Discussion Questions for 20 Jan 2024 “Journey of Trust”
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When my nephew first arrived in Australia he wasn’t used to the sea. It was cold and full of mysterious and frightening things – slimy sea weed and fish and spiky anemones and seals. He refused to go in.
That was a few years back. Now he is six.
by: Celia
My beautiful cyclamen plant has been providing my house with vibrant red flowers for the past few months. I have been faithfully watering the dish when it gets dry and removing the dead blooms. I was getting proud of my once brown thumb now turning green. But the past couple of days there have been more dead blooms than live ones and the lush, green leaves are turning yellow. Dismayed, I thought, “Are my brown thumbs showing their true colours?”
by: Bronwyn
This past weekend we went to Philip Island for our church camp. Saturday afternoon we strolled along the Nobbies boardwalks and saw spectacular views of the coast. We also saw several fairy penguins in their little burrows as well as under the boardwalk.
These little penguins are not only adorable, but they’re unique. This particular specie of penguins is not only the smallest, but also the only penguin with blue and white feathers. They can spend over 4 weeks out at sea fishing for anchovies, squid, and even sea jellies. Once they’ve found enough food, they wait in groups for dusk, when they can hide from predators, and then they waddle across the shore to find their way home.
Using unique calls, the parents call for their chicks, who cheep back until they are reunited. The parent then regurgitates the food and feeds the hungry baby who has been patiently waiting all day (or several days) for a feed. Then they nest together in their burrows for a rest.
Through nature we can see the devotion of parents towards their young and the total dependence of the young in their parents. It is a lovely picture of the kind of love and trust that can develop between God and His people.
Psalm 36:5-9
Your love is faithful, Lord,
and even the clouds in the sky
can depend on you.
Your decisions are always fair.
They are firm like mountains,
deep like the sea,
and all people and animals
are under your care.
Your love is a treasure,
and everyone finds shelter
in the shadow of your wings.
You give your guests a feast
in your house,
and you serve a tasty drink
that flows like a river.
The life-giving fountain
belongs to you,
and your light gives light
to each of us.
Psalm 63:7,8
You have helped me,
and I sing happy songs
in the shadow of your wings.
I stay close to you,
and your powerful arm
supports me.
Waiting can be hard. While we wait for our needs and desires to be met, it can be lonely in our burrow. But God is not inactive nor ignorant. He is working hard to give us the desires of our hearts – and He will come to us in the dusk, calling for us to answer His voice and rest in the shadow of His wing.
by: Jinha Kim
"But those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14
So I was on Facebook and ended up watching a video of babies being scared of their own shadows (below for your viewing pleasure). At first I laughed pretty hard because it was pretty cute and heartlessly hilarious to see the little ones trying to toddle away from their own shadows. And then I plotted ways to get Micah to see his own shadow for the first time … and then finally the non-evil side of me (thank God, it’s there, I promise) imagined poor Micah crying and trying to crawl (or currently, worm) his way away from his own shadow and I felt really, really bad for him.
Because really, shadows can be creepy.
They appear and disappear. They grow and distort. They merge and mask.
And while shadow puppets and baby videos are all fun and good, we all have shadows that scare us. That follow us and appear when we least expect them. That distort the truth.
The shadow of insecurity – fearing what others think and say of us. The shadow of shame – regrets of the past that linger. The shadow of loneliness – what if I never find love?
No wonder we try to run away from our own shadows.
But as psychiatrists like Carl Jung and philosophers like Zhuangzi have discovered, shadows are best dealt with in the shade:
There was a man who was so disturbed by the sight of his own shadow and so displeased with his own footsteps that he determined to get rid of both. The method he hit upon was to run away from them.
So he got up and ran. But every time he put his foot down there was another step, while his shadow kept up with him without the slightest difficulty.
He attributed his failure to the fact that he was not running fast enough. So he ran faster and faster, without stopping until he finally dropped dead.
He failed to realize that if he merely stepped into the shade, his shadow would vanish, and if he sat down and stayed still, there would be no more footsteps.
~ From The Way of Chuang Tzu, by Thomas Merton, page 155.
What or where is your shade?
How do you find rest?
My favorite passage in the Bible is Psalm 121:
I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
This passage has strengthened me through many dark days, when my shadows or the shadows of the world seemed looming and ominous. I don’t think it’s saying that we won’t face difficulties; we live in a world of pain. But it is promising that the Lord will preserve our soul so that the evil cannot penetrate our core. He will be that hill that provides the shade we so desperately need when the sun is scorching down and our shadows are long.
He is the rest we are longing for.
He knows what it’s like to walk in the valley of the shadow of death, and He understands how scared we are of our own shadows. So He offers us come, rest awhile – let me be the security you long for, for I will never leave you. Let me be the righteousness you thirst for, for I will always forgive you. Let me be the Love you yearn for, for I will always love you.
He is the shade that swallows all shadows, for in His death He conquered sin. (“O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? … thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Cor 15:55-58).
In His shadow, our own shadows can disappear and we can discover who we truly are. In His presence, there is peace.
Lord, Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings…. Psalm 17:8.
by: Jinha Kim
"But those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14
by: Jinha Kim
"But those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14