Coming up out of the stream, one feels new and refreshed; blood is rushing and all senses are heightened. What would it feel to live like that on a daily basis? Why is it so unsatisfying to just "get used to" the same ol' living we've been doing? Why does one always hear (or maybe it's just me) those voices that haunt us with "Why are you always looking for more? Why aren't you happy with what you have?"
So, for the record, it's not that I'm not happy or satisfied. Things are quite well for me these days: Marianne and I are well ("doin' alright"), we have 3 awesome kids, deepening friendships, a good job, and a good house. So what is it, Matt?
Well, I've been reading these books, you see. And I've been listening to this Man, who continually calls into a place of "stretch", a place where I'm asked to love and care beyond what seems to be my natural capacities. And I've been growing in these friendships with guys who are also "coming up out of the water." And the things I've read before seems to grip me all over again, like I've read it for the first time. And it is good, but it is a little scary sometimes.
The words I've been hearing from all these places seem to fall on my ears like I've just come out of the water; i. e., my ears are open and I am deeply challenged by my lack of love, my lack of generosity, my lack of service.
I think that most of the time I just float along the surface of the water, when what I really need is a good dunking. To come up out of the water with new ears, a new heart, new eyes, and blood rushing all over. How does one learn to be "dunked" on a regular basis? How does one learn to live in a continual state of "coming up out of the water."
That's what I hope for; a life of continually coming up out of the water. I want to cherish the moments I have, realizing that life is not forever. We really do have a very few days to make our relationships count; i. e., to really care for people around us, to make them feel loved because we're really loving them.
WILDLIFE!
