the passionate selfishness that constant threatens to overwhelm us (well...me, anyway). Plain, plain, plain.
Not to say that I'm abandoning my basic orientation to the mystery of things, but when I read that email, quietly tucked into the end of an unexpected affirmation of what I was doing as a writer, it hit me like a voice of correction, as if the Spirit wanted me to stop lolling around in the questions which he is not going to be able to answer on this side (no fault of his if our brain's don't stretch that far) and move on the ones that can be answered with little or no ambiguity. Care, use time wisely, pay attention, make disciples.
What is plain about the way of God?
11:57:13 PM 
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