"Way"

The “way”!!!! That is what Christianity was first called. “The Way!”To be a Christian is to travel. Christians are on a journey! A journey that can not be measured in time or distance. It is a journey that moves us out of and beyond time into the eternal timeless life of God.“The Way" is was a simple observation made by those who lived with Christians. Other people noticed that these people lived life a certain way. Not from a place of having all the answers, but rather at peace in the mystery of the unknown. The “Way” leads us beyond our understanding into the very mystery of God.The longer I walk with Christ the more I realize that Christianity does not provide me a lot of easy peasy answers. Christianity leads me to move into and become aware of a mystery that is above and beyond my imagination.“God is not so much the object of our knowledge as the cause of our wonder.”You can’t really explain Christianity; you can’t really write it down on stone or paper. Like I told a friend yesterday you simply take a step, and then another. Christianity is a path, a path that you follow. Once you start down this path you simply commit yourself to the “way of living.”People suffering from amnesia know there is “something” that they don’t remember, but what that “something” is, they don't know. That “something” is not really lost, they know it’s there,  there just seems to be no way to recover that “something.”“Nothing is ever lost; things only become irretrievable. What is lost, then, is the method of their retrieval and what we discover is not the thing its self, but the overgrown path, the secret staircase, that ancient sewer.” Francois Aussermain  Unfortunately Christianity (especially in the West) suffers from amnesia. Forgotten are the paths, and staircases of memory. Let me quickly say however, that Christianity,  “The Way” is more than simply remembering and event or an experience. That would mean that we are our past. No, Christianity is a “living experience.”Christianity is the “Way” of living in the ever-new, ever-present, personal, direct experience of the Holy Spirit right here, right now in this sacred space of our journey.Christianity is the “Way” of living in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.  It is a journey with the Spirit of God out of time into eternity. Abraham (the father of our faith) started a journey that took him out of his familiar surroundings into an unknown country. Moses moved from light into the darkness of a thick cloud. It is their movement towards “something” unknown that changed them. The more they journeyed they more they changed their thinking, and let go of limiting habits.In a Christian world that is always looking for the latest program to fix their lives, perhaps we ought to remember what the prophet Jeremiah said, “...And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls....” My ten month old grandson is walking. Let me restate that, he is running, moving, constantly! It’s wonderful, glorious to watch! However, his Mom and Dad have to encourage him every day to take those daily first steps! It’s like while he slept he forgot that he could walk, but after a few minutes go by he is moving again, at full speed.So hey... you can do it! Remember.... walk this “way.”