The irony of sleeping in a chair in the orthopedic surgery unit is that sleeping in said chair feels like a fast track for needing orthopedic surgery. Of course, we expected a broken night, annotated by checks, pills, and procedures, and we are more than grateful to have reached the twenty-four hour mark with a sense of progress and the beginnings of healing.

Looking out, the air is fresh, the view is clear, and the promise of a new day is greater than the memory of the pain. We welcome the morning with hope because the dawn is such a powerful reminder that we are constantly moving forward into new light and new life.

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. – Genesis 1:31

God Thought:

If you read this blog often then you already know that I live out of a theology of promise and light. I think that “living out of” a particular theology is an important idea for us to wrap our minds around, our hearts around, and our intention too.

Because the word “theology” means God thought. In other words, being deliberate and reflective when it comes to how the fact of God informs and shapes our functional mindset. In that sense, we’re all theologians. But becoming a conscious theologian involves looking at God, considering God, reflecting on God, and then living out of that frame of reference with intention.

This is why it’s important to understand what theology – or God thought – is the lens through which we view every new morning, the root truth that anchors our orientation, and governs how we engage our moment by moment.

I believe we can choose that point of reference. However, rather than grabbing and memorizing a “life verse” we like, “living out of” an intentional theological perspective requires more considered reflection, deeper study of the scriptures as a whole, and articulating our understanding of who God is.

LIVE IT! For me, especially at this particular moment, and in the context of both political tension and the challenge of coming through surgery, I am conciously living out of a theology of promise and light.

“In [Jesus] is life, and the life is the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not, cannot, overcome it” (John 1:4-5, author paraphrase).

What theology do you live out of? I believe it’s worth taking the time to think about. – DEREK