The second part of a talk on waymarks given by Trevor Miller.
We have been stressing the importance of waymarks. That as a Community we need to stop from time-to-time and take the opportunity to retrace our steps, and look for the waymarks that tell us we are on course. As Jeremiah 6:16 ‘Ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it’. Put simply, the waymarks are there precisely because that’s what they are – waymarks – markers along the way. So, allowing the waymarks to become the final destination instead of pointers along the way defeats the purpose. And, conversely, allowing the excitement of the new directions to dispense with the old waymarks altogether is equally foolish.
As a Community we have the liberty to explore, the freedom to experiment but always within sight of the God-given way-marks. When we ask, what are the waymarks? What is the essential value in what we do? Indeed why do we do what we do? The answer lies in our vocation – what has God said? What is God saying?
What we do know is that as Christians, followers of Jesus, we are all called to SEEK (Nether Springs, the tide coming in, going deeper within), and we are all called to SING (Upper Springs, the tide going out, making a difference where we are). That is, to seek God for Himself and to know our true self, on the one hand, and to ‘sing the Lord’s song’ where God has placed us, on the other. Embracing and encircling these two is the ongoing question of SHALL, how then shall we (as seekers and singers) live? How do we do it, where we are, who we are? How do we express our vocation, our heart, alone and together?
God’s response has been and is to emphasise as ‘The Message’ translation of Psalm 87.7, ‘All my springs are in you’ . One source of both Nether Springs and Upper Springs lived simultaneously in our hearts, as the roots and the fruit of the same plant, so that ‘wherever the Father leads’ and whatever ‘the initiatives of the Spirit’ we will both live in and live out the truth of our Day 14 Meditation.
See the land so black and barren; God will make a watered garden; fruitfulness where once was parchedness, light to break into the darkness, upper springs and nether springs in the field that Father’s given.
This is why the original Acsah Principles are so vital and central. They capture the heart of all this. In seeking God as the ‘one thing necessary’ we
– Embrace the reality of the inner life, deepening your own personal journey, an awareness of the contemplative ‘now’ of our lives, directed in the everyday by A+V.
– Embrace the fact that we are alone yet not alone because we are together in that aloneness. Both enclosure and encounter are equally valid and necessary. Others are on the journey with us, companionship is real, and ways of support are actively pursued.
– Engage in listening prayer and intercession as a means of nourishing ourselves and others.
– Explore the concept of Church without walls. Giving access from all sides. Aware of the changing world views of Gospel and culture. Being ordinary, transparent, living unselfconsciously amongst those alienated by the Church or seemingly disinterested.
To say again, it is a commitment to living the 3 central questions: Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? They are always relevant, always timely because they are always life – expressed in exploration, discovery, journey as life lived, in paradox, mystery, and uncertainty.