Worlds Collide

The 118th episode of Seinfeld includes a theory of social "worlds" colliding and the imminent demise of "a George divided against itself."  This concept references three-dimensional, parallel-universe concepts and the idea that they must be kept separated or face mutual peril.  If you want to geek-out a little, this article is a good start.  Season 7, Episode 8 is certainly memorable; but sometimes worlds coalesce rather than crash when they collide.  Last night, as it has before, my life demonstrated that.

A fellow Veteran contacted me the other day.  We served together, and have always had great rapport.  She asked me to join her at the home of mutual friends, my neighbors three homes down the road from my abode, to even up the number of a recurring gathering from her church.  The game was pitch (otherwise known as setback or high-low-jack) and the food was Tex-Mex.  I made a spicy bean dip and made my way down the street, made the $1.00 ante...and in the end, I made $3.00 for making "Low Girl," otherwise known as last place.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that really happened.  So much for "beginner's luck."

The group was lovely and the interaction lively, beginning with a time of prayer requests and intercession.  Many faces in this gathering were familiar; glimpses into my childhood as a 4-H member, my young adulthood as a full time cosmetologist, my time in the military, and my new life as a widow and member of the garden home community in which I reside - all a testament of growth from roots to shoots.  Rather than uncomfortable entanglement, this felt like an embrace folding the little girl I was with the woman I've become as one might fold a patchwork quilt.

Romans 12, especially verse 18, comes to mind as I consider how it could be that so many archetypal aspects of my life could flow with such felicity and faculty.  During my US Air Force Technical School graduation, TSgt Hinton (my instructor) quoted 1 Thessalonians 4, admonishing us to

"...make it your ambition to live quietly and peacefully, and to mind your own affairs and work with your hands, just as we directed you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders [exhibiting good character, personal integrity, and moral courage worthy of the respect of the outside world], and be dependent on no one and in need of nothing [be self-supporting]."  AMP

In times like last night's gathering, I see the harvest of this principle in living color.  The reason the patchwork of my past and my path was so seamless and ease-filled is the quiet, peaceful, conscientious, diligent, and honorable behavioral principles that mark my days.  It's not anything about me that makes this so - it is Christ in me, the influence of wise adults with compassion and integrity demonstrated in front of me during childhood, and the general ordering of my steps as a believer. 

Jotting with Johnna

• What would happen if your worlds collided?
• Are you fearful of people who know you from different spheres being in the same place?
• How might a life infused with integrity alter the reality of this situation?
• Why not apply Micah 6:8 to your life today...to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?
• Do you think your social, spiritual, psychological, and even physiological life might improve?

Remember:  you are so very worthy of a fresh start, that's grace - God's unmerited favor lavished on us freely.  Your past and your path needn't resemble one another.  Isaiah 43:18-21 holds precious hope as God makes new things happen.  Jeremiah 29:11-14 points us toward seeking God wholeheartedly and states that God has plans - good plans - for His followers.  Finally, Matthew 6:25-34 offers us freedom from worry and liberates us to peace as we move forward.

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.