Don't wait; be patient....

Two years ago on a fine Epiphany afternoon, I found myself in desperate need of a nap (Surprise! Not....). My kindergartener had quickly fallen asleep, which was usually the only impediment, and I tried to relax and join him in dream-land.

It was not to be. This nap opportunity was interrupted (hehehe) by swirling thoughts and images. Things that I'd been collecting for 30-some years and storing away for "someday" in the back of my brain. Someday ... when my thoughts and dreams about how the Christian life could (should?) be lived might actually become reality.

Really, Lord...I desperately need this nap....

Twenty minutes of non-nap later, I ask: "Okay, Lord. Do you want me to get up and write this down?" Apparently, he did. So, I went down to the kitchen table with my tiny notebook and began to write ... and write ... and write ... and draw charts ... and write. Two hours and sixteen pages later I had documented what has come to be known as the vision for CovenantClusters.

A vision of incarnational-missional community arrived on Epiphany. Of course, I didn't have the vocabulary to describe it that way then ... but the many interruptions, er, appointments God scheduled for me these past two years have provided all the charts, books, vocabulary and confirmation I could possibly want. And after a year of trying to explain this vision to people who were obviously not on the same page ... God brought me to a tribe of brothers and sisters journeying along a similar (parallel?) path. This path does not, at first glance, appear well traveled; but there are many more following it than most would guess ... folks who embrace words like these:

Companionship. Comprehension. Cohesion. Collaboration. Challenge. Compassion. Chaos. Communitas ... even cHesed! (Hmmm ... Brad, what's with the alliterative "c" thing going on here -- did you start it? :^) )

And the most amazing thing is this: that after all the books and people and blogs and conferences that I have crammed into the past 15 months, the vision scribbled down in that little notebook has not changed. It has been given vocabulary and gravitas and context and scope, absolutely. But not one thing that swirled around 24 months ago has needed to be "edited out" in the face of all that I have experienced. There is still, apparently, a need for this vision to be brought to life. Pieces of it exist here and there, but I have yet to find anyone, anywhere with a similar scope and breadth of vision that makes me want to set aside what I have "seen" and join them. I have been tempted, mind you, but only because it would be "easier" to join the work of another than to complete the task God has set before me.

Surely, this continues to be one of the most interesting forms of confirmation of this vision in the depths of my soul. And so I will be reworking that vision to include all that I have learned and look toward sharing a more concrete vision with those companions the Lord will call to join me. And, together, we will bring CovenantClusters to our neighborhoods.

It is going to be a grand year, indeed. And the very first words of confirmation and counsel I received, just days after the vision, continue to ring true: don't wait; be patient.

Go with God.