Part of grief's job is to stun us back into childlike wonder. It helps us realize we are not, and never were, in control. We are subject to its whims but realize here that those whims are not for evil. Grief is designed to resurrect true hope. Death becomes a form of mercy, a call to wonder, a reality that can not be avoided, but can be celebrated. Because resurrection is real, death can be welcomed. 

Death can not be avoided. It is the the ultimate ghost writer of grief. It is the black hole we are drawn into by grief. Yet, death does not have the final word. Death’s power has been broken. If you can accept the idea of resurrection, death becomes a portal. Yes, we still face grief, but it is not a stopping point. Like a yield sign, it is temporary stop. Grief eventually transforms into something beautiful, but only as we continue to move.

In this mini-series we will deep dive into the powerful world of grief. As humans we can not ignore or bypass grief. We must go straight through it. There are many traps in grief, and once finally there many want to stay. We can not. The art of grief is letting it take its course and learning along the way what we need to in the process. No shortcuts. Also no long stays. Grief is growth—hard, lasting growth.

We live in this life without a definitive roadmap of the future. Life happens to us. From the beginning we are passive, mere recipients of a gift that we did not ask for. Life is bigger than us. We can not control it. Attempts to do so only fail. Life has its own will and we either submit to it or we fight it. Don’t fight it. Be there! Be in it. This is life to the fullest. This is the surrendered life.

No matter where we get in life, nor what we accomplish, we are always being invited to keep going. To keep moving on. We can’t let our failures, or even our successes, stop us. Life is too big. You are not done yet. But the next realm will seem like a vast sand pit. One you do not yet understand. It is currently beyond you. But don’t let that vastness scare you. Celebrate it. And don’t fight the fear of entering it. Embrace it.

When the power of the Universe is on your side, what can you not do? If we can let ourselves believe that we have been chosen for this dream put inside us, obstacles hit differently. Tell this mountain to move out of our way becomes reality. We start to see the eventual challenges of our calling not as something wrong, but as something to be learned.

We are actually free to think what we want about the universe. We are. But we typically “cook the books” of providence to tell a certain story, the one we are already telling ourselves - whether it is true or not! Are we actually willing to see what is really there, to challenge our own thinking and to get out of a merely rational posture in order to do so? If so, come alone and read this week’s blog!

The only way to see a vision is to be a few steps ahead to see where the vision lies. Most people aren’t willing to walk ahead of the group that far. Or to walk that close to the ledge. But if you are called, do it. Once there, what you see will be worth it. Yes you will not see everything, but you will see enough to know where to go. Go there!

There are two worlds we live in, simultaneously. One is invisible. We enter it humbly with grace and exit it with wonder and beauty. The other is the visible world we all live in and see. Our context. The reality we find outselves situated in. We must, for now, go between these two worlds. We can not stay in one. We need both to find the vibrancy we so desire. Let the tension between them be a guiding light you are in the right place.

There is a whole other world that haunts our world. We are invited occasionally into its spaces, if we have eyes to see. We can find portals into this world in the beauty all around us. If we look long enough, we can find it. Hidden treasure is here. Even now.

The most important things in life are invisible. Yet there is a deep desire in the human experience to articulate them, to somehow bring them to light and life. This profound impulse to describe what is impossible to see drives all artists. Even visual artists are ultimately trying to bring the invisible to light. But why? Why do we feel the need to articulate such things? And thank God for the artists and poets that do!

What if our deepest desire for the universe is actually true? What if there is a benovolent intellectual being behind it all guiding us toward an innately longed-for future we can almost taste? Today we seriously consider the possibility. Even if just possible at this point, an affirmative answer to these questions could change everything.

Are we alone? Or somehow connected? This deep human desire for a connecting piece that brings us together is as universal as the need for sleep. This built-in longing is itself proof that there must be more to the world than what we see. Why do we all share this profound longing? Where does this looming longing lead us?

God hides. Often this is mistaken for not being real (doesn’t exist), or at least not being here (doesn’t care). But God can be found, if we are willing to suspend disbelief. Where do we find Him? Which religion directs us to real God (the One by definition behind all things)? Perhaps the nature of this God will reveal the mystery of His hiddeness.

Is the universe out to get us? Is bad luck really a thing, and if so is it out to get ME?  This week we talk through how seeing luck in reverse can be a form of fatalism where we become the victim of a universe against us. We passively assume the plans of this malevolent force without challenge. We must change our thinking on this to dismantle the reality of its own logic and set ourselves free. Your freedom is on the line.

Is luck real?  If so, does it actually interfene in this world?  This week we begin a mini-series on the seemingly spontaneous nature of reality, especially as it relates to success.  Do factors like luck, which is out of our control, determine reality behind the scenes? Are we pawns more or less in a bigger game of life?  We wrestle together with such questions as we consider the potentially dangerous outcomes of believing certain things about luck.  Are you lucky?

The first step of seeing into the future is to accurately see what is currently in the present.  What we are looking for lies directly in the everyday things right in front of us. We must get through those layers of things right under our noses.  In our midst every day are the treasures we seek, the ones necessary for seeing the future.    

Without a vision the people perish.  But who has the right or even the ability to articulate a shared vision?  In this blog we discuss the need for a vision to find its articulator.   It is not arbitrary.  The vision that captivates you does so for a very specific reason.  Your articulation of it may just be what we need to move forward.  Tell us about it!

Is seeing visions a thing of the past?  Reserved for prophets and seers?  Or is the exercise of innter visioning actually essential to our ability to inspire and direct?  You have a dream.  You may not have framed it that way, yet.  But you have one.  And learning how to articulate it is is essential to helpng you achieve it.

In the same way that a lying addict spiraling out of control will be exposed, so someone moving deliberately in the Spirited direction of their vision will be “exposed,” or revealed.  Eventually.  The quiet, internal work will be discovered.  We don’t know how, or where, or when.  That’s the fun of the Story.  It does not belong to us, we belong to it.  Stay the course!