How Will We Emerge? Guest Contributor Leslie Bustard

I met Leslie at the magical Laity Lodge at a conference in the summer of 2019. Little did either of us know what the next year would hold. The way she sees, the way she writes about what she sees, and the way she embraces her life and family reminds me of Annie Dillard’s quote, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.”  Leslie is “living a full life, full in the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19 MSG. She is a kindred treasurer hunter in search of beauty everywhere and in everyone. Thank you, Leslie, for these words.

“Christ plays in ten-thousand places”[1] — even in the midst of sorrow and suffering. Seeking out beauty has been one way to build my hope in Jesus through the hardships of this year.  This daily attentiveness has been how I have sought to “co-operate with holy grace in every moment of my existence."[2]  

The ground is still solid.

The grass is still full of green.

For an hour each morning, I take a walk, eyes open to my surroundings. The piles of clouds and the flirting sunlight inevitably grab my attention, as do porches with rocking chairs, overflowing flower boxes, dancing butterflies, and leaves floating down to the pavement. These walks continued when spring turned into summer and summer flowed into fall. Details I was attentive to have nestled into my imagination, helping me hold onto the grace of a quiet hope.

 The squirrels are still running along high wires.

The bees are still searching for clover.

In 2020 I have been battling Stage 4 melanoma and Stage 2 breast cancer and struggling with the side effects of the cancer medicines—such as inflamed knees. Each morning walk is more than exercise—it’s a way to loosen my knees, clear out my worries, and be attentive to God’s work. During this time of cancer and COVID I have tried to pay attention to all the goodness that comes to me. Scripture, nature, poetry, friends’ messages, songs, stories, and artwork have been my daily companions. My spirit agrees with Walter Wangerin, who said of Beauty that I should not simply “make a memory of it, but to know it now.”[3]

The trees are still playing shadows with the sun.

And the neighbors’ flowers are still blooming.

A friend encouraged me to share with my community the beauty I was seeing in the valley of the shadow of death. These words were an invitation to keep doing what has been natural to me over the years: loving Jesus by sharing beauty with the people in my life. So, I have posted online and written letters with Bible verses, song lyrics, poems, book excerpts, and artwork.

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love;

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.[4]

Jesus’ question “What do you want me to do for you?”[5] adorns a postcard on my desk, reminding me to be bold in my prayers during this crazy, upside-down time. Among my many requests, I often pray, “Lead us this day, Lord Christ, that we might walk its paths in the light of the hope of our coming redemption.”[6] When we all emerge from this dark season, I still want my eyes fixed on paths lit by hope. Every day I want to see the beauty of the Lord resting upon me[7], and I want to be someone who both sees and shares with others how Christ plays in ten-thousand places.

[1] From the poem “As Kingfishers Catch Fire” Gerard Manly Hopkins: Poems and Prose (Penguin Classics, 1985)

[2] Schleske, Martin; The Sound of Life’s Unspeakable Beauty (Eerdmans, 2020)

[3] Wangerin, Walter; Letters from the Land of Cancer (Zondervan, 2010)

[4] Psalm 90:14 (ESV)

[5] Mark 10:51 (ESV)

[6] McKelvey, Douglas; Every Moment Holy (Rabbit Room, 2019)

[7] Psalm 90:17 (KJV)

Leslie Anne Bustard takes great joy in loving people and places, whether at church, around her kitchen table, or in a classroom. She delights in words and the way poets and storytellers put them together, and at the beauty found in the details of ordinary life. Reading, writing, teaching literature, baking, producing high school theater, and museum-ing are some of Leslie’s favorite things. Leslie writes for The Cultivating Project and has also written for Deeply Rooted magazine. As one of the partners of Square Halo Books, Leslie created and hosted the podcast The Square Halo. Now she is developing and editing a book titled Wild Things and Castles in the Sky: A Guide to the Best Children’s Books. Another place to find her work is her Caring Bridge, where she shares her cancer journey, her love for Scripture, poetry, and art, and how Jesus has been sustaining her.

How Will We Emerge? Guest Contributor Jim Branch

The third voice in this series of thoughtful people is Jim Branch, author of the Blue Book and other books, challenging us that this season may be teaching us less is more.

If I have learned anything in these last few months of quarantine and pandemic, it’s that more is not better.  It’s just not.  But, unfortunately, we live in a culture that says it is.  We live in a world that is addicted to more.  But my guess is that in the past few months, where more has not been an option, the value of less has kind of snuck up on us, surprised us, and maybe even delighted us.  In fact, in many ways we might have actually discovered that less is more.  Less work means more quality time to be with those who are nearest and dearest to us.  Less activity means more conversation, rest, and reflection.  Less frenzy and chaos and hurry means more peace and joy and contentment.

But what happens when things finally get back to normal?  Do we jump right back in to our “more is better” mentality?  Or do we take the lessons that less has taught us and weave them into the fabric of our lives?  Do we proceed in a different way and at a different pace and with a different perspective, or do we mindlessly plunge back in to the demands and busyness and hurry?

“It is for freedom that Christ has set you free,” Paul tells us in Galatians 5:1. “Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  What if the last few months were about bringing freedom?  What if the last few months were an opportunity to experience a different way, so that each of us might choose to proceed differently?  What if God is trying to get our attention, as a people and as a culture, and say, “More is not better. See! Less is the better, deeper, and more live-giving way. Choose less. Don’t allow the desire for more to rule over you. Don’t allow it to make you its slave once again.  Because the constant pursuit of more will actually make you less; and doing less, will actually help you to become more.  Everything is topsy-turvy in the kingdom of God.”

The only question is, will we choose freedom, or will we choose bondage?  Whether we believe it or not, the choice really is up to us.

Jim Branch is an ordinary guy who longs to live a life of extraordinary depth and quality. He is a fellow journeyer and pilgrim, just trying his best to understand daily the depths of God's great love and affection. He has been in ministry for over thirty years, eighteen of those with Young Life, and loves seeing people of all ages come to know Jesus in the most intimate way possible. He is married to Carol and they have three incredible adult children: Tim, Michelle, and Hunter. You can sign up for his blog here.

How Will We Emerge? Guest Contributor Gisela Kreglinger

The second voice in this series of thoughtful people is dear friend Gisela Kreglinger, PhD, pondering on what’s being shaken and purified in this season:

The world has changed in a heartbeat—changed in ways that we could never have thought before. Sometimes I think of Mother Earth shaking us off her back because we have been handling her so poorly and now she is telling us to stop, become sensible, and listen.

This Covid-19 crisis has brought a lot to the surface: personally, in our families, in our societies, and the world at large. The lockdown itself, the self-isolation for those who do it, has forced us to befriend ourselves, our homes, and our families in new ways. 

It is challenging but also good. We are entering more deeply into the life that is nearest to us. We can't run away as easily as our culture of entertainment and distraction has offered to us in the past. We are now forced to find peace with those nearest to us: ourselves, our families, and neighbors.

This is what God has always called us to and I want to be receptive to what God wants to do in my life as I am tucked away at home. Rowan Williams writes in his book Silence and Honey Cakes (a book about the Christian desert fathers) that the monks’ calling is "to become fire." I believe this is what we are called to become: burning souls for God's presence and redemption in this world.

Right now He is purifying me from distraction so I can enter into His presence in more stillness to really listen to Him and what He is calling me to do. Listening to God has been a spiritual practice for all of my adult life but it seems that this season of Covid-19 is a time to be still and listen even more intensely. 

Let's listen together and, when the storm passes, God will rebuild His church.

Let us be ready to respond to God's call with a passion and joy to rebuild His purified church. It will be smaller and perhaps more marginalized but God's church has always been most faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ when it was marginal. Political power and Jesus power don't usually go together. Political power and forcing God's ways into society is never a good idea. Christ's way is that of a suffering servant who lowers Himself to lift up the brokenhearted. This is our work. Let us do it together and only in the spirit of Jesus Christ.

Gisela Kreglinger, grew up on a family-owned winery in Franconia, Germany where her family has been crafting wine for many generations. This unique experience has inspired her to write books (The Spirituality of Wine, The Soul of Wine) which explore the how the mystery and wonder of wine helps us embrace a full-bodied, joyful Christian life. She holds a PhD in historical theology from the University of St. Andrews and after traveling the world, lives in Birmingham, AL. She leads wine pilgrimages in Europe and trips to the British isles exploring Celtic spirituality.

How Will We Emerge from 2020? Introduction

That’s the question I’m asking myself and others. There’s a lot of presumptions in this question:

• An acknowledgement that we’re in an epic time that’s going to change our world and change us.

• An optimism that there will be a “coming out on the other side” of all these global health, social justice, and political pandemics. An optimism that it will be in 2021.

• The hope that “we” will come out. Not just “me’s” against “you’s.”

• The reality that in the midst of what we have no control of, there are a few things we can control. What are the small (or big) ways you personally want to come out of this? What are you learning? What good or hard things have surfaced? How do you want your life / faith / heart / work / relationships to be different? 

Through this season, guest contributors will share their thoughts on this year of pandemics, social unrest, fire tornadoes, murder hornets, and whatever else 2020 throws at us. Please let me know if you’d like to contribute your thoughts. Email me at nancy@nancywcarroll.com.