• Life Update: Answering the Call
Man, has it been a busy month. Full of verbatims to do, people to meet with, friends to hang out with, books to read and more. The list of things to do goes on and on. The ternary of the urgent is in full swing and I don’t even have a family or others to worry about in the midst of it all. Honestly, sometimes its good to be single!
Amidst all that, I have made some headway in determining how I can pursue God’s call four me to counsel. Saint Cloud State University offers a Chemical Dependency Graduate Certificate program that prepares one to take the exam for and become licensed as a Drug & Alcohol Counselor. It consists of 6 courses and a year-long supervised internship. So, I could be qualified to work with the chemically dependent, like those I’ve been working with already at the V.A. in less then two years. In addition, the Baptist General Conference let me know a few weeks ago that they have now endorsed me as an institutional chaplain. Once I get my ordination that will mean I basically have all the pieces to become a Board-Certified Chaplain. My current idea is that once all these pieces are in place, I will be able to work as a fully qualified “recovery chaplain” in places line the Gospel Rescue Mission or Rehabs.
• Sharing My Journey: Our Empowerment in Christ
Earlier this past week, I was struck by a quote from the movie Coach Carter. It’s the story of a basketball coach seeking to help his kids become more than just great athletes. One of the questions he kept hounding them with was, “What is your deepest fear?” The guy’s response about knocked my socks off: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” As I found out, he was quoting Nelson Mandela’s Inauguration speech.
When I heard it, I found myself reminded of C.S. Lewis' quote: “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as now you meet only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations.”
Put those two together with prayers in scripture like Paul’s in Ephesians 2 and you kind of get the idea that we humans, especially us Christians, are pretty powerful people. We may think we aren’t making any impact, but, in fact, we are. Everyday we make choices that alter not only our own future, but also the future of all those around us. I say this not to lay a huge guilt trip on anyone, but to get the point across. There are no “insignificant people.” We all matter. It’s like that poem I wrote back in High School:
There is a White
There is a white for this black of ours.
It will show itself in its hour,
But we who hold it in our hearts,
No ray of dark can penetrate our parts.
But what of this light?
What use is it, if it cannot shine bright!
Too often we turn away its source.
We take out our swords,
Made by the hand of Satan,
And slash it into oblivion.
But this light cannot die.
It cannot be swept away.
There are those who have claimed it
And the light lives on in them.
The light has a place in all of our hearts.
Every single one must play its part.
Through them this world will change.
Through them it will exchange
Its darkness for the EVERLASTING LIGHT!
There is a white for this black of ours.
It will show itself in its hour,
But we who hold it in our hearts,
No ray of dark can penetrate our parts.
But what of this light?
What use is it, if it cannot shine bright!
Too often we turn away its source.
We take out our swords,
Made by the hand of Satan,
And slash it into oblivion.
But this light cannot die.
It cannot be swept away.
There are those who have claimed it
And the light lives on in them.
The light has a place in all of our hearts.
Every single one must play its part.
Through them this world will change.
Through them it will exchange
Its darkness for the EVERLASTING LIGHT!
So, let your light shine bright this month and pray mine does as well. May we be shining beacons of Christ’s love and peace in this world that needs both so much. And may God continue to empower you as you serve Him. May He open your eyes to see, not only all His blessings already around you, but also, all those around you who so desperately need what you already have and know. In whatever way you have experienced God’s blessing and love, share it in like manner. For such is all God really requires of you.
In His Grip,
Michel Jon Willard
