A Window to the Sky

Sitting in my window seat on my flight back to Indy...I can see so much: houses, roads, clouds, farms, trees, cars, with the right binoculars I could probably see people. It is amazing when you think about it...here we are in a country and a world where we are able to see so much. We can see tiny atomic particles, moons and planets in far reaches of the universe, germs and their cures, books, gardens, friends, enemies--well I think you get my point. We see so much and have the opportunity to see many possibilities that could not have been dreamed of in the past.

Remember the story of Icarus? The boy who flew too close to the sun with wings that his father made for him and he fell from the sky. People have been dreaming for a very long time to see further, to get closer to the things we don't understand, to grasp knowledge that has not been available to us before. The curiosity of human kind has always been around and it continues to motivate us to seek new endeavors, to try ideas that are not sure things, to appreciate the past, and to hope for the new world promised through the Love of God in Christ.

As I sat on the plane considering the reality that I, in my "ordinary" travel, was living someone else's impossible dream. Wondering if our seeing so much keeps us from seeing what is most important? With our heads in the clouds I think we may miss the opportunities to dig deeper into the relationships we share with one another and with God. How often do we spend time really trying to see someone else...not just looking at them but working to understand and care for them in the things they say and the things they don't. How often do we let someone really see us? The practice of building deep relationships is not a lost art but sometimes it is taken for granted as we follow other ideas and hopes. I wonder if we have gotten so caught up in seeing the expanse OUT there that we miss the expanse within and through relationships...

So it seems that we need to find some balance. A few weeks ago are Dinner and Conversation with Z Tree we talked about what we felt the church was called to be. One of our conversations offered that the church should be a place when people are helped to find balance. Between hopes and fears, the possibilities and the relationships, balance in life so that we are able to find and offer God's goodness to others.

So from way up in the sky I began to think about the ground...how can Zacchaeus' Tree be a place where people find and share ways to find balance? We are working to create opportunities to grow in faith through studying the scriptures, sharing our thoughts and experiences, serving in our community, honoring God's creations, and sharing life together. There is so much room for everyone to participate in creating this place and other spaces where the fullness of love and life in Christ is celebrated, embraced and sought out. I pray for the people who will become part of this community and the gifts, passion and vision they will bring to my life and the life of our neighborhood!

Zacchaeus was a "wee little man" who climbed up into a tree to see Jesus but it wasn't until he accepted Jesus' invitation to come back down to earth that Zacchaeus knew the transformation of God's love! So are we look out to the possibilities let us not miss the invitations to come down to the earth and build from there into the dream of God for the whole world!