“I hope you’ve met at least one Kingdom person in your life. They are surrendered people. You sense that life is OK at their core. They have given control to Another and are at peace. A Kingdom person lives for what matters, for life in its deepest sense. There’s a kind of gentle absolutism about their life-style, a kind of calm freedom. Kingdom people feel like grounded yet spacious people. Whatever they are after, they already seem to be enjoying it – and seeing it in unlikely places. Kingdom people make you want to be like them…. Kingdom people are anchored by their awareness of God’s love deep within. “
– Richard Rohr, Jesus’ Plan for a New World (via inward/outward)
It’s rare to meet “Kingdom People” mentioned above. Rare doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Immediately, I have 2 names come into my mind. The first one provided a safety net for me during my most troubled times. He listened and prayed. He did offer some ways forward but mostly when I lost confidence he had confidence in me. He truly walked with me. And even though we’ve lost touch for a while, that short walk of a couple of years will last me a lifetime.
The second person ignited my imagination to move on. And especially after meeting him in person it confirmed why I wanted to be like him. I won’t think exactly like him or even act like him. I’d be a poor imitation. But I do know I have much to learn from him – especially in how one lives as a human, as a Christ-follower and as a Christian leader.
I know, what’s lurking behind my mind is I want to be a “Kingdom person” mentioned above. And when I look at this latest picture of Ewan. The most immediate people are those in my family whom I can grow in being “grounded yet spacious” and also “anchored by their awareness of God’s love deep within”. I can already foresee how I will miss the mark often. In fact, I already do. And yet … this is what I long for. This post is one baby step I’m taking to tell myself what’s important before I sleep. So, when I wake up … I’d be more “surrendered” than when I fell asleep. 🙂
Yes, I want some of that too!!
PS Baby Ewan is already changing and growing 🙂
PPS Petra and Mark are pregnant now 🙂
SB – the PPS is great news. Wait till you see Takeshi and Vicky’s baby Caleb .. 🙂 He’s REALLY grown!