new year for trees

In the Hebrew way of life there comes a day each year to stop and celebrate new beginnings. The New Year for Trees usually occurs between mid-January and mid February signifying the end of the winter rainy season; it marks the renewal of the cycle of growth.

I cannot begin to say how closely that parallels the season of life I am in right now. For the last several weeks, a close friend of mine who moved back to the Tallahassee area and I have been talking about who are we at the core of our being. From those conversations, a reoccurring theme has been: helping people move from where they are to the place they want to be. I think my post from January 19th speaks to this in detail.

It became official on February 1, the formation of a people group who are focused on helping people move from one place to the next; a legal entity called Catalyst Consultant Group LLC was formed. Yes, we have a Federal Employee Identification Number. What is very interesting about this new business formation is that it is not just something that we want to do; it is something being birthed from who we are at the core of our God given inner shape. I think when something is birthed from the core of who you are, it is from the “imago dei.” It is very possible that from that image of God within you, there is an unending supply of power, energy, and creativity. I think we may have actually stumbled upon something wonderful.

Thomas Merton seems to communicate over and over the idea that if you are doing and being who you were created and intended to be, then you are communing with God unceasingly. I am beginning to rethink what it looks like when Paul writes “pray unceasingly.” It doesn’t just look like kneeling in a pew, bowing you head, or closing you eyes for a certain length of time. I think in surrendering your everyday life to God, you place yourself in a humble attitude of communion every moment.

Isaiah says “as you come, the mountains and hills will burst into song, and the tree of the countryside will clap their hands.” (55:10)

Maybe when the people of God “come into” and become who they were created and intended to be, the whole earth rejoices. It is good news for the people of the earth when God’s people learn their true identity from the imago dei.