The Mosaic

Meditation and Shiny Things - On Sunday, I read a poem in worship by Jan Richardson called “Blessing at the Burning Bush.” I came across it last week in preparation for my sermon, and it has stuck with me every day since. In fact, it’s become a sort of morning meditation these last several days. The part that strikes me most is the following latter half of the poem:

“You will have to discern whether you have defenses enough to rebuff the call, excuses sufficient to withstand the pull of what blazes before you; whether you will hide your face, will turn away back toward—what, exactly? No path from here could ever be ordinary again, could ever become unstrange to you whose seeing has been scorched beyond all saving. You will know your path not by how it shines before you but by how it burns within you, leaving you whole as you go from here blazing with your inarticulate, your inescapable Yes.”

The bulk of my meditation has been on the last sentence: “You will know your path not by how it shines before you but by how it burns within you, leaving you whole as you go from here blazing with your inarticulate, your inescapable Yes.”

I am often one that’s dazzled by “shiny” things. I’m tempted, drawn, and motivated by that which shines. This isn’t always a bad thing, but it has at times been a very strong part of my shadow. Throughout my own vocational journey, there have been times I desperately wanted the shiny path. And yet, for reasons sometimes unknown to me, I didn’t take the shiny path. Something led me somewhere else. Jan Richardson’s words give language to my experience. I still can’t explain all of it, but I can say that I have found myself and my call not by the path that “shined” before me but by the path that burned within me. And often, it led me to an “inarticulate” but certainly “inescapable Yes.”

I want you to know that my “Yes” to Royal Lane was inescapable, and this beloved church continues to burn within me. If by chance you’re in the midst of a big decision, I hope you’ll, too, trust not what shines, but what burns. That’s how you’ll know the path that was meant for you, and it will leave you whole indeed.

With great love for you all,
Pastor Victoria