June 17, 2022

Unless it is too cold or too wet outside, my husband and I generally go for a walk each evening. We don't have a set time, or a set distance, we go whenever and for whatever length of time we can fit in between dinner and evening meetings and the general busy-ness of family life. As the days get longer this time of year it always feels like we have more space in our days. Our walks get longer and we often choose to walk "a new way", randomly turning down this street or that, trying to find something new-to-us.

It is surprising that after living in the same neighborhood for 20 years there are still "new ways" to go - a new corner to turn, or some "Have we noticed this before?" moment. The way there is always something new to see, even after walking the same streets for 20 years, makes me think about the idea that our God continually "makes all things new". Perhaps this kind of understanding of God is what comes of a faith rooted in not one but two stories of Creation. And it might have a whole lot to do with our resurrection stories as well. But what I've been pondering lately is myrole in seeing as new the things I desire to be made new. How does God ask for my partnership in this work?

When the world feels stuck, when we feel stuck, what old things can we try to view in a new light? What can we discover about ourselves, about the world, about God, if we look for opportunities to shift our lens and our thinking? In a world that does feel very stuck sometimes lately, I invite you into this practice. What old thing can you look at in a new way this week? What does it reveal to you about God? And about your place in God's world?

My prayer for you this week is that the place you feel the most stuck, or have the least hope, will shift when you invite God to give you a new perspective. If not, keep asking. Keep turning those corners. Something new will come with time. And when it does, please share your "all things made new" stories with me and with one another: sometimes it's through the eyes of each other that we can see most clearly.