Day 24 of Lent - Middle Kindling
“There is a fire in the soul that comes from beyond, and what the soul does in this life is very much driven by that fire.” ~Ronald Rolheiser
For almost every woman I know, there came or comes a Midlife Reckoning. The temptation is to become content with the ebbing embers and not the full fire.
Another common scenario in midlife is to begin to show up in the world with what the Bible calls (in Lev. 10:1) “strange fire”, telling the world that your faith is undergoing “deconstruction”. All the cool people are doing it.
Sadly, older does not equal wiser. Not always.
But there’s still hope! Anyone can reverse course, and find her fire again. Light equals life. Warmth equals comfort. Without fire, all that’s left is anxiety, depression, and loss of purpose. We are made for so much more in our one-and-only midlife season. We were made for GLORY.
And friend, where there is glory, there is fire!
For I, says the Lord,
will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the GLORY in her middle…
~Zechariah 2: 5
It is possible, as humans, to encounter the fire of God as a lifestyle, and not just a once-or-twice-off experience. A Middle Kindling can be ours - this is so, because the connection forged with the God-man Jesus is real, and He is the one who said:
“I will not
leave you comfortless, I will come to you…”
And come, He did. In the form of tongues of fire that fell on all who were waiting there in that upper room. Say it with me:
“I can and I will receive my very own flame.”
That once-for-all-time sacrifice of Jesus has given us a fiery expectancy that can last a lifetime. It’s wired into your DNA.
Middle Missive {...a "missive" is just a letter, and in this case a love letter...}
Two years ago tonight, as a woman in my 50’s, God placed Milan and Bellagio, Italy under my feet:
I had never picked up a paintbrush until I was well past 45 - closer to 50. Yet there I was, in Italy, to minister to women through teaching art.
It all began with faithfully chasing creative inspiration - not someone else and her ideas, not an MLM company (they’re fine - calm down), not diving deep into all my trauma, symptoms and pain, both physical and emotional.
I waited for my Kindler, and He showed up. He always does. And when He does, He comes bearing gifts.
““When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” ”
Dear Middle-Artist,
All art is heaven’s way of staging a gentle invasion. Be alert to song. Be alert to poetry. Be alert to color. Be alert to texture and form and sculpture and a word fitly spoken. Know this: what moves you, and the way it moves you will always (always!) be right on time. Investigate further.
(And oh, I just dropped such wisdom on you! I just handed you flint and steel, my friend. Now go kindle something beautiful!)