Abide

I’ve come in contact
with a word which, up until a few months ago, was foreign in both vocabulary and
understanding. 

Abide. (thanks Stephanie Fisk) 😉 

1: to wait for :
await 2 a: to endure without yielding : withstand b: to bear patiently : tolerate
<cannot abide such bigots> 3: to accept without objection <will abide your decision>

Pasted
from <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abide>

I’m not one to place
too much stock into words as something with which to hang the moon upon. However, I must admit, this word is different. This word is complicated. This
word is offensive. This word can turn
your world upside down. This word is
beauty at its purest form.  We are created as
ongoing, aging, changing beings. From
birth to death we are never the same, ever. Our genetic makeup
is a roller coaster of inpatients. 

I’ve used time and
travel to fuel this process. The past
eight months have set the pace. Three to
four weeks in a village/town/country and then gypsy style, I’m out. It’s been a little more natural than you
would think. Aside from living out of a
fifty-five liter pack, living on the move, always in pursuit of what’s next,
comes second nature. A fallen nature.

Whether it’s chasing
a dream, setting a goal, or making a plan, these are all devices aimed at the
same thing:  getting something or somewhere. But why? What drives us? What in us seeks this constant need for
movement? Is it a lack of our content in
the here and now? Or is it something
more? Is something missing?

He who
abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do
nothing.

This is not an
attempt to go all Biblically Christian on you. This is me attempting to unwrap an idea.  The words above in
red were spoken by Jesus a long time ago, but still a long time after the
beginning of everything.  There was once a
time in perfection, harmony, and stillness when man found fullness in simply
being created. This was a glorious time,
free of email, vision meetings, action plans, and to do lists. 

It was short
lived. One bite off the tree, one grasp
at the apple and everything changed.  Now we find
ourselves thousands of years later on the move, because where we were didn’t
cut it, where we are isn’t enough, and perhaps where we’re going will be
more. You see, we move because the
broken rules of this world demand that we do so. 

That brings me to
this word. Abide. Do you now see why it’s so offensive? Try it. The broken pieces of your life along with the broken pieces of this
world will object quite violently. It’s
unnatural and alone unattainable. We are
still in the midst of the process of a redeemed world and while we now have
direct access to abide in Him, that does not change the environment in which we
currently dwell. This world is still
moving toward something and as long as we are on it, we move with it. 

Then how in the
world does God expect us to abide?