Blessed Are the Beginners

Blessed are the beginners for they will take risks and try new things. For those who don’t know what they don’t know or those who have weighed their options and take a calculated leap. Blessed are those willing to try because the wondering and “what if’s” might be more painful than the fall.

According to the magazine, Scientific American, you literally are a completely new you on a regular basis:

“The human body replaces its own cells regularly. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, have finally pinned down the speed and extent of this “turnover.” About a third of our body mass is fluid outside of our cells, such as plasma, plus solids, such as the calcium scaffolding of bones. The remaining two thirds is made up of roughly 30 trillion human cells. About 72 percent of those, by mass, are fat and muscle, which last an average of 12 to 50 years, respectively. But we have far more, tiny cells in our blood, which live only three to 120 days, and lining our gut, which typically live less than a week. Those two groups therefore make up the giant majority of the turnover. About 330 billion cells are replaced daily, equivalent to about 1 percent of all our cells. In 80 to 100 days, 30 trillion will have replenished—the equivalent of a new you.”

Our physiology is mirrored in our spirituality. We don’t just have a physical overhaul every 80 days, but the Bible teaches that we are in spiritual process; one that is continuously growing, refining and changing us. We live and move in a place of constant beginnings and renewal.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

“...take on an entirely new way of life–a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.” Ephesians 4:23-24 The Message

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” Colossians 2:20 NIV

Just as our physiological development is a process, so is our spiritual formation. As children develop, their development is orderly and sequential. They must hit certain developmental benchmarks before they can progress. For example, children must crawl before they walk, and walk before they can run. That crawling may resemble more of an army crawl or slide, but it is still crawling!

Though our physical bodies complete development, they do not arrive at a final destination. Birth, youth, maturity, aging and finally death are markers of those changes. Even in death, our bodies continue to change and become something else entirely. Why, then, would we expect our spiritual selves to reach a point of accomplishment? Paul speaks of this process in his own life. In Philippians 3:13 he says “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.” If all these things are true, we are works in progress.

Blessed are the beginners who are old hands at things but are willing to approach with fresh eyes. For those that put their hands to familiar tasks with renewed vision and experience.

In Ezekiel, we get a peek at God restoring and bringing new life from "dead" things. In Ezekiel 36, God is looking to refresh the spirit of his people. He promises: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (v. 26)” In the next chapter of Ezekiel, we encounter the valley of dry bones and God says: “I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.” (Ez. 37:5-6) God revives an entire army from a valley of bones!

Sometimes when we are old hands at things, life can feel dry and dusty. Hope is in short supply and outcomes feel predictable, but God is in the business of renewal. “The Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.” (Ez. 36:9b) God is in the business of creation and as his creation, we encounter our Creator. Let him fill our lungs and revive our spirit.

Parker Palmer waxes poetic about the new beginnings of spring in his book, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation.

“Though spring begins slowly and tentatively, it grows with a tenacity that never fails to touch me. The smallest and most tender shoots insist on having their way, coming up through ground that looked, only a few weeks earlier, as if it would never grow anything again. The crocuses and snowdrops do not bloom for long. But their mere appearance, however brief, is always a harbinger of hope, and from those small beginnings, hope grows at a geometric rate… Spring teaches me to look more carefully for the green stems of possibility; for the intuitive hunch that may turn into larger insight,...”

May God breathe new life into old stories and dry bones. May he anoint brittle places with oil and be cool water for parched lips.

Blessed are they who approach life with curiosity and wonder.

I don’t believe we ever fully arrive at our destination this side of Heaven. So, if we can come to grips with the fact that we will not become masters of anything, how do we hold that lack of certainty? What feelings does that stir up in you? Potentially, it welcomes us into life-long learning, humility and to look upon beginning again without judgement. If we hold our futures, knowledge and experiences with open hands, we can look at them in wonder and curiosity, making room for small green buds of hope to emerge where we thought nothing could grow.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10

Is there an invitation to try, or try again, with trembling knees and shaky hands; to experience the quickening of our hearts as we press into new things or revive old things? Do you and God have unfinished work to do?

If you are looking for ways to explore new beginnings, inspect new dreams, or even revisit old dreams with experience and openness I would encourage you to look into practices that help you tune into discernment. Spiritual direction is a good resource that might help you process with God, but there are other practices you might find helpful, such as praying the prayer of Examen, journaling, solitude, and listening prayer.

And now, may you have courage to dream, to wonder, and to offer what God has given you for his glory and honor. Amen.