{"id":228,"date":"2010-01-08T15:32:22","date_gmt":"2010-01-08T15:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flirtingwithfaith\/2010\/01\/your-life-is-perfect-stone-crossings-book-giveaway-day-2.html"},"modified":"2010-01-08T15:32:22","modified_gmt":"2010-01-08T15:32:22","slug":"your-life-is-perfect-stone-crossings-book-giveaway-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flirtingwithfaith\/2010\/01\/your-life-is-perfect-stone-crossings-book-giveaway-day-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Your Life is Perfect: Stone Crossings Book Giveaway Day 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n


<\/b><\/p>\n

This is the second of four reflections on L.L. Barkat’s<\/a> fantastic book <\/b>Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places<\/b><\/a> that will run here daily until Sunday, January 10. Comment on each of the four posts between now and 6:00 p.m. Sunday and your name will be included in a random drawing to win a copy. Free books: Not a bad way to kick off 2010!<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

<\/b><\/div>\n
YOUR LIFE IS PERFECT<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

by <\/span>Bradley J. Moore<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don’t usually preach much, but I came
\nacross a scripture passage the other day that struck me hard. It just so
\nhappened that it came on the heels of reading L.L. Barkat’s<\/a> “Stone
\nCrossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places.<\/a>” Sometimes words and
\nmessages can converge at just the right moment, burrow right down into
\nyour gut, and you just know that God is trying to tell you something.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I woke up extra early this past Sunday morning to spend some
\nquiet time in scripture reading and meditation, with the sun rising low on the
\nhorizon, and the fireplace burning softly. It was a little piece of solace
\nbefore the rest of the family arose. I wanted to catch up with God. The passage I turned to was 2
\nCorinthians 12:1-10.<\/a> In the first part, Paul is holding back from
\ndescribing an incredible vision he had been given, where he was taken up
\ninto “the Third Heaven,” whatever that is. He uses words like “inexplicable”
\n“paradise,” and “revelations,” so it must have been pretty much mind-blowing.
\nIt sounds like God decided to give him a personal tour around
\nsome of the peripheral heavenly places, just to give him a taste of what
\nwas coming. Now, that must have made Paul feel really, really important.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But then he immediately contrasts this astounding
\nVision with talk about a pain-in-the-neck chronic problem that
\nis driving him crazy, which he calls his “thorn in the side.” God won’t take it
\naway from him. “I don’t care how important you are,” God said to him. “Deal
\nwith it.” A life-altering Vision, and then the dredges of life.
\nAll bound together. Isn’t that just how it is.

<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Visions and Thorns<\/span>
As I read this passage, I thought about all of my
\nsuper-sized visions for life – the plans I get so excited about
\nlooking forward to, everything I’ve accomplished and still want to achieve, all
\nof the versions of the terrific me that are out there still waiting
\nto come true. And then I made a mental list of the thorns, all of
\nthose painful imperfections, and believe me – I have plenty: my nagging
\npersonality flaws, the frustrations from everything that isn’t happening
\nthe way I’d like it to, the weaknesses I hold on to, all the ways that I don’t
\nmeasure up, and all the things that are just plain wrong.

<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Grace in Hard Places<\/span>
The glory and the dredges of life. God gives us both,
\nusually all at once. And they come together in one messy, beautiful, achey
\npackage. L.L. Barkat’s book beautifully recounts the
\ndisparity of finding grace in hard places, as she walks through the
\nstory of her own life, and how her faith grew in spite of the
\nmessiness of childhood shame, questionable parenting, an abusive
\nstep-father, to name a few inconveniences. Barkat recognizes the startling
\ntruth of grace: that it is present whether we know it or not, no matter the
\n“bedraggled virtues, gross should-haves, errors of the day, recurring
\nfailures.”  In that 2 Corinthians passage, Paul resolves this spiritual
\ndisparity with the realization that, “God’s grace is sufficient for me. His strength is made
\nperfect in my weakness.” What a relief. I like this picture of grace. It rests on us
\nquietly, as we go about our business.

<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Thorny Me<\/span>
This is me, reaching for the stars while knocking
\nthe glass off the table, watching as it shatters into a zillion pieces on
\nthe floor. <\/span>

<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is me, leading a business towards some bright and
\ncompelling future, only to be plagued by periodic bouts of fear
\nand insecurity in my attempts to bring us there. <\/span>

<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is me, casting about for a grand and exciting
\nversion of my future self, but held down like gravity by the
\nauthentic reality of the present tense.<\/span>

<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is the thorny me.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Thank God, his grace is sufficient. I don’t need to
\nstrive so much, because grace is enough. It always goes before me, no
\nmatter what. And this life – well it will never be perfect. But so what?
\nGod himself said that He makes it perfect<\/i>, and all of
\nthose weaknesses of mine just polish it up even brighter. They
\njust make me depend on Him a little more. The thorny me will never get everything I
\nwant, the way I think it should be. The thorny me will get tired,
\nanxious and frustrated, and will make a lot of mistakes along the way. But
\nGod’s grace is enough. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It’s perfect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

Bradley J. Moore blogs about the intersection of faith and work at ShrinkingtheCamel.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the second of four reflections on L.L. Barkat’s fantastic book Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places that will run here daily until Sunday, January 10. Comment on each of the four posts between now and 6:00 p.m. Sunday and your name will be included in a random drawing to win a copy. Free books:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritual-growth"],"yoast_head":"\nYour Life is Perfect: Stone Crossings Book Giveaway Day 2 - Flirting with Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flirtingwithfaith\/2010\/01\/your-life-is-perfect-stone-crossings-book-giveaway-day-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Your Life is Perfect: Stone Crossings Book Giveaway Day 2 - Flirting with Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is the second of four reflections on L.L. 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