We do not think ourselves into new ways of living.

We live ourselves into new ways of thinking.

~ Richard Rohr, “Everything Belongs”

As I was clearing out old notes from my car, I ran across this quote that I had scribbled on a piece of paper when I heard it referenced during a sermon at church sometime ago. I remember being inspired by it at the time because it resonated so deeply with my own thoughts on living a reckless faith. I found solace in the thought that a much wiser Christian named Oswald Chambers had expressed it so much better more than 70 years ago, before the decline of modernism:

“… gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh…”

I looked up the complete quote today, and it’s from his classic work “My Utmost For His Highest”, which can be found in several places online. Turns out there are a couple of versions - the text as originally written using the English of the 1920s, and an updated text. Both are wonderful versions to read:

Original Version (1935): “The Graciousness of Uncertainty”
Updated Version (1992): “Gracious Uncertainty”

I love the writing - it’s expressing such a reckless thought, but it does so in a way that’s reassuring and inspiring instead of being condemning and strident! I especially loved the wider context of the quote:

“…
Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life— gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God — it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3 ). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next.

If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.

…”

How true!!

(Click on the pictures for the full image)

The sketches above are by a young woman named Becky. Alexis and I met her a few weekends ago when we were up at Monadnock, where my buddy John was speaking at a youth conference. At the end of one session, as Alexis and I made our way to the exit among the jumble of teens headed off to lunch, I caught a snippet of conversation - one of the volunteers had been sketching some art in her sketchbook, and the person next to her was expressing shock at the striking nature of the sketch.
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I am just stunned by Glenn Schwartz’s personal journey: http://www.wmausa.org/page.aspx?id=83541

This isn’t someone like me - a foolhardy young hothead obsessed with the latest Christian psychobabble fad. This is someone I want to become - a wise man, deeply experienced in God, the mission field and in cross-cultural evangelism.

I am experiencing resonance, especially with these words describing a pivotal stage in Glenn’s journey almost 30 years ago:
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