I found myself in a Bible study called "The Bible for Progressives" this evening and that has led me to think about the progression of my life over the last several years. The thought that keeps coming to me is that often we appear to go backwards in order to move forward. For the last 10 years or so I have led the Praise & Worship at a small church in the Charleston area. Before that I was a member of a larger praise band in a larger church. That would appear to be a progression of sorts to me... member of larger band to leader of smaller band. Now I find that I have progressed to being neither...this may be where the regression thought keeps coming from. Spiritually I had hit a dead stop in the road. Leading worship was the greatest gift I could be given but after 10 years of that God seemed to either call me away from that or maybe I just walked away from it. I learned from a friend in High School that God knows all of our choices and it may not really matter how we came to make that choice but in the end God will turn that choice to good if we just keep walking with God. Sometimes it's not about moving or progressing from one place to another but rather it's the journey in between the two places. Now I find myself fully in my period of regression or at least I have viewed it as regression only to find that maybe there has been progression after all. This coming Sunday I will pick up the guitar once again to lead a different congregation in what may only be a "special music" moment in the service or maybe it will be the beginning of yet another period of progression. I suspect it will look different from the small church I began teaching praise choruses to 10 years ago and it may not take a path that even remotely resembles the one I just left. Maybe it's progression out of regression or maybe it's just another step in a journey. Tonight I heard someone say during Bible study that progressive means living now and attending to this life rather than living in a way that is only looking at the end result of getting to Heaven. To me that sounded a whole lot like living that journey in between two places rather than just trying to get from one place to the other. So maybe progressive means moving and living in that moving and not so much about the direction we are going in.
For in him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:28
Last year at this time I was living in Albuquerque. I co-owned an art gallery, I had a fantastic job and career that I loved, I was an accomplished and award-winning local photographer, and had a great circle of friends.. Then I moved to WV so that my husband could take a great job that woud further his career. I came here knowing no one, realizing quickly that the art scene here was nonexistent and that my job prospects in my chosen career were nil. I spent two months living underwater - so upset my the situation I had put myself in. I felt that I would never have any of the things I had before, that I would never be any of the things I once was. This was my "unraveling" time. And as I emerged from those two "unraveling" months I found God, found a faith community, started on a new, healthier, more vibrant lifestyle, and reached out to the people around me. Now almost a year later I've created two new circles of friends, have found a new vocation, am healthier and happier and more content than I've ever been in my entire life. Regression or unraveling, whatever you call it, can be a good thing. Pulling backing, regrouping, refocusing - they are a beautiful part of life - the moments before the next leap. Can't wait to hear you sing on Sunday. ~Raine
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