Boomerangs!

I finished reading – actually re-reading – another Henri Nouwen book entitled “Life of the Beloved”. It is a really good book about being Chosen, Blessed, Broken & Given. It is kind of the opposite of the desert father philosophy found in “The Way of the Heart”, which suggest distancing oneself from the damaging effects of the secular world. This book is about discovering how to spiritually live in a secular world.  I want attempt to recap the book because it is short enough for you to read it yourself. But it did get me to thinking about something I thought I would share.

 

Boomerangs. That’s right boomerangs. I use to know this man who actually made boomerangs, real ones. I played around with them some for a while and discovered it is much more difficult than it appears to get them to come back to you. Henri’s book reminded me that I am a boomerang. I came from God and my life is a journey back to God. I am in route home. Not to take the metaphor to far by implying that I am not with God on the journey, but the comforting thing was that I started with God, in the hand of God.  

 

I never did master the art of the returning boomerang. In fact, let a boomerang sail from my hand and it appears a lot like a stick. But to see that guy who made them toss one is amazing. He designed some for tight circles and others for long loops. He crafted each one, by hand, for a special purpose and when he sent it soaring through the air it always returned to his hand. It is an amazing thing to see. The freedom of flight! The speed. The lifts and turns. The zigs and the zags. AND then the return to the hand that set it free, the hand that made it.

 I was made by God and will land in his hand. I don’t know, it just makes me feel good to realize that.

Recent Reads

There are seasons when you press on but seem to complete little and then there are those weeks when break through comes and the harvest roles in. This was one of those completion weeks for me. I finished up several books I have been reading.

Good to Great – Gary Kicklighter from our Thursday Men's Bible study group gave me this book and I loved it. It is basically a business book about how to manage a company, but I found it amazing relevant for our ministry setting as well. I find it afirming when business practices discover the value of Biblical truths. The heart of what I take away from this read is that excellence is the natural outcome fwhen you have the right people doing the right thing all the time.

The way of the Heart – This is a book about the Desert Fathers by my favorite author, Henri Nouwen. It challenged me to examine the damage living in the rat race has on my soul and encouraged me to seek silence, solitude and prayer.

Velvet Elvis – Rob Bell – nooma tapes – really strecthes me. Some of the stuff he says I think is crazy, but then I begin to see what he means and I think I'm crazy. I particularly liked the chapter about Tassels – # 4 – It is good that Jesus heals our Soul. Life has a way of just burning you out and it is nice to find rest and refreshment in Christ. This book helped me put life in perspective – Although it might have helped reading the book on the beach.