Look For Valuable ‘Learning Moments’

My Aug. 1 column was a test - mostly for me - and you passed it graciously!

My part of the test was whether I could share a somewhat embarrassing and definitely scary experience in my life - being fired without warning from my job and find ways to move beyond it.

I’m still working on not being embarrassed and scared.

My expressed dream of opening a consultation ministry, Welcome House, is closer to becoming a reality. But much is left to do.

I am so thankful that you, my reader friends, passed your part of the test with grace and compassion. There were so many responses from folks who have struggled more deeply and longer than I have.

Your encouragement continues to uplift me when I’m down. Your courage to persevere over the long haul is inspiring to me.

I hope your daily friends honor you and learn from you.

I keenly desire to seek the “learning moment” in most situations. I struggle to find employment while hoping to keep connected to my vocation.

Learning to trust God is almost easy in this situation. Learning to trust myself is the toughie!

Perhaps you also have experienced momentary crises like these: A friend begins a conversation with “Oh, I need to talk with you about something,” and the fleeting thought is, “I’m being fired from our friendship.” Or, my annual evaluation for a volunteer task carries with it a slightly paranoid feeling I will be fired as a volunteer.

Totally irrational, unrealistic inner reactions - yet they are quite understandable. At moments like these, “learning” takes the form of a gentle jog of the memory.

I need occasional reminders that I am indeed a fortunate man for many reasons.

A primary reason is that I often remember God embraces me not because of what I’ve achieved but simply because I am a child of God. I try to honor that relationship through the way I live.

But it’s easy to forget that sometimes, especially when your relatively comfortable life pattern is altered drastically and the longtime negative inner messages creep to the surface.

So it is particularly helpful to come across an old friend who reminds you of God’s constant presence in your life. In this case, that old friend is Father Henri Nouwen.

His writings have been a significant companion on my spiritual journey for over 25 years.

This time, his reminder comes to me through his gentle book “Life of the Beloved.” He shares an incredible affirmation that God’s unconditional blessing and acceptance are available to any and all people who are courageous enough to reach out for it.

In a particularly negative moment I hear Nouwen say (on page 78), “There is always something in us searching for an explanation of what takes place in our lives and, if we have already yielded to the temptation to self-rejection, then every form of misfortune only deepens it.”

But on the next page, he transforms the dangerous crisis into an opportunity: “However, great and heavy burdens become light and easy when they are lived in the light of (God’s) blessing. What seemed intolerable becomes a challenge.

“What seemed a reason for depression becomes a source of purification. What seemed punished becomes a gentle pruning. What seemed rejection becomes a way to a deeper communion.”

In this book, Nouwen becomes an evangelist (a proclaimer of good news) for God’s Radical Hospitality. I for one am listening intently and eagerly for that message, not only because I need it for myself, but it’s the message I try to share through the ministry of Welcome House.

It’s a mysterious dynamic, this faith-building effort. Nouwen helps me reconnect to that mystery.

Ashleigh Brilliant confirms the mystery when he says, “Seeing is believing. I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t believed it.”

What are you learning from the mysteries in your life?