Oh, the tragedy of failing to reach one’s potential. It is so easy to neglect that which has the capacity to grow the mustard seed. Consider 1 Corinthians 12: 18: “But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be” (ESV). I am convinced one of our greatest callings is to discover who it is God created us to be and to discover what it is He has created us to do. To discover, water and nourish who He has created us to be is to foster His intention for the tender shoot. Oh, to be like Paul who said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain”, (ESV).
THE TENDER SHOOT
Protective, haunting fear,
Arresting growth,
Preventing potential.
The ache that gnaws
Builds personas
That conceal me.
Like a tender shoot,
In rocky crags
I am.
Who cares?!
I am nothing!
My ever-present fear.
Will I grow?
Can I grow?
I think not.
So, I inhibit
The tender shoot
And, it withers.
-Richard Brewer
February 29, 1996
Published by sparedbygrace@yahoo.com
I am Richard Brewer—a Christ-follower, psychologist, husband, father, grandfather (Papa) sometimes writer, and lifelong student of people.
For much of my professional life, I've had the privilege of sitting with people as they wrestle with some of life's most difficult questions—questions about faith, suffering, grief, relationships, identity, failure, hope, and what it means to live well.
Those conversations have changed the way I see people and the way I understand my own faith. They have taught me that life is rarely as simple as our explanations of it, that people are almost always more complicated than they appear, and that sometimes the wisest response to a difficult question is to empathize and to keep asking better questions.
I am a committed Christ-follower, but I am not interested in pretending that Christianity eliminates mystery or that faith means having an answer for everything. Faith invites us to pursue truth honestly, to think deeply, to acknowledge what we do not know, and ultimately to trust the God we do know.
Mediocre Meanderings is where I explore some of those questions.
I write about faith and psychology, grief and suffering, leadership and relationships, aging and ordinary life—and occasionally whatever else catches my attention along the way.
I do not write from the perspective of someone who has figured life out. I write as someone who has lived enough of it to know that I have not.
These are my thoughts, questions, observations, and occasional attempts at wisdom. Take what is useful. Challenge what is not. And, if you would like, meander along with me.
View all posts by sparedbygrace@yahoo.com