February 20, 2019 “I have a rough jumping off point for a column for next week’s edition. The base is, ‘write me a lead that doesn’t stink.’ If I can pull it off and tie it to faith in the way my head is trying to, how would you feel about me writing about you?” That’s the text message I sent to my friend, Jonathan “Monkey” Monfiletto a couple weeks ago. “I think it’s great! What’s your tie-in? I have an idea,” was his reply. Monkey’s idea, the way he related “write me a lead that doesn’t stink” to his faith journey, was completely different from mine. While that line made me think about the fact that we need to cooperate with God’s grace and be willing to put in effort to improve, Monkey thought it was more indicative of God’s unconditional love. “While you rightfully expected me to write good leads for my stories, God doesn’t care about our leads. He only cares about our hearts,” Monkey said. The exact same line had completely different meanings to us as it relates to our faith journeys. I’ve had this experience before. When I completed a series on Lectio Divina with a women’s group, the members of the group would take vastly different messages from the same passage of Scripture. Despite how often I’ve experienced this, it still leaves me awestruck. I believe God gives us the lessons we need based on our circumstances. While I didn’t push him for more explanation, I’m guessing Monkey is at a point in his journey where he needs to hear that he is loved unconditionally, while I’m at a point where I need to be told that I need to be willing to cooperate with God’s graces to improve. God has lessons He wants to teach all of us. Whether it be through Scripture, prayer, other people or reflecting on life experiences, He speaks to us where we are. We just have to be open and aware to hear Him. |
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