Standing on the Precipice…

I’m a Narnia fan.  I love the imagery and story telling of C. S. Lewis, it’s like he lived those stories and just wrote them down for us to share the adventure.

In one book Polly and Eustace come to Narnia via a world of pools (I forget how they got there from our world) and stand on a cliff overlooking clouds above a world so far below it couldn’t be seen.  Aslan tells them to jump, so they jump and travel on the lift of his breath.

This morning I woke up with a feeling of being on that precipice ready to jump forward toward the unknown.  My life feels on the cusp of something but I don’t know what at this stage–I just feel a change coming on.  Now it could be that my education and programming that God has a special purpose for each one of us is coming to light subconsciously.  Yet I think it’s more than that.  I’ve dealt with that issue enough to know that God works through some people, both throughout the Bible stories and today, not because they are more important or special than anyone else, but because they are available internally.  I don’t think they get special privileges or anything like that.  The sense for me is that I know a change is in the works, whether engineered by God’s guiding influence or sheer need in myself, I don’t know.  And I don’t care because it’s not important where it comes from, it just is what it is.

But one thing I do know for certain:  There are definitely times in all of our lives when we have to leap off the cliff and trust whatever sustains us to hold us up until we reach our destination.  Life is about risk–may be calculated risk but risk none the less.  We don’t accomplish anything by waiting for our tasks to be given to us, which brings up another subject altogether.

I think finding out how we’re made, what our “gifts” are (if we can call them that), and where we seem to thrive the most effectively should tell us more about how we’re created than fortune tellers, prophets or psychologists.  If we can admit to ourselves and others who we are and how we’re made, we find our lives, loves and relationships to both people and our work in general more pleasurable and fulfilling for everyone involved.

For example:  I’m passionate about writing both music and stories.  I love long thoughts so concept albums and books work better for me than singles or short stories.  This tells me something about my nature and purpose as a person.

A lady I’ve already praised for her artwork in silver (Al Gravitar Rodando), is gifted in this way and has found part of her purpose in life.  It might change and grow, but it remains a clear indication of who she is and what she can do with herself.

So I’m standing on another cliff, overlooking a land I don’t know from this height and ready to take a deep breath before I jump out on the wind currents of life.  Yes, I may crash and burn, but I believe that I’m the most effective and the biggest blessing to others and myself when I reach out for the goals burning inside.  I am not an island but a being intersected and interconnected with others who may or may not be considering the same leap into the unkown.

I am writing this to encourage them and myself to take the leap and go where the wind guides.  If nothing else, we’ll all have an adventure to talk about over coffee.

Tags: C. S. Lewis, change, Eustace, gifts, leap of faith, Narnia, purpose, risks