T h e S a c r e d R o m a n c e
"You've
got to read this book," said
our good friend, Jan as we were squeezing in conversation about
8 years of life's journey (four of hers and four of ours) in a
morning.
"I
would give you my copy, but..."
her voice trailed off as we saw the note her friend had written
in it before he died.
"Please
don't," I replied, "I'm
sure I'll be able to pick one up," which I did as
soon as I found it. From then on I kept coming in touch with people
who talked about how much this book had meant to them. So when
Tim and I were going to spend a few days traveling and relaxing
with a friend it wasn't hard for me to choose which book I wanted
to take along to read.
A
few times in my life I have read a book which helped me understand
life better, by giving me terms or categories though which to
analyze and understand my experiences and thoughts. The Sacred
Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge is such
a book. It addresses
questions like the following: What is this emptiness and restlessness
I feel, sometimes long years into my Christian journey? Why do
I let activity for God replace my communion with him? What do
the deepest dreams and fears of my heart have to do with my spiritual
journey? What am I to do with the emotional wounds and tragedies
of life?
In college, while
reading the somewhat obscure book by C.S. Lewis, "The
Pilgrim's Regress," I first encountered the description,
which resonated in me, of an experience of intense longing, a
"stab of joy", which he later calls "Sehnsucht;"
a "sunbeam" which leads your mind back up to the sun
[God.] This longing, this joy, is what the authors describe as
part of God's wooing of His Beloved:
The
Sacred Romance calls to us every moment of our lives.
It whispers to us on the wind, invites us through the laughter
of good friends, reaches out to us through the touch of someone
we love. We've heard it in our favorite music, sensed it at the
birth of our first child, been drawn to it while watching the
shimmer of a sunset on the ocean. It is even present in times
of great personal suffering--the illness of a child, the loss
of a marriage, the death of a friend. Something calls to us through
experiences like these and rouses an inconsolable longing deep
within our heart, waking in us a yearning for intimacy, beauty,
and adventure.
This longing is the
most powerful part of any human personality. It fuels our search
for meaning, for wholeness, for a sense of being truly alive.
However we describe this deep desire, it is the most important
thing about us, our heart of hearts, the passion of our life.
And the voice that calls to us in this place is none other than
the voice of God.
My hope is that this
will whet your appetite to dive into "The Sacred Romance"
so that "with an awakened heart, we can turn and face the
road ahead."
With
Lots of Love.... Annette
·
We asked Latin American youth leaders how
we could help them, their answer was: ministry
resources and training
Over
the last 2+ years we've development and disseminated hundreds
of pages of resources. Now our focus will now turn to
training. During these next few months Annette and I and our
friends will be producing interactive youth ministry training
courses for the tens of thousands of youth leaders across the
Spanish speaking world. Please pray that God will help
us to create practical, strategic courses that will aid the
local church in reaching the youth of their community with the
life changing truths of the Bible and the love of Christ.
·
Pray for our web site team:
Benjamin Leon, Daniel Medina, Veronica Dominguez, Dora Flores,
Julio Bautista, J.C. Flores, Jorge Bernaldez, and Carlos Olivares,
Xavier Cabezas, Greg Lusk, and Sarah Montgomery that they would
know how important the work they are doing is and that Annette
and I would be able to serve them well as guides and facilitators.