Bridge Between Two Worlds
By: Susan Deborah Schiller
From the Mini Memoir eCourse "Write to Freedom"
What benefit can there be to dig into our past, to revisit our pain, to write our life stories? Are we gazing down the barrel of a gun, or can it become a bridge between two worlds?
Today I want to offer you an invitation that will warm up someone's life and build a bridge. But first, let's examine why this bridge is needed and how you can be part of its construction.
One one end, we live in a cold, dark world. Heartless and cruel, full of stress and anxiety, the whole world groans in the agony of birth pains. Scriptures says the earth labors in pain until the manifestation of the sons of God on this earth.
Labor, groaning, birth pains. New life! This is the other end of the bridge – the one we call "Home".
According to Isaiah 58, light shines in this dark world when we:
- break the chains of injustice,
- get rid of exploitation in the marketplace,
- free the oppressed,
- cancel debts,
- be available to our families,
- and share our food, clothing, and shelter with the hungry and homeless.
In Matthew 5-7, Jesus brings this list of light-bearing to its ultimate fulfillment when we:
- have a spirit of the poor,
- have hunger and thirst for righteousness,
- are peacemakers,
- are meek and merciful,
- are persecuted for doing the works Isaiah mentions above.
These are the "first things" we have and do, in our new lives, in Christ.
It's not about hair length, skirt length, hair covering, dress codes, cigarettes and swear words, drinking and drugs, or all the myriad of things we are taught that make us righteous.
It doesn't mean we have to join a faction, a denomination, or try to figure out whose doctrine lines up with Scripture… or for that matter, figure out which version of the Bible is the correct one!
Being born again is what happens in the Cloud of Unknowing as we unlearn the world's ways. The world births us in the toxic environment of ungodly thinking, which is so natural to us that we don't even recognize when it infects how we do church.
Most of all we feel disconnected. Isolated. Insecure. It causes to act unrighteously:
- Instead of having a spirit of the poor, we give write checks and donate out of our abundance into the benevolence fund.
- Instead of being meek, we climb the corporate ladder, struggle for position and power, and use "pecking order" to keep our church programs functioning.
- Instead of peacemaking, we backbite and gossip, stabbing each other in the back.
- Instead of being persecuted, we deny reality and pretend that abuse is not happening in our own homes and churches.
- Instead of hunger and thirst for righteousness, we exploit our employees.
- Instead of mercy, we pardon the abusers and silence the victims. Grace and tolerance for sin become evil's accomplices.
If the cause of unrighteousness is disconnection, a sense of being separated from God and from each, wouldn't it make sense to build bridges of connection – to make our communities livable?
"If you start giving yourselves to the down and out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
"You'll use the rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again…" — Isaiah 58
We write our stories, revisiting the past, to open doors to a Matthew 5-7 and Isaiah 58 lifestyle.
For me, the greatest fear-slayer of all is writing my story. It's exposes everything to the Light.
"Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend." – Psalm 5.
"God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before Him…" – Psalm 18
"Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe – people and things, animals and atoms – get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross." – Colossians 1
Day 26 Activation is fun: Listen to someone's story. Empathetically listen to them, as if you are living their story. Feel what they are feeling. Let all the emotions arise: anger, fear, joy, awe, etc.
This may be a family member or a friend. It might be a stranger. Once someone starts talking and they know you are really listening, they will open up more and more, and sometimes they will share their whole story with you!
We need this, in our world, so very much. All of us need someone to listen to our heart.
With their permission, write their story down. Whether it's 100 words or 1000 words, write it from God's heart. Give it to them as a gift. Listening builds bridges to a love-based reality.
Empathetic listening is attentive and heart-felt listening… the kind of listening where you quiet the voice in your head, where you dump your ego at the door, where you ask questions to clarify points and invite more information, and where you don't necessarily offer your own insights or give advice.
It's good practice for writing your own story, from God's heart!
Living the adventure and choosing love today,
Sue
PS I listened to a woman tell a story of her childhood, a time when all the children were forced to leave their homes, stop speaking their native language, and adopt a different religion. "She Touched Tomorrow With Her Prayers" is a story I cherish of a woman who has experienced being raped 249 times as a student in that school, but who glows with Love, shines with Compassion, and is a treasure of wisdom. I've chosen to share her story because I believe it's one of those dark places that needs the light of exposure to truth, awareness, and love.
Susan Schiller knows how it feels to lose everything: marriage and family, church and reputation, finances and businesses, and more. Susan's upcoming, interactive memoir, "On the Way Home," tells the story of how she came to be known as "the most abused woman" her counselors had yet met and how she learned to navigate her way out of hell to a rich and satisfying life. In her lifetime, Susan has served in duties ranging from home school mom – to pastor – to full-time deliverance minister – and to Midwest regional prayer coordinator for a large international ministry. These days you can usually find Susan soaking in her favorite hot springs pool, reading a book (or several), blogging, baking bread, or hanging out with her family and friends. You can get a free copy of Susan's upcoming book, "On the Way Home" by registering here.
Copyright 2010-2014, Susan Schiller, http://TeamFamilyOnline.com. For reprint permission for any private or commercial use, in any form of media, please contact Susan Schiller.
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