"Nobody knows how the kindling flame of life and power leaps from one
life to another. What is the magic quality in a person which instantly
awakens faith? You listen to a hundred persons unmoved and unchanged:
you hear a few quiet words from the man with the kindling torch and you
suddenly discover what life means for you forevermore."--Rufus Jones, Quaker historian, theologian and philosopher (Rufus Jones: Essential writings by Rufus Jones, Kerry Walters).
Jones puts words to a subject that I've pondered about, what makes people change? My friend HyunSoak pointed out in seminary that he knew a church member that prayed and prayed, but she never seemed to change. How does faith awaken that radically changes someone from the inside out?
My own experience of inner and outer transformation came not out of choice, but out of necessity. I was in a deep place of pain, and either I could give up my life all together or choose to change. It did not hurt that I fell apart at a faith community called L'Arche in DC, where I found a safe place in which to fall apart.
I choose to incorporate some time of silence and solitude to ignite the "kindling flame." On most days, I barely feel a spark let alone a flame. It has been more difficult to make time for silence and solitude as I welcome our almost 2 months old daughter. How do I awaken faith in the midst of my very ordinary life? I hope to uncover and discover this as I keep experiencing life and writing about it.
Jones puts words to a subject that I've pondered about, what makes people change? My friend HyunSoak pointed out in seminary that he knew a church member that prayed and prayed, but she never seemed to change. How does faith awaken that radically changes someone from the inside out?
My own experience of inner and outer transformation came not out of choice, but out of necessity. I was in a deep place of pain, and either I could give up my life all together or choose to change. It did not hurt that I fell apart at a faith community called L'Arche in DC, where I found a safe place in which to fall apart.
I choose to incorporate some time of silence and solitude to ignite the "kindling flame." On most days, I barely feel a spark let alone a flame. It has been more difficult to make time for silence and solitude as I welcome our almost 2 months old daughter. How do I awaken faith in the midst of my very ordinary life? I hope to uncover and discover this as I keep experiencing life and writing about it.
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