I grew up in a world full of Sunday mornings. My little world consisted of new Easter dresses, pink pint-sized bibles, and felt boards with little images of Jesus that you could move around. My perception of God's love was built upon hymns from the "Songs of Faith and Praise" songbook, and I learned to sing by listening to my parents and their friends belting four-part harmony. I'm a church-of-christ kid, in all aspects of the term.
Recently, I was asked to write a spiritual autobiography for my class, "Spirituality and Social Work." Granted, this class is not completely comprised of a Christian perspective, nor is it focused on the idea of one's personal religious views. However, this assignment has really thrown me.
Over the course of my four years at ACU, I probably wrote at least four "spiritual testimonies." There were always teachers (or employers), who wanted to know the aspects of my life that contributed to my spiritual growth and development. Many of my classmates, each time, would write pages upon pages, depicting their childhoods in the church, the goodness of their parents' upbringing, and the ways in which their youth ministers were better than everyone else's.
And up to this point in my life, my testimonies consisted of very similar rhetoric.
However, this assignment really made me think. Maybe it's the new sections of my brain that have opened up since entering grad school, or my increased capacity to actually invest time in an assignment, but I have been dwelling on what, specifically, has contributed to who I am, spiritually, at this point in my life.
And I've come to realize that, in all honesty, the things that have had an impact on who I am have very little to do with the legalism that I once confined myself to. In fact, the person who I am today, and my views regarding who God is and who I am in Him, are largely indebted to people. Relationship. Heartache and forgiveness. Love and suffering. Faith and disappointment.
I think the whole beauty of a spiritual journey is just that: it being a journey.
Journeys, in general, start in all sorts of different places. For Bilbo Baggins, it started in the Shire, with directions from a trouble-loving wizard (pardon the Hobbit reference). For Beyonce, it started in a performing arts school in Houston, Texas. For the Friends characters, it started in a coffee shop on a street in New York.
Journeys are, by nature, often long. They aren't always easy. There are different types of terrain to navigate... wrong turns to take... heartache to bear. One must be willing to take directions when they are needed, as well as trust instict and willpower. Journeys have the potential to ecompass new people, places, and feelings. However, more than anything, journeys are the physical manifestation of change... whether the course of time, or location... something changes when one partakes in a journey.
My journey has been long, at times. It's been full of rejoicing and disappointments... of happiness and despair. Presently, I'm in a season of waiting. Waiting for answers... for the fulfillment of promises and the manifestation of purpose. But the beauty of the journey, looking back on it over the past few days, is that God is guiding it. I'm not lost. (As one who tends to be directionally challenged, this is a great reassurance for me!) My journey is far from done, and I can't wait to see where God will take me.
Feel free to send me an email, and I'd be happy to send you a copy of the finished product of my autobiography. I'd give you a way to get it now.. but let's be real, it's not quite done. :)
Blessings on you and yours, as you continue your journeys,
Amanda Christine
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