Gentle Reader,
Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
– Colossians 3:2-3 (NRSV)
Last week I participated in a face-to-face intensive class for the first English-speaking cohort to go through Northwest Nazarene University’s new Doctor of Theology program. (The program began last summer with the first Spanish-speaking cohort). It was…a lot. And it all started with a canceled flight that turned into a delayed flight that was canceled again and then was rescheduled, but by the time it was rescheduled I was on the road with my husband, who really came through for me and made the nearly 7-hour drive just to turn around and do it again the next morning. (I dislike flying even more now, and I definitely had a panic attack in the Boise airport just before I boarded a plane to come home).
So I started this intense week with tears and many chocolate-covered pretzels. I think I cried every day at some point. I continue to wrestle with whether I can actually do this thing – two years of coursework, comprehensive exams, a dissertation. Like I said, it’s a lot. Time management is going to be key, alongside the sheer stubbornness it takes to see a difficult thing through to the end.
But the most important thing: why. Why am I doing this? Why are you doing the things you’re doing? We talked about the why throughout the week, and it comes to mind again as I sit with Paul’s words above. This phrase especially hits me: your life is hidden with Christ in God. Hidden with Christ. I picture a child hiding behind a parent, peeking just one eye out from behind their legs. That’s the safe place. I then imagine that parent encouraging the child to go out and explore, assuring the child that they are never far away.
We do things with Christ. We’re used to talking in for language. “I do this for God.” And I don’t think that that’s necessarily wrong, so long as the for is not an attempt to earn God’s love or salvation. We have that because God wants to give that to us. But as I stare at the mountain before me and the tears sting my eyes again because I’m thinking, “There is just no way,” I sense Jesus laying a hand on my shoulder. I don’t have to do any discussion board, presentation, Zoom session, seminar paper, test, or dissertation on my own. In fact, Jesus never intended me to. He’s always planned that we do this thing together. Me with Jesus, and Jesus with me.
With.
What a wonderful word.
You are probably facing different mountains. (Unless you too are beginning PhD/ThD-level work, in which case, we’ll cry together). Sometimes regular life feels like a mountain, especially as this particular country continues to whirl with political and social chaos. Whatever looms ahead or above you – Jesus is with you. Jesus wants to be with you. When you’re scared and need a moment, you can duck behind him. He welcomes you to do so. He will help you catch your breath. He will remind you that he is never far away. He will help you to take the next step.
And he’ll go with you, all the way to top.
GRACE AND PEACE ALONG THE WAY,
MARIE
Image Courtesy of AJ Yorio