Who am I? What is my true identity and why is it so hard to figure that out?

"Your true identity is as a child of God. This is the identity you have to accept. Once you have claimed it and settled in it, you can live in a world that gives you much joy as well as pain. You can receive the praise as well as the blame that comes to you as an opportunity for strengthening your basic identity, because the identity that makes you free is anchored beyond all human praise and blame. You belong to God, and it is as a child of God that you are sent into the world.

"You need spiritual guidance; you need people who can keep you anchored in your true identity. The temptation to disconnect from that deep place in you where God dwells and to let yourself be drowned in the praise or the blame of the world always remains.

"Since that deep place in you where your identity as a child of God is rooted has been unknown to you for a long time, those who were able to touch you there had a sudden and often overwhelming power over you. They became part of your identity. You could no longer live without them. But they could not fulfill that divine role, so they left you, and you felt abandoned. But it is precisely that experience of abandonment that called you back to your true identity as a child of God. Only God can fully dwell in that deepest place in you and give you a sense of safety. But the danger remains that you will let other people run away with your sacred center, thus throwing you into anguish.

"It might take a great deal of time and discipline to reconnect your deep, hidden self and your public self, which is known, loved and accepted but also criticized by the world. Gradually, though, you will begin feeling more connected and become more fully who you truly are – a child of God. There lies your real freedom."

-From Henri Nouwen, in his book, The Inner Voice of Love

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What do you think about this? Do you feel like there a multiple things, people, or issues that are vying for you to make them your identity...Your hope...Your security? Do you find that they serve that purpose well, or do you feel like they leave you frustrated or confused? We wrestle with questions like this at Starting Point, and we ask what does Jesus have to do with any of it? What does one's past and family dynamics have to do with it? And is there actually a safe place to discuss any of this? We believe there is, and invite you to join us.

Switchfoot's "Restless" Says Quite A Bit...

Growing up, God, Community & Stability

"In Thomas Merton's words...we have been 'destined from all eternity to bring one another closer to God by our love, our patience, our forbearance, and our efforts at mutual understanding.' We grow up into a life with God, built on a firm foundation, as we learn to dwell in a place with particular people.

"...Stability demands that we do the long, hard work of life with other people in the place where we are...[and yet]...Despite our longing for community, we often hide from a 'state of mutual visibility with others' because it is more difficult than cultivating a personal spirituality and sense of tranquility...Choosing a spirituality that 'works for me' is so much easier than dealing with the people who show up at the church in my neighborhood."

-Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, in his book, The Wisdom of Stability : Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture

The Mystery of Gray "Days"

The grayness of a day neither declares nor determines the value and ultimate beauty of its weather.  We know this because we have learned about the importance of all types of weather for healthy soil and animal life.  But during a gray, rainy, seemingly lifeless day, it's often difficult to recognize any ultimate value resulting from said weather. 

Often, this is the way we feel with regard to the seasons and realities of our own lives, isn't it?  Be it the wounding gray we've experienced at the hands of others, or the painful gray we ourselves have brought into the lives of those around us by our own struggles and mistakes.  It's so difficult to see any ultimate value in confusion, pain, or suffering, particularly when we are in the midst of it; we may not even want to.  We might even be angry that someone would dare to ascribe anything positive to the mess and suffering of life.  That's ok, and it makes sense...

We virtually never see the whole picture, regardless of whether our souls are experiencing a season of "Februaryish" gray milieu or one of refreshingly bright April mornings.  So how can we even begin to gain a more ultimate perspective or sense of real hope in the midst, especially, the darker seasons?  And where is God in the midst of it all?  Does he care?  Is he involved-positively or negatively?  Does he have any control at all?

These are some of the realities of life we explore at Starting Point.  We would love for you to join us as we wade into the questions honestly, without any presumptive or Pollyanna declarations.  We believe God respects humans too much and is far too honest for any of that.   

To Live by Grace...

"To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark.  In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God's grace means." -Brennan Manning

The Gift of Finding God in Everything...

“You will find the living God in the pages of the Bible. You will find him also just exactly where you are…He leads through all events, all the circumstances of your life. Nothing in your life is so insignificant, so small, that God cannot be found at its center. We think of God in the dramatic things, the glorious sunsets, the majestic mountains, the tempestuous seas; but he in is the little things too, in the smile of a passer-by or the gnarled hands of an old man, in a daisy, a tiny insect, falling leaves. God is in the music, in the laughter and in sorrow too." -Mother Francis Dominica

We'd love to hear about and explore the places you sense you've seen God in and around the things/places of your own life...Come join us!

"Americans: Undecided About God?"

“It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.” G.K. Chesterton (quoted in article)

http://nyti.ms/rIhiBi
(copy and paste this link...Can't seem to get the direct link to work)

Very interesting New York Times article about where many folks are in the United States when it comes to belief, faith, and God. Feeling stuck between "true believers" and "angry atheists," neither of which knows how to laugh while both know very well how to shout. Think you might find yourself stuck in the middle of those two polarities as well? Join us at a place where you can have adult discussions, ask honest questions, and laugh-even in the midst of serious wonderings about God, faith, Jesus, and life in general.

We Invite you to "Find your place in the story."

By grappling with our deepest, most mysterious and troubling quesitons we might begin to recognize how our personal stories connect to one another's and the larger story of life, of God. Answers to the big, existential questions of life are almost never obvious or easy; in some cases we may never get them. Grappling with the questions as we journey with small communities of others though, might offer, in and of itself, some the most important "answers" we could hope for. We invite you to join us.