A recent surgery on my neck reminded me of an article I wrote after a previous lower back surgery, one that required an extended recovery period laying flat on my back.

I re-read the article to reminisce, and found some leadership and spiritual life nuggets I hadn’t expected. It reminded me what we’re to be about, and how we’re to lead others as we do it.

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Ten days ago we were suddenly faced with the death of a family friend. The shock still stuns our senses and we all find ourselves asking, “How could this have happened?” All of us will die, but we don’t think about it much. And we certainly don’t typically dwell on it. We live life. We do the things we do. We love, we care for, we gravitate to those who are important in and to our lives and give us some of the joy of living.

Those who are left behind are the ones suffering, she has been transformed. She will never be sick again, she will never feel pain and all the other hard things life brings us in this place we always call “home”. But, the fact is we are not home, she is. She’s safe!

When death comes to someone we love and care for, it causes us to reflect on our own mortality and that which is immortal. We take an inventory of what we do, who we are and how we line up with what we know God wants us to be and do. During the memorial service, there were many comments about our friend that showed all of us who she was. That’s not uncommon during times like this. But, the one thing that stood out to me and that I heard over and over, was how much she showed love to those around her. I want to be remembered for that and for people to know I love God most, like she did.  The only way we can really be that kind of person is to love God!

In the work that we do each day, we have many opportunities to show those we come in contact with that kind of graciousness and love. We build relationships. We care for others and their needs. And we have those around us who care for our needs as well. It’s just what Jesus wants us to do and who he wants us to be.

From a recent Ray Stedman devotional… something that is all to easy to forget:

“This is the great secret, and one of the hardest things for Christians to learn… How did Jesus walk? He walked in total, unrelenting, unbroken fellowship and dependence upon the activity of the Father who indwelt Him. But that seems so hard for us to learn. With us, it is the Son of God who lives within us, and He has come to reproduce the effect of His death and the power of His resurrection—to live again His life in us. But we have such difficulty with this. Our attitude is, Please, Father, I’d rather do it myself We are brought up with the idea that we have in ourselves an ability to act significantly, that God is looking to us to act on His behalf, and if we fail Him, the whole program will fall apart, but if we do accomplish something for God, He should be eternally grateful to us for our faithfulness.

But this is not what a Christian is called to do. A quiet, unrelenting dependence upon an indwelling God to be always at work in us, reproducing the value of His death and the power of His resurrection—that is what Christianity is, that is what fellowship is, and that is what abiding in Him means.”

Donald Miller is a fairly polarizing figure. Though I tend to defer to the likes of CS Lewis and Ray Stedman, Don has re-shaped quite a bit of my theological thinking… whether it has been for better or worse!

Well, he is at it again, blogging about whether God has a plan in store for us. Check it out:

Does God Have a Specific Plan for Your Life? Probably Not. | Donald Miller’s Blog.