{"id":82,"date":"2019-10-30T20:57:43","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T02:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/randomchristianity.com\/?p=82"},"modified":"2019-10-30T20:57:43","modified_gmt":"2019-10-31T02:57:43","slug":"trajectory-heeds-the-end-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reclaiming-sunday.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/30\/trajectory-heeds-the-end-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"Trajectory heeds the End Goal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A couple of summers ago, some out of town friends came to visit our family in Colorado over the July 4th<\/sup> weekend. Liz, my husband Dan, and I had known each other since birth (actually from the time I was 4 days, Liz was 6 weeks, and Dan was 2 years old). Her husband, Tim, we had all known since our youth group camping and retreat days. Our kids fall in the same age-range, which makes us pretty much a foolproof reunion. They tend to be active and expressed interest in kayaking the Arkansas River in the southern area of the state. Having experienced a couple of beginner\/intermediate level white-water-rafting excursions, we agreed to the venture. Not really priding myself as an indoor girl (mostly because that is frowned upon in Colorado), but recognizing my inhibited nature for outdoor adventure- I found myself reluctant but willing to go. My lack of enthusiasm is virtually undetectable because my expressed emotion spectrum ranges from \u201chuh\u201d, to \u201cthat works.\u201d Great for poker, but aggravating at charismatic worship services where they challenge you with, \u201cIs that how you cheer for the Broncos? Doesn\u2019t Jesus deserve more praise that what you show at sports events?\u201d \u2026..I digress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We drove the couple of hours south to the kayak rental and\nlaunch site where the guides then proceeded to demonstrate basic river\nnavigation skills and how to recover our kayaks if we happen to become\nseparated from this essential floating device. Oh, and this bit of departing\ninformation, \u201cThere are two drops along our path. Your boat will go in the\ndirection your eyes are looking. If you want to avoid an area of the river,\nsimply paddle while looking in the direction you prefer to go.\u201d Sounded easy\nenough. We would be through with this adventure by lunch where we could discuss\nhow to spend the remainder of the afternoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If life were only that predictable, I\u2019d be a fortune teller\nand you\u2019d be reading a blog about how to win the lottery and what stock to\ninvest in. But, alas, God appears to have had alternative plans for both of us.\nUpon approach of the first drop, I surveyed and observed a series of large\nboulders and heavy white water on the right side of the river. My best route\nwould be navigating as far left to the river edge I could go where the river\nflowed calm and shallow. My observation also set off a couple of alarms as I\nrecognized that both guides had gone ahead of me, I was trailing our group, and\nmy life-long friend\u2019s son, Trey, was just ahead of me being pulled by the\ncurrent toward the tangle of boulders and raging currents. Where was this\nscenario in our tidy little river-rowing lesson? I did what any person with questionable\nathleticism with parental concern would do. Pointed my kayak toward the left\nshore and glued my eyes on Trey headed straight for the drop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know what a kayak does in a river even when you point and navigate\nit the direction you choose without making visual connection to that end goal?\nIt channels your eye sockets, locates your gaze, and drags your kayak sideways\nagainst your every physical effort. (This is the best explanation I can give\nwithout fully grasping the physics of it). I tell you this so that you don\u2019t\nhave to end up with your kayak upside down on the boulder above you, swirling\nin 18 foot deep eddy underneath angry rapids, your rental shorts tangled at\nyour ankles, with freakishly fast currents leading to more boulders ahead. I\nassessed all of this over several gracious turns of the eddied current that\nallowed me to briefly surface for air with each cycle. Having shared the\ndetails of the point I make next, feel free to skip the next paragraph. Should\nyou choose to hear how the adventure ends for the sake of closure, I\u2019ve\nprovided the concluding details. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was able to spot Trey\u2019s kayak lodged vertically between\ntwo boulders down river from me at one surface break between plunging cycles. I\nfound no trace of Trey and only knew that he too was likely dislodged from his\nkayak. I stressed about his whereabouts and if the others would find him for a\ncouple of solid minutes. It took that long for me to realize that the canyon\nwall on the right side of the river would be a challenge for any available and\nwilling help. I began to yell between current cycles and found that I couldn\u2019t hear\nmy own voice above the rapids. It surprised me how angry I became with God\nplacing me in the prospect of yet another river fatality on the five o\u2019clock\nnews. After several more turns in the eddy (and dealings with God about how the\nnews would report my negligent ending), one of the remiss tour guides shimmied\nthe canyon wall and boulder-hopped to my rescue. I later found out that this\nepisode would be the longest 10 minutes of my life. Trey was able to access the\nedge of the riverbed. Nevertheless, we kayaked to the nearest calm landing and\nended our excursion without the threat of tackling a second drop. The remainder\nof the day called for pizza, muscle relaxers, and a commemorative visit to the\nsand dunes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point:  Intent\nfocus determines the path your spiritual kayak follows- no matter which way you\naim to position it. There is no autopilot when it comes to navigating a moral\ncompass. This is the golden thread of truth I picked up that day and when\ntraced in my daily tapestry, it highlights when my focus diverts from eternal\nto selfish intent.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Risk of Authenticity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can disembark your religious cruise ship for a more authentic spiritual relationship with God (See Eternally Provoked<\/a>). In fact, I hope and pray you do. Jesus himself addressed one church saying, \u201cI know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You\u2019re not cold, you\u2019re not hot \u2013 far better to be either cold or hot!\u201d Revelation 3:15 (MSG) However, in the pursuit to steer your own boat, it is imperative to recognize and focus on true north, or your boat will align with any distraction you allow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corporate Christianity does well to maintain a focus that\nmimics faith and can provide a constant standard for those who are not yet\nready to pursue an authentic relationship with God. Once you leave the cruise ship\nto navigate the waters for yourself, there is no room for any inauthenticity\nbecause your boat will either move in the direction you point it, or will be\ntossed about by the unrelenting waves. Sometimes both. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God recognizes and regards our selfish nature, which is why\nhe provided us with various management tools. Yes, we can refer to the bible\nfor solid affirmation and practical application, but customized authenticity\nseeks the guidance of more penetrating sources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such source is, of course, the Holy Spirit. We have\ncontinual, non-stop, 24\/7 access to God through the Holy Spirit. He provokes\nevery part of our being and every conscious and unconscious thought when He is\nset as the true north of your moral compass. The voice of the eternal speaks\nto, in, and through us. The Holy Spirit is the reason that the Bible is\nconsidered the Living Word. Each time we read a passage, verse, chapter, or\nbook, it is regularly met with various degrees of outlook. Not only do we meet\nGod though the lens of our current and past experiences, the Holy Spirit\nprovides the lens of comprehension we are to authentically interpret and live\nscripture. Without the Holy Spirit, scripture can only be understood as a\nstandard for holy presentation. Through the Holy Spirit our innermost thoughts\ncollide with direction and purpose; we can\u2019t help but be Eternally Provoked in\nour pursuit of Him. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of summers ago, some out of town friends came to visit our family in Colorado over the July 4th weekend. Liz, my husband Dan, and I had known each other since birth (actually from the time I was… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reclaiming-sunday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reclaiming-sunday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reclaiming-sunday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reclaiming-sunday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reclaiming-sunday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reclaiming-sunday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reclaiming-sunday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reclaiming-sunday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reclaiming-sunday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reclaiming-sunday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}