Christopher
Townley

i don’t really operate on a normal human’s calendar. the new year for me is represented by the first weekend after labor day. you know, once the “school year” is officially underway and we can’t see another vacation day until november.

the lack of vacation isn’t all that sad if we look at this new season as a new beginning. a fresh start.

right now, i’m walking into a new season and i get to decide who i’m going to become. i suppose you have that option as well.

i’m asking myself questions that go like this:

what will be the highest priorities in my life during this new beginning?

how will i be remembered?

what do i want to accomplish?

how will i accomplish what i want to accomplish?

what bad habits do i need to kill?

what good habits do i need to resurrect?

you get the idea. and even as i look at those questions i get a bit overwhelmed. maybe even frightened. new beginnings are like that. yes they offer something fresh but they also offer the unknown, and i don’t know about you, but i don’t do so well with the unknown.

i have tried to find an overarching, all encompassing solution (or answer) to my fear of the unknown as i step into a new beginning. i found my inspiration in the bible, and honestly, it’s powerful but not all that easy.

john 3:30 says,

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

if i’m going to become who i believe i want to become in this new season… then the short answer is for me to BECOME LESS, and God to BECOME GREATER.

i’ll let you know what life looks like in this great unknown. and why don’t you let me know what you find.

who do you want to become with your new beginning?

at dinner saturday night, as all of us were sharing a joyous meal together, i stalled out and mentally removed myself from all that was going on.  comfortably surrounded my friends from home (in montana) and friends from ethiopia, i sat in awe and respect at the blending of unique people and cultures.  this was what unity should look like.

i began to see the heartbeat of serving in another country.

in ethiopia we do not say, “here we are to lift you up.”  we say, “here we are to become one with you.” (i think i adapted this quote from shane claiborne).

and so as ate injera, dabo (bread), and tibs together i started to let this sink in – i am becoming one with those around me. 

when i stand in the trench of the wall’s foundation with michale (another new friend) and dump rocks, i am not lifting him up but rather striving to become one with him.  i must remain humble because, in fact, unity of vision requires us to see each other as equal (because we are).  or when i share a barilla (stretcher-like devide for hauling rock) with my good friend yoseph (and our translator both times i’ve been in ethiopia) we talk about our dreams and our goals and our hopes.  with my ego set aside (a hard thing for me to do), i am not in that moment to lift him up with my giant american arms, i am becoming one with a friend.

when i take the time to let the Spirit in these relationships (and all relationships), instead of trying to maintain control, i get to experience the pleasure and joy of becoming one with those around me.  let’s face it – ethiopia does not need me (or our team) to come and lift it up… throwing money or american culture or “right” way thinking at it.  ethiopia needs to know that we have come with a different intention, a different heart, and a different persepective.

i pour into ethiopia for two weeks in may because i want to say, and it must ring true,

“i was here to become one with you.  and i followed through.”

friday, our fifth day of work in a row (although we experienced a rain respite the day before), started out with a physical AND spiritual struggle.  our task to begin this day was to move rocks with a barilla (how else would you move rocks?  duh!) from one end of the school compound to the other.  more than double any distance we had been hauling up to that point.

my shoulders, back muscles, and forearms felt fire pulsing through them with the first lift.  i was on the verge of complaining about the long hike as the fatigue of the work, the movement of God in my life, and the mental excursion of learning amharic all collided at once.  my sour attititude could have quickly infected our entire team.  i was steps away from bringing us all down and simply going through the motions.

thankfully, my friend dylan was there to work alongside (or behind me on the barilla) me.  as we worked and spoke together(about nothing and about things that meant something) i was pulled from the duldrums i tried to create.

it proved to be yet another glaring reminder that i am not (nor, we as humans) meant to go it alone.  we require, for the vitality of our souls, relationship and community and friendship.  must be why jesus didn’t even walk through life alone.  i want to take all these “revelations” home with me to a place where i try to do too much by my own strength, on my own time, in my own office lest i begin to think it’s all about me.

plus, i’m finding that life lived in the presence and company of