What Brings You LIFE? Your Way, Your Truth, Your Light
“But the basic fact remains. If life is to manifest itself in a particular form, it poses the conditions, the discipline, essential to that end. A particular form of life is committed to a way of survival, a way of keeping alive. When this no longer operates, when the line of communication is broken and the organism is cut adrift, death is automatic.”
Howard Thurman Disciplines of the Spirit p. 16
John 14:6-7
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” NRSV
Sometimes the life we live can sap the life out of us. This happens when the life we are living is not that which we were created to live. We have a job, we are paying the bills, we are making a living but we don’t have a life. You are not created to pay bills you were created by the creator to create that which the creator gave you the gifts and tools to create.
Life is about having the discipline to do that which you were created. Life is about finding that thing(s) that lights you up, gives you life, makes you vital and keeps you going. It may not be what you majored in, in college but is it what you need to major in if you want to have life
Jesus came and he said he was the truth, the way and the life! As Jesus said this he says this to us: “If you want to find your way be true to yourself and have the courage to live the life that will keep you alive.” By alive we don’t mean simply this side the grave but we mean doing that which brings you satisfaction, brings joy and allows you to live your truth. Yes, your truth is being true to yourself and telling your story through that which you create and share with the world.
Talk to yourself, listen to yourself and be true to that conversation. Commit to your way, your truth, your light and your life! What brings you life?
As people of faith we must engage the public square. Jesus was always amongst the people addressing their issue. If we are to be like Jesus we must deal with the things that are adversely affection our people. In the public sector we have to vote. It isn't protest or vote but rather we must protest and vote.
Frederick Douglas put it this way:
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lighting. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will.
“Whatever stands in the way of the complete and full surrender, we must search it out and remove it. If a bad relationship is a hinderance, one must clean it up. In other words, whatever roadblocks appear, the individual must remove them. The yielding of the nerve center of one’s consent is a private, personal act in which the human being, as sovereign, say Yes.”
Howard Thurman Disciplines of the Spirit p. 19
Mark 9:43-48
43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell., 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
What is causing you to stumble?
What is holding you back?
What is in your way?
What must you let go of, get rid of or dismiss so that you can live your vision for your life?
In life we collect people, relationships, habits, even jobs that get in the way of what we really want to do. Yes, I said what we really want to do. God expresses God’s will for our lives through that which we desire. God actually gives you the desire to desire. God puts desire in your heart for those things God has prepared for you and prepared you for.
That thing you want to do is from God. That thing you were created to do and yearn to do is from God. When we let things get in the way of what God has for us we are living a life beneath that which God has prepared for us. We acquiesce to a life that is satisfying others and not God or ourselves. We have to have he courage to dismiss those things which are holding us back. It may feel like we have cut our hand or foot off but if need be do so. It may mean quitting a job, ending a relationship or walking away from somewhere you have lived literally or figuratively but you must walk away.
As Thurman says, “…we must remove them.” What is it you must remove? It is going to be painful and you are going to be misunderstood by some for the decisions you make but you have the sovereignty to make these decisions. In making these decisions your are saying yes to God, your dreams and God given desires.
You have to surrender to you and that which you want to do. We think we need to feel some rush of the Spirit to know that which God is calling us to and I would argue God speaks to your hearts and minds via that which we desire. Simply be honest with yourself about what you want because “that want” is God speaking to you. Be honest with yourself about what you want. Take an inventory of your life and get rid of that which is hindering you, getting in your way and remove it so that you can live your YES!
The Energy Source for Life: Living the Abundant Life
“When a man (woman) is able to bring to bear upon a single purpose all the powers of his (her) being, his (her) whole life is energized and vitalized.”
Howard Thurman Disciplines of the Spirit p. 19
Thurman calls on us to find that purpose, that thing that calls us, consumes us, inspires us and gives us life. That thing that gives us life will sustain our life. That thing that gives us life will fuel our life and give us the will to go on in the midst of struggle and hard-times.
That thing, that thing you do. That thing you enjoying doing. That thing you do so well that people will pay for it. That thing that comes natural to you even though you have developed it. That thing that you go to bed thinking about and wake up doing. That thing you can talk about all day and never tire. That thing you read about, watch YouTube videos about, that thing that fills up your Facebook timeline, Instagram and Twitter feed. That is the thing that Thurman is talking about, that thing that gives you abundant life.
John 10:10
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). The Amplified Bible
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. NRSV
To have the abundant life that Jesus talks about we have to find that thing that give us life. Jesus came to show us the light as he was the light. Jesus came to shed light on darkness. We are in the dark when we are doing things for a living that don’t give us life. We are in the darkness when we are doing things to pay the bills that extract life out of us. If paying the bills is killing us we will die paying bills. To live the abundant life means we have found that thing that we can bring all our powers to and that thing gives us power.
To have the abundant life is to have a life filled with that which gives you life and light. It takes work to find that thing(s). You have to try stuff, be willing to fail, be willing to start and stop, be willing to quit and restart, be retrained, change careers and possibly start over (again and again). We have to be honest with ourselves about what we want and then be willing to pay the price to get it.
The thief is the thing(s) we do that suck the life out of us. The things that bring us down and makes our lives dark. These things steal our hope, they steal our joy and are thus they are evil in the sense that they drain us. They don’t sustain us. We can sometimes find ourselves in careers, jobs, relationships or majors in college that are stealing from us. If we continue to do that thing(s) we are complicit in the crime of theft. The thing we are stealing is the abundant life that Jesus came to offer. Do want the abundant life? What are you willing to do to make your life more abundant?
Navigating the Turns in Life: Four Essential Questions
I am often asked by people questions like this: How did you know to do such and such at that point in your career? I often failed in answering that question. I have historically talked about my passion, sense of call and my willingness to act on what iI thought was next for me? Let me try to answer that question in this series The Creative Calling:
The book that has guided me throughout my life has been Howard Thurman’s Disciplines of the Spirit. This book has been the most influential book I have ever read. In the first chapter Thurman gives us three questions, I added a fourth, that has been the central questions I have asked myself at each juncture in my life’s journey:
Who am I?
What do I want?
How do I propose to get it?
When you sit with these questions, and don’t run pass them, they give you pause. You have to think and reflect deeply. It is not about what others expect of me. It is not what they call me. It is not what I have accomplished but rather, at my core, who am I? The question is not what I do but rather the question is who am I?
What do you want? Not what others want from you. Not what others expect from you. Not what others need from you but what do you want?
How are you going to get what you want, what you want out of this one life you have to live? This life that is passing each and everyday. This life we live that we can’t stop the clock on. Each and everyday our life gets shorter as we get yet closer to the end of life. How are you going to use the time you have to get what you want?
Now let me add the fourth question that has guided me:
4. What do you want to create?
As a creative, my writing, photography, teaching, videography and other creative pursuits drive me and give me life. I enjoy creating, it is in the creating that I honor what the creator put in me. By creating I honor the gifts and call that God placed on my life while I was in my mother’s womb. I have to create and I have ask what I want to create and then structure my life to create that which I am called to create.
To structure my life to create that which I am called to create at this point in my life requires I say no to somethings, that I change my life, I let somethings go so that I am free to grow. What do you need to let go of in order to grow?
I offer these four questions to you. Take time to answer them through prayer, mediation and deep reflection and let the answers guide your next faithful step. You only have to take the next step on the journey, one step at a time. Take the step!
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen.
17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”
18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. NRSV
What I love about this text is that they had a faith to follow and let God make them.
They left their old life for a new life. They left what they had to get what God had for them.
They weren’t promised stuff, they weren’t promised riches or fame. They were promised if you follow me, I will make you.
God is always making us, forming us and calling us but we have to let go of what we were, what we have and who we have been to be what God is calling us to be.
We have be still and know that God is God and God isn’t through making us. Where is God taking you and what does God want to make of you?
This text is clear, we can’t be made if we will not go. We can’t be made if we will not follow? We can’t be made if we are not willing to let go of yesterday for the promise of tomorrow!
What is God calling you to leave, give up, move on and become what God has prepared for you?
From Left to Right (Back Row):Jennie, Alejandro, Alex, Momma Beverly, Roberto, Sara, Isaiah and CJ
Front Row: Me, Ava and Vanesa (Photo taken by Joshua Rashad McFaddden)
When my wife, Vanessa and I, moved to Atlanta nine years ago we were responding to a call from God. That call was supported by Vanessa’s siblings who already lived in Atlanta. We left California and moved to Georgia to be greeted by our family. Vanessa’s brother Alex, his wife Jennie and their son Alejandro along with her brother Roberto, his wife Sara and their three children CJ, Isaiah and Ava were here to welcome to the A. What joy to have our family living in the same town we were living in. This was a first for us and we were so thankful for the privilege of doing life together.
We have enjoyed these last nine years with our family but this pass weekend we lost one. We loss Sara Jackson-Chandler (June 5, 1979 to April 25, 2020). Sara and Roberto were the youngest of the bunch, he was my little brother and she was my little sister. They represented the future of the family. We enjoyed watching them parent as their children went through the stages our children had long since passed.
On Sunday, February 23, 2020 we had one our usual family gatherings. Two years ago Vanessa’s sister and her family moved to Atlanta. All of Vanessa’s siblings and their families now lived in Atlanta and it was over her sister’s home, Adrianna, we had what would become our final family gathering that included Sara. We didn’t know it at the time, that this would be the last time. We engaged as we usually do, fun, laughter, food and playing games. We played the game Taboo and the women beat the men as usual.
I had just bought a new lens for my camera. I wasn’t really into taking pictures on that day. I was enjoying family but something told me to pick that camera up and take a few shots. As we began to play the game Taboo I took a few pictures, and then I took a few more. When I got home to process the pictures I wasn’t pleased with them. They were muddy and looked almost dreamy. The new lens I bought had failed me and I didn’t send the pictures out to family like I usually do. I let them reside on my hard-drive never to be seen again. Then last week happened.
Sara was rushed to the hospital and she wasn’t breathing. We found out that she had severe brain damage, couldn’t breathe on her own and the family would have to make decision. Sara was taken off life support on Saturday, April 25, 2020. She passed away and we couldn’t be there to comfort her, Roberto, CJ, Isiah and Ava. They had to say goodbye to Sara without the support of family. We weren’t allowed to go to the hospital and be with them. They had to return home and we still couldn’t go to comfort them, sit with them, pray with them, hug and them and support them. We had to mourn alone. The pictures, could I find the pictures from our last time together?
I woke up early Sunday morning. I couldn’t sleep. I had to find the pictures. I found them and there she was, Sara was alive in the pictures. I saw her, I heard her voice, I remembered the last time and it was as if I was reliving that moment as the tears ran down my face. She came to life in the pictures. She was yet alive in the stillness of a photograph. The family photo yet gives life after death. When you get together with your family don’t take it for granted. By phone or otherwise take time to snap a picture. It is through the family photo that family never dies.
At a time when we need to come together and support each other across all lines of division we have 46-1 excluding the leaders of both parties. The bipartisan bill wouldn't have been as inclusive as it needed to be if the two sides hadn't worked together. They worked together and in the end we had a much better bill than we had in the beginning. The leaders of the House and Senate proved they could work together, that is leadership. What we see in this picture, the exclusion of an entire party, an absence of diversity led by a narcissist taking credit for what he did not create. I respect leaders on both sides of the political spectrum. What we have here isn't about republican or democrat but rather utter madness. This madness has cost and will cost thousands of lives because of the lack of leaders standing up to the madness. This is real and the consequences are real. Lives are being lost daily because of a lack of leadership on the national, state and local levels. Leaders are called to level-up and lead. We need you, we elected you, and we know it is in you. It is time to support the most vulnerable in real tangible ways so that they can stay at home just like white collar workers and still get paid. Those who are living on the streets must be taken care of and not forgotten. This can't be a white collar stay at home / quarantine. All people need to be able to be safe and taken care of and for this to happen leaders need to shut it down, stop playing politics with peoples lives and make sure that all are secure financially and with health and safety. This thing can be beat, but if our leaders continue to play politics more blood will be on their hands. We have to call our leaders and support them as they stand for justice. Write, call, email, post, make videos, scream from your windows, "We are tired of this madness and we are not going to take it anymore!" Call on our leaders to standup, speak-up, put up and tell madness to shut-up!
It is Not About a Sermon It is About Vision and Mission: Charlottesville Ain’t New
All over the internet, we had calls last week for preachers to preach about Charlottesville. I heard the call and I fully agree that we should stand for, live for, fight for and preach about justice. What I am responding to are the calls that went something like this, “If your pastor doesn’t preach about "said issue" this week then you should find another church.” I would rephrase that call. If your church does not have as a core value the liberation work of God for all people, then you should find another church. What I am trying to say is that this weekend was not about a sermon but rather it was about the very vision and mission of the church. We as a church are not called to be reactive but rather we are called to be prophetic.
At Wheat Street our vision reads like this:
We exist to develop mature disciples of Jesus Christ who make a real difference in the world by actively seeking the justice, freedom, liberation, and peace of God.
(Luke 4:18; Matthew 25:31-46; Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 1:16-20; Mark 6:30-44; Mark 7:1-23; Mark 9:33-37; Mark 10:13-16; Mark 12:41-44; Acts 1:6-11; Acts 2:14-21; Acts 2:43-47; Acts 4:23-37; Philippians 4:4-9)
At the core of who we understand ourselves to be as a faith community, at Wheat Street Baptist Church, is built on the foundation of the liberative work God is doing in the world. This is more than a sermon, or a reaction to the latest, continuing acts of hate. We do this work every day, it is not about the latest sermon it is about the continuing struggle for justice. It is not the sermon but the vision and mission that I am more concerned about. What is your church’s vision and mission and how does it speak to justice? It is the everyday work we do in the struggle that I am focused on. As much as what we say on Sunday is important it is equally important what we do Monday through Saturday as prophetic witnesses who act by the power of God in the world to fight for justice, this is our call. So yes, we preach and we then live in such a way that our preaching becomes lived in this world as we fight for justice. We don’t need an act of hate/racism to spur us into action. We are called by the prophetic ministry of Jesus, the radical liberator, to this work of liberation every day!!
