Evocation #37 Authenticity

Unity + Diversity = Community

So says the morning devotion...

“I continue to dream and pray about a revival of holiness in our day that moves forth in mission and creates authentic community in which each person can be unleashed through the empowerment of the Spirit to fulfill God's creational intentions.” 

― John Wesley, How To Pray: The Best of John Wesley on Prayer

Of course, there is some dispute that the above was actually said by Wesley...

https://um-insight.net/perspectives/wesley-didn-t-say-it/

Ans so, we come to questions of truth and authenticity...

_______

The Author
Was at the complex work of creation
in writing your life...
So many plot turns,
so many characters,
so many vignettes,
so many loves,
so many challenges...

You lived into the layers,
dwelling in realities many of us avoid.
You were a Trivia King,
but not of trivialities...
for the details you were engaged in
were not trivial to you.

...Terry’s drive to be authentic. 

I loved that he was always himself 

regardless of how others reacted. 

He was a conscience for many people 

[Linz C]

My conscience has disappeared.
I imagine your voice speaking,
but you were never predictable,
so I wonder what you might say to me
if i could hear your voice.
You interpreted life for me,
challenging me with faith
in a God you communed with
differently to me.
You knew Wisdom I was unable
to access without you.

So I now face a struggle
of learning new disciplines
to encounter the God you taught me about.
Your God was not as easy to find in the institution.
Your God was present in cafes and parks, flowers and birds,
Your God was sitting on the path outside shops,
blessing you as you gave food and conversation.
Your God loved me and nurtured you to love me well.
Your God wrote much of our story
and I need that Author to write my next chapters...
For I can no longer authentically hear more than my imaginings of you.

Memories are precious,
but they cannot replace the daily surprises of your embodied love.
To live without you
makes me struggle
with my own authenticity,
for so much of who I have been
has been caught up with you.

Core to authentic identity is
child of God,
which has fitted me to be
lover, wife, mother.
The life of diversity
- a constant weaving of textured colours
into fabrics of creative fragility and strength.
You warped, didn’t you?
Took life into prophetic reality
beyond planning or preparation.
My life was warped by you!
Authentically, of course.

(C) A A Koh-Butler, 2020

__________

PS - for much more depth about Authenticity, contact Rev Dr Christy Capper at Uniting College of Leadership and Theology at Flinders University in Adelaide... she has a great PhD dissertation on this area.