The smell of coffee lingers in the air. This particular brew is perfect. There is body. There is texture. It is bold. This coffee is not for the faint of heart. I reach for the cup as I reach for God. Warmth radiating from my fingers as I wrap my hands around it I while I chat with God. This ritual, this moment of connection is familiar to me. This moment when I meet God with coffee is one that I cherish.
My well worn notebook sits beside me, waiting to capture moments of grace and truth. The back cover is long since gone, it’s pages as mostly filled. The book is tattered and torn. It’s pages filled and crumpled. Today is day 111. One hundred and eleven days of getting up, meeting God and facing the day. One hundred and eleven messy mornings filled with grace, struggle and moments of wonder. I would have to say that it’s been a journey towards God, a journey towards who I am created to be. It hasn’t always been smooth but it’s been worth every moment.
When I look around my life it is often the messy things, my notebooks and my favorite novels that reflect who I am. They are loved, cherished and used. Why aren’t more Bibles like that? Seeing well used, well loved, written on and mucked up Bibles is wonderful. It means they are read, devoured and reflected on. They become part of a person. They reflect who someone is. I want to see more messy Bibles. More messy parts of life. More of the real things. As I’ve watched VBS pictures pop up on my Facebook feed over the last couple of weeks I’ve marveled at the glorious mess that is faith. I’ve seen joy. I’ve watched faith come to life. I’ve witnessed the church being church and it’s been fantastic.
Messy is good. Messy is real. Messy is life.
Maybe we should be working towards messing things up. Perhaps we should make things messy and let go of budgets and buildings and just throw ourselves into the ministry of the church. It would be difficult at first but in time I think we might see that God has never been tidy and our attempts to make him so have only hindered our work.
Are you living a messy, beautiful life? How do you approach your faith?
