LET'S TALK ABOUT . . .


                                           
                                                "TERM" VERSUS "WHOLE LIFE"


In my third blog I talked about the fact that we are teleological beings; that whether we realize it or not our lives are directional in nature.  A lot of the time we are just simply doing what we know or perceive we need to do to meet the needs in our own lives and the lives of those we love. We probably think about making "directional" decisions at crossroads or defining moments of our lives: around education, jobs, careers, health, life partners, parenting, retirement, etc. 

One of the great stressors in our lives is that we perceive that these defining choices set the terms for the seasons that follow.  Although that is true it is not the entire truth.  It is almost as if we perceive that in making a defining decision that takes us down a designated pathway in life, we somehow lose touch with making moment-by-moment decisions in the aftermath. That tendency erodes the joy and freedom we experienced in making the original decision.

When I think about the picture of my life I know that there were, from the beginning, pieces of framework that were out of my control: bio-genetics, basic personality construct, early childhood conditioning, geographic and cultural forces, etc.  These are so powerful in shaping our lives there has been much debate about whether or not their influence can ever be entirely eradicated.

If we think about these forming a kind of framework, then some of the defining choices we make  might be thought about as choosing the mattes around the portraits of our lives.  Much of the framework of my life was outside of my control. When I chose to yield to that gentle pull toward embracing a life of faith that was matte-work.  As I began to yield to that gentle pull toward a committed life of faith, a year later in that hospital room, that was matte-work.

I know it is time for me to attempt to tell the whole story.  I know it will be the culmination of a life lived in cooperation with God's quiet grace at work in my life. It will reflect the integration of my theology and my psychology with my life story. I don't know it any other way. The reality of who He is came to bear on my life, healing and changing me forever. 

That first decision in New Testament class was when I agreed to a personal relationship with God on His "term." That second decision, in the midst of that medical crisis at nineteen, was my first "whole life" decision.  Outside of all of this is a piece of framework that was totally out of my control: I do not have a single pre-God memory in my sixty plus years. It is my earliest memory somewhere between eighteen months and two years old. I had to ask my mother how old I was to peg the timeframe before she passed away.

When I mentioned in my last blog that I knew that what was being revealed to me was one of the "mysteries of life," I wasn't trying to exaggerate or be overly dramatic. I simply know what all of this has meant to my journey through life.  It was like finding something so unique and valuable you are willing to give up everything to have more of it. Nothing has so captivated and held my attention in life!

What about you?  What has formed your framework?  What mattes have you chosen?  How has your framework and mattes influenced and shaped your life narrative? Have you ever thought about it?

Until next time . . . this is, Just Janice!