No writer has shaped my thinking and helped me on this journey with Jesus more than Eugene Peterson. This cannot come as any surprise to readers of the “ill dil”. Yesterday, Peterson presented, for what many presume to be the last time, at Q Practices. In honor of that, hear some good words from Eugene:
“Exile (being where we don’t want to be with people we don’t want to be with) forces a decision: Will I focus my attention on what is wrong with the world and feel sorry for myself? Or will I focus my energies on how I can live at my best in this place I find myself? It is always easier to complain about problems than to engage in careers of virtue.'”
and this:
“Daily we face decisions on how we will respond to these exile conditions. We can say: ‘I don’t like it; I want to be where I was ten years ago. How can you expect me to throw myself into something I don’t like–that would be sheer hypocrisy. What sense is there in taking risks and tiring myself out among people I don’t even like in a place where I have no future.'”
and finally, this:
“Or we can say: ‘I will do my best with what is here. Far more important than the climate of this place, the neighbors in this place, is the God of this place, God is here with me. What I am experiencing right now is on ground that was created by him and with people whom he loves. It is just as possible to live out the will of God here as any place else.”
Amen.
