Jesus used story to help people understand that the spiritual reality surrounding them was just as powerful, relevant and impacting as what they could understand with their logic and senses.
For years I wrote stories into music. The power of song and story together was heart moving. Over the past six years, I’ve begun to write stories without music. Short stories, books, allegories, but in all reality, Parables.
In the Bible we see Jesus teaching through parables that were relevant to the people of that time. The Sower is one of my personal favorites. It does not however, connect with my heart the way that it would’ve with the people of that time, simply because I do not sow seeds like they did. They sowed out of necessity and when he spoke of the failures of the seed to take root and flourish, they understood the impact it would have on themselves and those requiring that growth for sustenance.
Jesus used story to help people understand that the spiritual reality surrounding them was just as powerful, relevant and impacting as what they could understand with their logic and senses.
As I continue to write what I would consider modern day parables, I have found a place where the Lord desperately wants to reach out and touch us, beyond our minds and logic. It is a place where what exists around us disappears because the reality that we read is so magnetic, that it pulls on every part of us to enter into it.
For years, Christianity has invited people into its beliefs through their minds, and the product is followers of an approach to Jesus, a perspective of Jesus, if you will.
It is time for those who are called by His name to rise up and walk on a different path than one that is led by our logic. May we never forget the ways that we love God through our mind, but may we also grow more to love and cherish Him through our hearts.
The Compass Series as well as my other short stories, songs, etc. are opportunities for those experiences with Jesus, that will bring your heart alive. They are tools in understanding and experiencing freedom and healing on your journey.
Excerpt from S Book 2 of The Compass Series
“Bridget, do you see that mountain over there?” he says as he points north toward a peak with three spires rising from the summit like towers.
“Yeah, that’s one of my favorites.”
“I think that your process of healing from the pains that you’ve been through is like this. You began your life on top of that mountain. It was beautiful and stunning from up there. But then a life circumstance that was beyond your control carried you down here. If you will agree to the journey, then you will stand back on top of that mountain. It won’t be easy, and at times you will question its worth. There may be times when you turn around and start hiking back down the slope. But if you refuse to give up, you will regain all that was lost. You see, the journey is what actually allows you to receive the reward. It miraculously gives you the ability to hold the treasure that’s waiting at the end. Sometimes you’ll find yourself running full speed and gaining so much ground. At other times you’ll be crawling on your hands and knees. And there may even be times when Joshua will have to carry you. But I see in you such a determination, such a resolve to be up there again.”
“But how long does something like this take?”
“Time is such a funny thing, Bridget. I don’t like to live all bound up by time. When you get caught up in the ‘when’ of life, you will usually find worry sneaking around in your mind. The journey may take a month or it may take years. But you have to be willing to surrender to the process and trust that the journey has a necessary purpose.
By this time we have circled the lake and are back in front of the cabin.
“Thank you, Dad,” I say with a smile as I give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
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