Nothing...but...

I got a call from a friend yesterday who is recovering from major surgery.
Somewhere in our conversation we began discussing a common experience we faced regarding fear, death and an awareness of the fragility of life....thoughts we wrestled with in the dark hours of the night.
It started me thinking...
Finding myself at middle age has come as quite a shock.
I didn't anticipate this stage...and all it's attendant issues.
The looking back.
The straining forward.
The sobering realization that some never get this far.
The hopeful realization that others...make it twice as far.

And here I am.

What I find fascinating at this point on the calendar is my relationships.
Actually...to clarify...the fascinating thing is my PERCEPTION of those relationships.
Relationship.
Relating.
Relate.
There are so many defining parameters.
So many frames of reference.
I am daughter,grand-daughter,sister, cousin, niece..
I am friend, wife, mother....
I am daughter-in-law, sister-in-law...
I am neighbor, employee, co-worker...
I am member, mentor, teacher...
I am patient, client, confidante...
I am Canadian...
I am many things.
I am created. I am redeemed. I am follower. I am beloved.

I am finding, surprisingly...more and more that the common ground I want with those I am close to is Jesus.
In a world fixated on opinion and position and talking heads looking for commonalities and majoring in differences...
A world full of polarities....
Contrasting views and discrimination...
People shouting ...their versions of right and wrong...and demanding sides be taken...
Opinion polls.
Top Chef.
American Idol.
The View.
The Voice.
I begin to question...how I see my friendships, my familial relationships...
For those who are of the Faith...Followers of Jesus...
...blood is not enough....
...compatible personalities are not enough...
Love of fashion, TV shows...movies...extracurricular activities...these are not what should define us..
Group us.
These things cannot and do not satisfy us and they are definitely not : "The tie that binds... "
These are transient.
Temporal.
Ever Shifting.
Always Changing.
They won't make it through the fire.
There is only one thing left.
Holy Ground.
The Ultimate Common Ground.
The foundation. The cornorstone.
Unshaken. Unmovable.

Jesus

Paul said it...

"For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you 

except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

~~1 Corinthians 2 :2, NIV~~

Life is short.
Our time together uncertain.
What do we do with what we are given?
What really matters?
What do we offer?
What do we lay hold of?
What remains?
What do we really know?
Do we pray?
Do we revel in the Word of God?
Do we seek him together?
Glorify Him together?
Or is that only in rows on Sunday?
Or Home Group?

Ask yourself this about your relationships:

How often do you tilt your head back in joy, laugh and talk together

in sheer wonder at the whole of creation and your part in it?

Can you discuss the words and works of Jesus for hours

like you do reviewing the latest blockbuster?

...or that pair of boots you saw in the mall?

...or your vacation ?

...your newest and coolest gadget?

I am not saying those topics are wrong..but as time flies by and my grandfather's generation are passing on, I find myself looking at what defines me...questioning my priorities...cataloging my conversations...
Am I burning from within?
A living flame?
Sure.
Defined.
Is it Christ alone that holds us together?
Is He the centerpiece?
The unqualified core....is this what is known of me?
Is my passion..His passion?
Can I say...
I seek to know ..
Nothing... but...
I want to...
And that's a start....