Would Your 16 Year Old Self Be Surprised

“Would your 16 year old self be surprised by how your life has turned out?” That’s the question one of Brenna’s teenagers asked her recently. “Would 16 year old you have expected [insert your own life details here]?”

For so many of us, the answer would be no. No, our lives has taken so many disorienting twists and turns along the way, some painful, some beautiful, many both from different vantage points! And we wouldn’t be who we are, where we are, without the journey we’ve come through.

One pastor and spiritual writer puts it this way: “It is hard to shake the shame of getting lost in our lives. And yet if someone asked us to pinpoint the times in our lives that changed us for the better, a lot of those times would be wilderness times.” – Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World

This Easter season at City Church, we’re leaning into the idea of wandering as getting lost in the best way - of embracing the freedom to step off the beaten paths, opening up to mystery, pursuing faith as adventure. Because the wilderness is so often where and how we grow.

Today one way we can do this is reflection on an ancient Israelite “pilgrimage psalm” - a psalm for travelers, one they would sing together as they journeyed toward Jerusalem to connect with God in a special way. Imagine the comfort this song might bring to someone on a long, winding journey. How might you re-write it for yourself today? Talk with Jesus about these things.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

She will not let your foot slip—
    she who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, she who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    they will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

- Psalm 121