What Are You Carrying?

I have to share with you a couple of sentences that I read from an article a friend gave me. As you read them, make a mental note about which phrases, if any, grab onto you:

God has given us a vision of the way the world can be. It is not our job to make it happen, but to companion God and willingly carry the piece of the dream God gives us to carry. *

The words that intrigued me were “to companion God” and “carry the piece of the dream”.

I confess that I go about much of my life carrying way too much. I get to thinking that improving the world is my job. Responsibility hounds me like a stalker. Then when the load gets to be too heavy, I’m so tired or so afraid-of-failure that I can’t seem to carry anything at all. Just barely getting by.

What if I could be carrying just a piece – the piece – the piece of God’s dream that God has given me to carry?

What if my everybreath companion would be not responsibility, but… God?

What if I could truly be companioning God as a way of life, a regular thing. What would that look like, feel like, to have God as my constant confidant AND to be God’s confidant as well?

It's certainly not easy to know what God is saying all the time, but it’s probably a good thing to give it a try. To stop and ask: God, what piece of your dream am I carrying today?

Click on the title of this entry to read a great story about someone who’s just beginning to companion God. He’s a young guy named Samuel. It’s such a great story because God’s so patiently persistent. God keeps going after this kid until Sam gets it: that God wants a conversation partner. God has a dream for being in touch with Samuel’s people. And Samuel is to carry a piece of God’s dream.

How do I know what piece of the dream God has in mind for me? I’ve got to be in touch with God’s other conversation partners. Together we listen, to God and to the Godvoice in other listeners.

Please feel free to comment on any thoughts you have about Samuel’s story or your own. Consider the piece of God’s dream that is part of you, the unique gifts that only you bring to God’s world. Either post your thoughts here or on the Facebook page or shoot me an email at bythewaynashua@gmail.com.

My hope is that By the Way can be a community of GodCompanions who walk with and support one another, whether it’s online or in person, whether you live in New Hampshire or New Zealand (yes, there’s someone in NZ who reads this!). Let’s continue to seek out ways we can be community, reaching out and being God’s people in the world.

Peace,
Kari

* excerpt from Radical Newness: The Essence of Being Church by N. Gordon Cosby with Kayla McClurg