Life Led From an Inner Space

 by Amanda Peterson

I love spending time watching videos when I am supposed to be doing something productive as much as the next person. It is rare that a video comes along and really speaks to the issue of life led from an inner space; life lived for the passion that will not go away or necessarily make sense to others. Yet the video at the end of this article speaks to this in a way I could never do with words alone.

Why is this inner life, this passion, so important? It’s because we live in a time where the external circumstances scream so loud we can hardly hear or believe this still small and mighty voice. It’s an individual with a notion to do or be a certain way in the world, or an organization, like a church, being called to move into the unknown and mysterious in a world that is telling them the sky is falling and church is dead.

This voice is deep and compelling. ​This inner drive that we sense is the voice of the Divine calling us to the bigness of life. Even if we follow that voice, the external voices will dictate what success looks like. Such as more people in the pews, a business that makes $1,000,000, etc. Yet the success is in the just showing up whether the outcome is seen or not. The success is trusting this beautiful small voice and living from that place regardless of what it looks like or even if it makes sense. That also means not controlling what God will do with it. This woman plays her cello in the middle of nowhere to no one but herself, yet I can’t help wondering how the beauty of that music affects the trees, rocks, and life around her. Or how that sound might travel to someone’s ears and cause a major shift in their lives. She isn’t doing it for those reasons, yet even on her hike up the mountain, her single act has a community effect. In fact just my knowing she is doing this encourages me in my journey. She doesn’t even know who I am. Following that voice, no matter how scary, crazy or inconsistent it may seem, allows the power of God to move in ways it might not have before.

For myself, Pathways of Grace was born of listening to the still small voice and following where the voice has led me. It hasn’t been easy at times and like this woman climbing the mountain with the cello on her back there was plenty of time to wonder and decide to keep going. Not for the sake of the end of the trail, but for the sake of the inner spark that draws me closer to God.

Everyone has that spark. As we journey in Lent, learning what it means to walk with Jesus, we are learning to listen, acknowledge, and trust that voice. We get to practice living from that space and not the external voices that try to define and lead us. Whether that spark is to spend more time in prayer, start a business, or let go of a building in favor of community, the “what” is not as important as the willingness to act.

May this video inspire you to follow Christ this Lent from that space deep within yourself.