There used to be a barn where that Lululemon is

What we know now is our guide for what we learn next...

...and then we learn more and it re-shapes what we knew before.  And that process continues and takes turns and moves that we don't always understand or anticipate.

Sometimes it appears we are adding knowledge and then we look back and see that what we know has expanded exponentially, not just a little.

An example of this over my lifetime has been looking at land and locations.  I "feel" places a lot.  To a degree that can be unhelpful, I associate locations and situations and ideas.

Being in the area where my earliest years unfolded can call up emotions that are familiar and strange all at once.  Seeing the places we lived, driving the roads we traveled - it all stirs up the ingredients of fragments of memories and experiences that eventually formed into ideas, directions, etc.

__________

A part of growing through deconstruction and rebuilding for me has been making a place for rethinking how I experience land, places, people, sensations, etc.

A helpful exercise for me has been looking at old and more recent pictures to see how things changed in dramatic ways at the hands of other people.  Why is that a thing?  When land looks old, you can think it’s been that way for hundreds of years; like it's a part of time itself and is almost unchanging.

But then you find out that it was changed in the last 25 to 50 years and it was very different before that. And you find out that people you know did the changing.  And you explore why they did and find out that it wasn't anything noble or great, but practical and efficient and maybe boring.

It can really change how you see things looking back and looking forward. You hear it when you hear an older person say, "I remember when all of this was just a field with cattle and a barn" when you drive by a busy mall or shopping center that's seems to have always been there.

Sometimes we can be fooled into thinking that what we see is long lasting or eternal when it's really something that is not as old as we are.  Our minds play tricks on us.

__________

I remember the story of Moses in the desert, living confidently in hiding from the Egyptians he left behind long ago, until he comes across a bush that's on fire.  And it's not burning up.

Moses goes over to investigate and has an encounter with God.

Moses has left behind an incredibly complex and complicated past and is now living in a peaceful, shepherd-like existence in the middle of nowhere.  

Sheep. Family. A fresh start. A new definition and meaning for his life and existence.

And then this burning bush/God thing happens.

God calls him to revisit all that he's left behind and to do something about it.

God calls for him to redefine how he sees himself, his past, and his future.  

No longer locked into the narrative or story he inherited and has modified for himself, he's now partnering with someone greater for an even larger, yet-unseen future that they will create together.

I think about Moses standing there barefoot and bewildered, arguing with God about why he ought to have picked someone else and why he needs to go back and tend his flock.

__________

Comfort is addictive.  We like to be comfortable, inside and out.  

We can get to a place where we don't want to change or move anymore.  We can get old in our minds, even at the protest of our bodies that aren't ready to be done yet.  And our minds can be very convincing.

The stories we've come from and left behind can become limiting or even enslaving if we don't allow them to be refreshed, brought back to life, and placed into the context of unfolding, on-going history.

When we stand at our own burning bush, we face a choice to go on and serve our own self and enjoy our own comfortable safe spot...

...or to hear the call to go revisit things we only saw through a narrow definition and potentially be a person God can use for a greater good through allowing him create a new, larger story from which others can be blessed.

__________

That's a big deal.  And it looks different in different people's lives and stories.  

For one person, it might mean they do something massive that benefits uncountable numbers of people. 

For another, it might be they change their way of seeing life and experiencing everything. 

For yet others, it could be a new way of interacting with their family and friends.

There aren't rules or required goals to meet here.  Every story is different.

It's what's happening inside that is changing what is happening outside.

And it's not just an idea - it's a movement - belief is a poor substitute for experience.

__________

There used to be a barn where that Lululemon is.  

And probably thirty years from now, there'll be something completely different.

Enjoy what was.

Enjoy what is...

...and be open to what is to come.