This was an assignment of "The Art of Transitional Ministry" Week 2 Class I took in the fall of 2022.
In the American film, “Little Big Man,” several of the
recurring characters flirt with death through much of the movie, though one
disaster and then another. In one of the
penultimate scenes, the old chief decides that he will die. In his final accounting for his life he says:
- Thank you for making me a human being.
- Thank you for helping me to become a warrior.
- Thank you for my victories, and for my defeats.
- Thank you for my vision, and for my blindness by which I saw further.
- You make all things, and direct them in their ways; and now, you have decided that the human beings will soon walk a road …that leads nowhere.
- I am going to die now, unless death wants to fight, and I ask you for the last time to grant me my old power to make things happen.
And he lays down to die.
…except he doesn’t. After a few moments he asks, “am I still in this life?”
Yes.
“I was afraid of that,” he says. “Sometimes the magic works and sometimes, it doesn’t.”
~ ~
~ ~
None of us gets to choose what cross we are crucified upon.
I’m still glad to be here.
And to have choices about how to spend my time.
I believe that all of life is God’s gift.
I believe that God is with us, close to us, everywhere around us, and invites into building the world God imagines.
I believe God is always, already, creatively, and redemptively present.
I believe that sometimes, the only visible, knowable presence of God, might be in or a part of me.
I believe God has the power to write and rewrite our stories. I believe God shares this power with us, inviting us to give and love and create as God does.
I believe God can use every everything for good.
I believe I am my best self when I am inspired by God’s vision, courageous enough to try and help give life to God’s vision in the world around me, and willing to accept the opportunities to spend my time in doing the things of God.
I believe that God provides enough of whatever is needed.
I believe that gratitude can help us sort challenges for the better.
I believe Jesus is the embodiment of fulfilling God’s vision and giving it away.
I believe everything can be God’s gift; and that everything can be given again, by us.
I believe life leads to something else; that God has said death never has the last word.
I believe we can fulfill what God intends.
I believe we can transform the world, when it isn’t God’s vision; and that we are being transformed.
I believe I don’t always get it right. I believe others don’t always get it right. I believe the best assumption is that we are all trying our best.
I believe when we trust God, even if the road were to lead to nowhere, we are never lost or left behind.
I believe God is generous, hopeful, gracious, and kind—all things we should emulate.
None of us gets to choose what cross we are crucified upon.
I’m still glad to be here.
And to have choices about how to spend my time.
