My husband shared today how as he gets older, he’s more often living in the world, but not of it.
He says, he wants to live the miracle life.
I asked “What do you mean when you say the miracle life?”
He tells me, “the world is too mixed up. By living in the world we’re vulnerable to anxieties, materialism, greed and unhappiness.”
He says, “a good deal of the world has forgotten God. God has been replaced by money, striving and egos. Not like in my childhood when people talked about God all the time. I want to talk about God.”
He tells me in his heartfelt musings, that the miracle life is a Jesus paved road, where we bear much fruit and find peace. It’s a life where we relinquish grasping, striving and worry.
He says, “the miracle life is one of kindness, where a little kindness blooms more kindness.”
He reminds me of the words of German theologian and philosopher Meister Eckhart, “The soul has two faces; one that is permanently turned toward God, and the other faces the world.”
The miracle life is a life facing God, a grace drenched life immersed in living the kingdom of God, on earth as in heaven.
Jesus adversary asks, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?”
Jesus answers, “It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”
It’s a welcoming life where we nest, thrive, bloom and spread our arms out wide.
Jesus tells us that it’s a kingdom of good news, and says it’s God’s “good pleasure to give us the kingdom”.
The miracle life is where provisions come without striving or pleading.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “take no thought about what we shall eat or, what we shall we drink..or how we’ll be clothed, for God already knows we need these things.”
But he offers instruction for receiving these provisions. We are first to “seek the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
He tells us, to not worry, to be happy. “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
And, “See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
Faith, such a small, yet powerful word — is the key to the doorway of the miracle life.
In Hebrews, we learn “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Having faith means claiming a life of unwavering belief in the supernatural grace of the unseen God, a God who moves mountains and hills before us, comforts us in our mourning, who forgives graciously, and knows our heart.
“Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones!” – Isaiah 49:13
Jesus also tells his disciples, “apart from me you can do nothing“.
This miracle life is a life of radical surrender, of relying not on ourselves, but on the omnipotent power of Christ, and the guiding light of The Holy Spirit Jesus promised who’d come.
“The Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
I think of my own life, after years of wandering in deserts of the world, when I finally surrendered and turned toward the miracle life, toward God – a radical surrendering that’s still my daily prayer. How in my surrender, God reshaped, cleansed, healed and guided me toward a new life.
I realize years before my spiritual eyes were opened, God had already sent preeminent grace – the meeting of my husband at 35 years old, intimacy carving and shaping in me a new heart after years of relationship struggles, the blessings of giving birth at 40 after two miscarriages. When my son was a toddler, intrigued by the beauty of an old stone church we’d walk by each day on the way to the park, he insisted we go in and sit. Together we sat on the hard cold pew in the empty church, listening in wonder to the sacred echoes of silence. We went again and again, sometimes the organist practicing ancient hymns, captivated my wide-eyed son who listened in wonder, as the stirrings of my own soul called me back to the God I abandoned in my youth.
It took years before I had the big dream where Jesus asked me to follow him, before I surrendered fully.
God graced me with new friends living this miracle life, those who walked beside me, shining a light before me on this new and strange path.
I started by studying scripture, Jesus words jumping off the page into my heart.
This parable speaking carpenter said things that turned, and continue to turn my soul inside out.
And, so, I started a new life — a miracle life – of pruning branches no longer bearing fruit, and purging parts of me bruised and tattered – handing them over. The gospel of John says, “for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Save — salvo in Latin means to set free, to liberate, and in Greek, it’s sozo, meaning to heal, to rescue. How I needed so much to be set free, to be healed, to be rescued from the trappings of the world that held me in it’s grasp.
The miracle life is a life where we engage in God-breathed work, the blessings of deepening friendship and community, of healing emotional wounds, of knitting relationships and deepening love. It’s a life where a gracious God showers us with ongoing provisions and unexpected gifts, who each day removes the scales off blinded hearts.
Even amidst desert times, when life is mundane, when the future is unclear, the sun of hope always shines, faith as our navigator, guiding our way.
In the miracle life, we trust our creator is at work sculpting us, day in and day out into a new creation, to become as C.S. Lewis termed, ‘little Christs’. In this life we become lights in the world, continuing the work of the kingdom of God, bringing others along on this holy adventure.
A life where “a little kindness blooms more kindness”.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are made new. -2Corinthians 5:17
This miracle life is just that – a supernatural life, a life that can never be put in a box, or under a shelter. It is a living, breathing life, moving in, beyond and through us.
“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:12
WE LOVE YOUR COMMENTS!
LINKING UP WITH #SMALLWONDERS AND THESE WONDERFUL GROUPS.
Goodness, there is SO much here to take in and savour! Grace, the miracle life, faith, surrender… it’s all so wonderful and so true. “The miracle life is a life facing God, a grace drenched life immersed in living the kingdom of God”. Wow. Thanks for sharing your beautiful words here—I’m so glad I stopped by from Coffee For Your Heart. Blessings to you!
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Laura! I’m so glad there’s much for savoring here, as I wrote, I realize the miraculous life
we’re given each day with God–when, of course, we ‘seek first the kingdom’! As we both shared,it’s so easy to get swayed into our fretting and worries! But how lovely we can remind one another. Blessings!
I’m reading a book this week about native peoples. One group of Aborigines in Indonesia (according to the book’s author) consider this world to be a shadow and the world of dreams to be the real world. Every morning they share their dreams and exchange what they’ve learned about the “real world.” This reminds me of that – how the world we live in is just a shadow of the life Christ brings to us. Thanks for linking with #SmallWonder!
Hi Kelly, I’ve heard about the Aborigines sharing their dreams every morning. Wouldn’t it be great if we shared each morning the shadow of the world as compared to the life Christ brings us! Always enjoy linking with you at #SmallWonder and so enjoyed your blog this week!
Such a blessing to read these words about the miracle life that only our Lord Jesus can give. The world is passing away and we can realize that our living in Christ will abide forever as we look forward to His coming Kingdom. Very rich content to digest, encouraging me to seek God’s ways and deny self, finding the miracle life transforming my total being.
Thank you Kathy for your visit, and so much appreciate your words! God offers us such richness, we truly need ears that hear, and hearts
that ponder! I know for me it’s a constant process to ‘digest’ the gifts we’ve been given, and to turn each day from the empty temptations of the world! So much appreciate your comment and thoughtfulness! Have a blessed day!
Beautifully written. The miracle life… ahhh … the beauty of it! Thank you! Thankful I was your neighbor at #RaRa this week!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
So happy you visited Lori, thank you for your kind words! And an ‘ahhh’ is perfect for describing the miracle life God brings to us!
Preach it sister!!!! The world needs to hear the “Good News”!
Just love your hearty encouragement, Rebecca! You are an angel, an inspiration!
That the term save means salvo in Latin or to heal is a POWERFUL clarification of biblical translation. What a profound difference is an intention to support healing vs saving. The process of “healing” gently embraces the natural human condition of ego driven behaviors which are tempered with every action taken to allow the holy spirit to enter our lives. The process of “saving” infers that humans “are not good enough” and with this psychology comes guilt that we project onto ourselves or others. A Course of Miracles addresses the psychology of the vast difference between “to heal” vs “to save” beautifully. “The light, the thought that we might indeed be good enough, is such a threat to the ego that it takes out its very big guns to defend against it……God can love us infinitely, the universe can support us unendingly, but until we agree with God’s kind appraisal of us and the universe’s merciful behavior, we will do everything in our power to keep the miracles we’re entitled to at bay. Why the self hatred? As we’ve already seen, the ego is our mind’s endless need to attack itself. And how do we escape this? Through the acceptance of God’s will as our own. God’s will is that we be happy. God’s will is that we forgive ourselves. God’s will is that we find our place in Heaven now…..When we know that love is an infinite resource—that there is enough abundance of every kind for everyone and that only what we give to others we get to keep—then we stop denigrating other people, and start blessing them instead.”
I am in the midst of the challenging experience of questioning: “Am I good enough.” I am in a new phase of life as a grandmother about 10 years earlier than expected. My beautiful and brilliant oldest son (Hayden), now 26, is the daddy of my perfect grandson (Gene). My daughter in law (Ivy) is a magnificant wife and mother. Two years ago, when my son informed me that he was unexpectedly going to be a daddy… well before he established himself in a career …….I was filled with anxiety and fear. I had to work hard to embrace that Hayden was going to follow a life path much different from my own. My well educated brilliant son became a tow truck driver to support his new family which proved to be very lucrative but he was surrounded by dysfunctional business owners. He was making his own way and supporting his family and still…..I was filled with anxiety and fear. I tried hard to suppress my feelings but Hayden is an incredibly sensitive person and I am certain he picked up on my fears. Meeting my perfectly beautiful and adorable grandson has softened my anxiety and fears for my son. I see that Gene makes my son more proud and excited about life than anything else. I work hard to shift my psyche to know that Hayden is perfect as he is. I have been very disciplined about not peppering Hayden with questions about his professional future, yet…I have still felt a subtle hostility from my son. So many thoughts of guilt come up when I sense this underlying hostility: “Was I a terrible mother for putting Hayden in parttime daycare while I went to medical school?” “Is Hayden’s resistence to following a professional path because he resents his father and my ambitious career path?” I know there is nothing I can do about these issues and must forgive myself for any mistakes I made. I meditated and prayed alot before Hayden, Ivy and Gene’s recent visit. My intention was that I would have NO EXPECTATIONS and that I WOULD LOVE WHAT IS. I dedicated my time during their 5 day visit to service: cooking, babysitting and cleaning. During this experience, I kept battling the dark thoughts of: “Is this my life now?……….a 1950s housewife…..a role I fought so hard against throughout my life.” And guess what? Miracles kept happening. Both Hayden and Ivy thanked me often. Both made more effort to connect with me. Hayden said: “Mom, you are a great nana!” I learned a huge lesson in that even if my darker ego thoughts come, if I fight them away and my behavior expresses service and love…….the miracles come. My hope is that the darker thoughts will not come as often as they do as I continue to transition into this life as a grandmother. My hope is that I will embrace more easily a life of service without expectations.
What important work you are doing dear Kathy in your tireless persistence to understand the sacred biblical text. I am deeply grateful for and blessed with your labor of love. Much love to you
Theresa, you are a blessing. I’m inspired by your story and raw honesty about the struggles with ‘being okay’ just as you are, with letting go of controlling Hayden’s life, with relinquishing the expectations (we all have) for our children’s life– and our own– and finally surrendering them all into God’s arms loving arms. As we give our lives to God, God takes the worries, anxieties, and expectations and prunes them so we live more and more each day in God’s image. I’m struck by how you prayed that your visit with Hayden and his family would be different, that you would love ‘what is’. And in turn, how you served them, cared for them, and surrendered..in doing so you blessed them and yourself. You gave them what they probably wanted most, to love their child, to be a ‘great nana’, to be the absolutely loving, giving, hospitable person you are and have always been–(we do this with flaws and all). In God’s love, though it’s not the flaws that shine. It’s the love, it’s you being a ‘great nana’–which I’m sure in Hayden’s heart includes you being a great mama. God gives us the strength to change, to live more with ease with ‘what is’, to wrestle with our anxiety, doubts, insecurities. It seems this past visit was also a turning point in your early ‘grandmotherhood’ — you seem more accepting of where you are now, of your son’s life, of the blessings in the imperfection of our lives–where God weaves a thousand blessings. I sense as God’s will continues to guide your life, there’s many more blessings to come!
very well written
thanks so much Denise!
Kathy,
I loved reading your story of God’s grace and your surrender to His grace…and how you and your husband are seeking God’s face…so encouraging 🙂 Thank you! May God continue to bless you, your husband and son 🙂
Dolly..thank you so much for your encouragement! It’s lovely to have you visit. We continue being pruned everyday, and yet so blessed for God’s grace!
Oh, I love this…that place of trustful rest. Beautifully written. I shared on Pinterest for you. Hope it blesses others.
Thanks so much Topaz for your lovely words and sharing on Pinterest! So much appreciate, and love your name, and your blog, love your hippie bohemian soul..I have inklings of that too! Eager to stay connected. Have a blessed day!