Welcome to Flex It Fridays.
Here you’ll find a space for the beautiful, the strange, the delightful and weird. Fridays mean rest, party, or escape from the routine, but especially for attending to far-off whispers we might otherwise miss. Enjoy!
Today’s Flex is a love letter to all that is unexplained, untamed, and uncontrollable.
I’ve recently begun exploring the work of storyteller Dr. Martin Shaw, who works in the realm of myths, tales, and the Great Story. This particular video explores human agency, divine ground, and how we can cross from the familiar to the strange in a heartbeat, focusing on the biblical story of Jonah.
Shaw observes that—culturally, socially, psychologically—we’re all1 in a threshold: caught in the monstrous teeth of the leviathan’s mouth, stretched between possibilities. We can continue staring out of that mouth at what lies behind, reaching toward what no longer exists.
Or.
Or, or, or. We can turn our gaze to the dark tunnel that leads to the unknown, the unimaginable, what Shaw describes as the divine ground where we receive sacred communication. Think of the burning bush. Think of the great wilderness, the Lonely Mountain. Every experience of divine ground forces us to let go of all we previously held dear.
And it’s in the letting go, and in the new conversations that we have with ourselves, that we discern what it means to “rebuild the thing, re-dream the thing, reinvest the thing” and begin the great rite of renewal.
Let’s be hopeful, creative, and wise—together.
Shalom,
What else?
Looking for more resources to help with your personal formation journey? Get your free guide!
Are you a non-fiction writer seeking help with a project? I offer structural editing on your manuscript’s structure, theme or purpose, point of view, perspective, and tone.
You can learn more about this newsletter and my work on the About page.
Have a question? Ask me anything.
But especially those in the Western church.