Piloting Faith: Getting comfortable with being lost...

A Word for the Day...
I have no sense of direction. That should probably alarm you since I am a pilot. Because of this, I get lost quite a bit unless I am using my GPS to guide me to my destination. I usually just end up on small detours, though occasionally I can find myself way off course.
I used to get anxious about these deviations and would carefully follow my GPS for the most direct route from point A to point B. But soon I found myself missing the adventure that comes with not being entirely sure of where you are going. I realized that I was more awake, more aware, and more curious about the journey when I wasn’t certain I was on the proven path. I had the potential of flying a new route, one no one else has traversed before. It’s the subtle shift from being a follower to being an explorer. It’s the only path I know to a fulfilling life.
Martha Beck once said, “To master the skills of a Wayfinder, first get comfortable feeling lost.”
Given all of the challenges we face as a global community, it seems we are being issued a new call to adventure. We must chart an original path forward to a sustainable future. We don’t have any templates for getting us there. No one has figured this out yet. So, it’s up to us to get comfortable feeling lost while we find our way.
Now that I think about this, I think Jesus said something about having to lose yourself to find yourself. I tell you, he thought of everything.
- Rev. Cameron Trimble, author of Piloting Church: Helping Your Congregation Take Flight

Prayer for the Week
Gracious God,
Your kin-dom is so different from what is valued in my world.
We worship riches and fame and power, and flashy shows of strength, but you say those advantages have no value in your kin-dom. You came as a servant, and call us to serve and honor others. You say that in our weakness, we discover our own power - power that comes from you.
We prize physical beauty, but the beauty that matters to you comes from inside. It shows up best in acts of kindness, in living with courage, integrity, and humility.
We praise the self. We live as though the universe revolves around our wants and needs, our potential, our success. But you came to radically change our worldview. You showed us how to honor our humanity and find our freedom in you.
Renew my vision of a sacred world, Lord, and help me to seek it every day. Make my vision clear. Teach me to care for the things of Love and the ways of Love over everything that's valued in the kin-dom of this world.
- (adapted from The Prayer Wheel by Patton Dodd, Jana Riess and David Van Biema)