God’s Dream

By the time you read this, Father Jacob, Father Isaiah, and I will have just returned from Clergy Conference at a convent in Temecula. All the clergy in the diocese, active and retired, meet for two days with Bishop Susan, her team, and a guest speaker. It’s a wonderful opportunity for all of us to bond and brainstorm new ways to work together to benefit our churches.

During presentations, the bishop’s staff provided snacks and fidget toys on our meeting tables. As we listened to our presenter, Tim Soerens, one priest drew the above image synopsizing Tim’s talk!

In the center of any great movement is a why, surrounded by a how, and all encapsulated in a what. Tim pointed out that our why is our eschatology—God’s dream for creation. Our how is our pneumatology—what the Holy Spirit is up to in our world. The what is our ecclesiology—the work of the church. It’s a simple way to remember the why, how, and what we do.

At some point in your life, you got caught up in this image. I’ll ask you the same question Tim asked us: When did you originally connect with God’s dream? For me, it was when I realized that my children weren’t growing up with the same natural sense of faith that I had as a child. I wanted to understand that, and join God in changing it. Ultimately, I devoted my life to it! If you would like to share your answer, I would love to hear how you originally connected with God’s dream for his creation.

Mother Nina+