Chris Maxwell's Newsletter

Another Day Along the Way
Friday, September 25, 2009

Another day,
Do you ever feel like you always catch the red lights when driving through town? I recently realized life can feel that way. Something, or Someone, is causing us to caution, to pause, to slow, to stop.

Think about our life experiences of pausing as a journey to a local traffic light. Think about it this way.

Driving along Life Street, I'm usually in a hurry. I'm not totally sure the number of times "usually" reveals, but I'm probably in a hurry more often than usually. So I've asked my Creator to slow me down. Disappointing to my personality and my preferred preferences, He heard that prayer. And He is working to answer it.

The Listener finds various ways to turn on caution lights or stop lights in my journey of life. I desire green. I seek to go. Moving forward toward another intersection of life, a next turn, the final destination. A goal to accomplish. A purpose to fulfill. A plan to finalize. But when I rush toward life, driving rapidly to that next duty, task, appointment, the Caution Light on Life Street comes on. Slow down, it says. Don't be in such a hurry, it says. Be still, it says. Caution, it says.

Some of us want to rush on through that calm yellow before noticing the controlling red. In life, not on the streets, we speed up our pace when a pause is pending. We hurry through in our purpose driven addiction.

Yesterday, I guided a group of students about hitting pause in life. About stopping for silence, for reverence, for meditation, for listening, for waiting, for staying. Instead of today's image of the Caution Light, in our class we've used the image of the Table. We think about Someone preparing a Table for us. Around enemies, around ourselves, amid our rush, among our friends, a Table is being prepared.

Will we take time to sit? To eat? To listen? Will we stop long enough to notice? Will we learn the wonder of a pause, a caution, a stop?

I'm trying. As I hurry to my next life street, I'm trying.

Along the way,
Chris Maxwell

Practical Suggestion: Intentionally drive in the slow lane. Intentionally choose the longest line at the bank or grocery store. Intentionally sit longer over your meal. Intentionally chew your food. Intentionally take a longer shower. Relish the time. (Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook)

Another Day Along the Way
Friday, September 18, 2009

Another day,
A friend told me about Andrew Peterson's music. He said, "I know you, Chris. You'll love this guy's writing. You'll also love his style and his voice, but trust me. This is your kind of writing." My friend was correct. I've been listening to Peterson's music since that day many years ago.

Each collection of songs takes me places. New land. New faces. New truth. New worlds. Or, a presentation of familiar land, faces, truth, and worlds in fresh ways.

And now? Not a new CD. A new book in Andrew Peterson's collection of fiction. North! or Be Eaten is a mesmerizing adventure of conflict, characters, decisions, and results. The conversations lure me to listen, to observe, to guess. The narrative is captivating, the scenes enchanting, the plot enticing.

Through the story, Peterson allows a traditional truth to appear in freshness - our choices bring results. In a life of unpredictable surprises, there are still consequences to behavior. That is life. Real life. And, in North! or Be Eaten we can read a tale that brings music from the strings of a story, playing a tune in desperation and appeal; we can't stop listening. We won't stop reading.

So, go to the places you find on these pages. New land, faces, truth, and worlds will meet you there.

Along the way,
Chris Maxwell

Peterson's Story: It was your song that fell from the cliffs.
(Andrew Peterson, North! or Be Eaten)

Another Day Along the Way
Thursday, September 17, 2009

Another day,
Imagine a room with three windows. Walk toward one. As you open the blinds and glance through the window, you notice your past. You had expected to see a normal day: the birds outside, maybe a rabbit, a light drizzle, a picnic table in the back. But you saw faces, felt feelings, heard songs, and smelled the fragrance from years ago.

Imagine backing up and moving toward your next window. This one doesn't allow you to see outside. The screen reflects your face. You see yourself. You notice the now, the present. You're glancing at the countenance of who you are.

You take a few steps back and walk to window three. You slowly, slowly, slowly - unsure of what you might notice - open the window. There you see what you assume is your future. You observe yourself older, walking with a few people you assume are friends.

Think now about the three windows. Through which window would you prefer to continue glancing? Which scenes bring fear, pain, joy, anger, hope, healing? Which views convey caution or courage or compassion? Why?

A visit to the past can motivate us toward anger and resentment. Or joy and celebration. Or a mixture of each extreme. Or maybe very little - if we've chosen to forget days of pain. The same for the now - we can celebrate the present or seek to deny the moments of now. And for the future we can fear entering new land or we can anticipate an adventure of wonder.

Take time to glance out the windows.

Remember the past. Forgive and be forgiven. Notice the pain and be healed. Smile.

Discern the present. Stare through incorrect assumptions and improper perceptions. See you. Believe in the Creator who made you, the Father who loves you. Accept the face looking back and make a choice. Smile at yourself.

Dream of the future. Good dreams. Big dreams. Impossible dreams. Dream with faith, anticipation, potential, and an eternal family. And, make the choice again: smile.

As you depart and leave the windows, remember what you noticed.

Along the way,
Chris Maxwell

Powerful Statement: What is in the way is how you've mishandled your wound and the life you've constructed as a result.
(John Eldredge, Wild at Heart)

Another Day Along the Way
Thursday, September 03, 2009

Another day,
In Spiritual Formation I've often asked students to pray only a phrase, a word, a sentence. Instead of rambling, we state. Rather than rushing, we pause. One sentence at a time can guide our thoughts, redirect our assumptions, and reconnect us to beliefs.

So, for this week's Another Day, I'll let sentences from other authors come for a visit. Hang out with them a while. Read them. Let them help you read yourself:

I think this must be what grace is, a gift of his embrace even when I'm at my worst, which must seem to be all of the time to him. (A Delicate Fade, Ben Devries, Zondervan, 2004)

The recent ground swell of emphasis on worship seems a strong expression of God-given spiritual renewal. (Dying for Change, Leith Anderson, Bethany House Publishers, 1990)

Jesus expects us to take necessary steps to love him and others with our minds. (Mind Games, Matthew Paul Turner, Tyndale, 2006)

Being a roaring lamb is really just putting the best face on your faith so that others can see Christians as an asset rather than a liability. (Lambs Among Wolves: How Christians Are Influencing American Culture, Bob Briner, Zondervan Publishing House, 1995)

To show and model love, we have to get close to those we serve, even when it isn't comfortable or clean. (The Externally Focused Church, Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson, Group, 2004)

Playing and praying counter boredom, reduce anxieties, push, pull, direct, prod us into the fullness of our humanity by getting body and spirit in touch and friendly with each other. (Working the Angles, Eugene Peterson, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987)

Those who still subscribe to the neat formula of Job's friends - and there are many, if religious broadcasts give any indication - would do well to consider one sobering fact: the most aggressively Christian continent on earth, Africa, is also the hungriest, while the most aggressively non-Christian region, around the Arabian Sea, is the wealthiest. (The Bible Jesus Read, Phillip Yancey, ZondervanPublishingHouse, 1999)

Contrary to what I believe or was taught in my Christian college education, God seems to prefer to minister through me more out of my brokenness than through my giftedness.(God Touches, Dan Gilliam, Standard, 2007)

At the heart of a life filled with unanswered questions lies the very nature of Christianity.(Second Guessing God, Brian Jones, Standard, 2006)

Along the way,
Chris Maxwell

Prayer Surrendered: Father, help me believe that you love me.