The Current

Usually I love to run daily. I am on break now, and wasn't motivated to do it today. I decided when I woke up, "Not today." I wonder how to be free in rest...to be at ease with a choice to slow down every once and a while. I wonder what it would be like to give up running and not to use it as a crutch for sanity, or as insurance that I stay fit. I only think about these things when I don't run; otherwise, I am reaping the benefits from running so much, that such questions don't even enter my head.

When I was sleeping in this morning, I felt unmotivated to approach the day. I wonder why that is? Is it the abrupt loss of purpose and mission that I feel from the cessation of schoolwork? Is it being in my home state, continuing relationships that are now so different than they were when I was a girl? (On that note, one of my relationships is much stronger and richer than it was when I was younger, so that is really cool to see...fruit being borne!)

I am thankful that most days, when I am in the throes of a semester, I am immediately swept into the current of the day, without thinking through so intensely (or at such length) the meaning of its contents and actions. If I thought through all I did beforehand so long, nothing would ever get done. I am thankful for the current, and look forward to being swept up in it. The only danger then is, forgetting my need. In more contemplative times like now, I feel my need and realize I am not a self-reliant machine with all joyful output. I rely on a source to fuel me: my Provider. In this light, I'm not stalling, but I am refueling.

Spine Issues, Rib Issues

Beth Moore did it again: great analogy.

In a discussion of Christ's second coming, she talks about what is core and what is peripheral to Christian beliefs. There are the absolutes, and then there is wiggle room: "Some issues are spine issues. They are fundamental to our Christian belief system. ... Others are rib issues. On these our views can go in different directions, yet we can respect one another deeply."

There are many reasons I love belonging to Christ, but I've got to say, being free in Christ is one of my very favorite parts of being His. I love that He allows us, even designed for us, to diverge at certain points, but remain one in body. Does not the nuclear family have the same dynamic: many personalities, one bloodline, one household?