A lot changes in life. Passions sometimes evaporate. They get lost. Forgotten in time as a busy season becomes a busy year becomes a busy era. You look back and wonder how you even wandered so far down the road. You have been chasing the wind. You cannot catch the wind. It is futile and meaningless.
Since escaping the endless summer of Florida, I find myself in a new place. That is true of physical location and spiritual location. Yet some things don’t change. Sometimes you have to simply do things differently to bring about change. Yet you wonder if that may still be chasing the wind or if you should trust the process.
One of the last community group Bible studies we had in Orlando was on Ecclesiastes. That also then became a sermon series a few months later at church as I was pivoting to a new course in life. This also was the first book I read in earnest after becoming a Christian, as I simply opened the Bible and read from the middle section I’d landed upon. The mood and themes of Ecclesiastes still resonate. There is much meaninglessness and chasing the vapor. Yet some level of encouragement, and warning, from the last two verses, chapter 12:13-14 (ESV):
13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
A recent community group session brought forth a similarly resonating scripture from Matthew 22 (ESV):
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
In returning to the blog, I want to explore how we can grow in our humility. I want to explore how we can love our neighbor. I want to explore how we can connect with the world, the real world, and escape the dangers of a false, and harmful realm. I think it is something we must do if we want a better community.
The things that have helped me in recent months is exercise. It is exploring the natural world around me. It is capturing imagery in artistic ways. It is reviewing the past and understanding what I’ve done wrong with a hope to do right. It is embracing God’s word and truth to repent and forge a better, hopeful mindset. It is engaging in positive community with accountability.
Hopefully my creative energies can be turned more positively as I continue down this path. Hopefully this blog will help express what I’ve learned. Maybe it will help someone other than myself. Or maybe it will just help me stay thoughtful and reflective.
Alas, welcome back to the blog.