Thursday, September 13, 2007

Dear God,

A year ago a young 20 something man came to visit me. I'd known him for probably 15 years. He was troubled, overworked, dried up, lost, and wandering. "No spiritual life," he told me. His job was eating him up. He carried his cell phone/pager on his person at all times and constantly took calls. He traveled weekly, never being home for any period of time. He felt "homeless." He also suffered from Crohn's Disease. From the look in his eye he was desperate.

We sat in my living room, just talking. I asked a lot of questions, leading him down a path I hoped was filled with promise. When I challenged him to take some time away, he couldn't imagine how he could do it. I pushed him. He thought and thought. "I'll be home around Christmas and I could take some vacation following Christmas." He said to me. He carved out a week. I saw a new dynamic beginning to form.

Once he was able to pare some time from work, I challenged him further. By the time we concluded our time together he had decided to isolate himself (with his dog) in a cabin in the woods of rural Indiana. With no nearby neighbors, he would spend the week alone. Carrying in his food and everything he needed so he wouldn't have to leave, he would have time to unclutter his mind, release pent up emotions, making space and time for something new to enter. He would reflect upon his life allowing God to enter in surprising ways. He would do this through the last day of the year, returning home January 1. As the man left my home that day, he was excited about the possibilities, not sure what might come, but ready to put everything in place.

The first of the year came and went. It was several weeks before I heard back from him. He voice was upbeat. He had negotiated his job with his employer. Traveling would be nearly non-existent. Who he reported had changed. His home base changed as well. He sold his home in Indiana and returned to the east coast. Things were looking up.

He told me the time in the woods had been fantastic. Not sure what would happen, he opened himself to new possibilities. He took long walks with the dog. He made a fire each night and sat with it. He cooked new foods and listened to some music. He left behind some broken fragments of his life when he returned home. It had been a tremendous time of reflection for him. He had a firm grasp on hope.

Last night he called me. "Andrea, I have some great news and I wanted you to be the first to know. My life is great. I am home all the time. I have a great house with a fire pit and a beautiful growing garden. I am taking two classes a week toward my MBA. And I am a youth minister at my church. I have a spiritual life that is growing and I am so excited."

I was talking to a renewed person, a man who chose to be courageous, to look at what he wanted, felt called to do. He was willing to step out of the old box, kick it into the next county. He grabbed hold of a new life. And most of all he had discovered God and now he was helping young people find God too.

As I lay in bed, I remembered the frantic plea that had lead him to me. I reflected upon our conversation in the living room. I remember my words of challenge. But more importantly, I remember your presence in the room.

The success of transformation does not belong to me. I know that. This young man took a pilgrim journey and discovered a new world of faith. I had a small hand in that. You trusted me to help and he trusted me to help. Just like I trusted on that December day in 1972 when I knelt at the altar during a Lay Witness Mission at our church. I didn't know it was a call to ministry. I just knew the love of Jesus inside and all around me. Thirty five years ago. I had no idea it had been that long ago. Thirty five years.

You and I, together
for thirty five years.
I can't get over it.
Thirty five years.

Always and forever, Andrea