Reflection turns experience into insight
John maxwell
As this year draws to a close and a new one turns the corner, I’m no different than many others who tend to use this time to reflect back not only in gratitude to God, but also in analysis for what lies ahead.
If you’ve noticed, I’ve been reposting some old content here, from other websites I’ve had in the past, editing and updating them with some current insights. The entry below titled ‘Derutting’ comes from August of 2017 as I was struggling with what sometimes comes from walking in faith, and fighting to remain steadfast in hope. They were my thoughts on pursuing purpose and fulfilling a divine calling.
It’s not a spoiler alert, but I mention a band named Caedmon’s Call at the end. This is relevant only because the band provided inspiration when coming up with the name for one of my daughters, who happens to be getting married next week.
In reading the post today, I found myself once again reflecting back to those days of purpose, faith, and struggles. That daughter wasn’t even in school at the time my wife and I were wholeheartedly pursuing God’s call for our lives that centered around ministry, business, and music.
Since then, things have changed drastically and my focus and direction have definitely taken a different path from where we were and where we were headed.
So what happened? Did we get it wrong since things didn’t pan out as expected, or our focus now isn’t what it used to be?
No. We were seeking God’s purpose and will for our lives then, and have continued to do so ever since. This is where John Maxwell’s quote above about turning experience into insight comes into play. As he explains in his book ‘Failing Forward’, mistakes are inevitable, but we only fail if we don’t learn from our mistakes.
I have learned that life is about seasons.
When thinking about the seasons of life, I’m reminded of Joseph, Moses, David, and many others in scripture who went through years of discouragement, discipline, and development before realizing the dreams or calling on their lives. The thing is that they all continued on the path through each season and never gave up, eventually fulfilling their individual callings in the end.
Caedmon’s Call has gone through their own seasons and struggles, but it seems they’re also reflecting, regrouping, and celebrating their past in the present. Reading my thoughts from 2017 and then learning about the band getting back together, has made me pause and recall a time when a certain dream and purpose was so clear in my life back then.
As 2022 ends, and 2023 has already promised to be a year of some big changes, maybe it’s time to reboot and go back to revisit that dream. There’s certainly good reason to believe that the season is changing once more.
Maybe this is the season for a dream to come to fruition – in a way I never expected.
Happy New Year!
(scenes from The Fishbowl Musiclub in Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA)
Derutting
*first published 8.27.17 at 2:33pm on LeifQuitevis.com
I’m pretty sure that’s not even a word but for now, I’ll leave it up to someone else to look that up. I just think it sounds like the right sort of word to describe what I want to share… getting out of a rut.
Sometimes it’s not a rut. Maybe you’re caught in a rip current getting pulled out to sea. Or sliding down a muddy embankment, frantically trying to control or stop the wild descent. Maybe that slippery hill won’t let you advance up to higher ground. Whatever that situation is – you just know that you want out.
I realize there are a number of valid methods that can be used to derut. Today, I used the power of music.
Oceans Deep
Years ago I had a specific dream – a calling that I felt was imprinted onto my soul. Music was at the heart, birth, and sustained affirmation of this powerful draw. Music inspired and fed my spirit along the path of the eventual realization of my vision.
Opportunities appeared one after another as things lined up perfectly, divinely even. Momentum picked up behind me until I was ready to make the leap.
So out of the boat I jumped into the placid sea.
And then, life happened. The wind and waves picked up and a storm soon gathered. I took my eyes off the target and immediately began to sink. Walking on water not only was harder than I thought, I was sure it was impossible.
Undaunted, I went through another similar experience very soon thereafter. Again, music provided the soundtrack to life, ever present in the background, providing inspiration and clarity.
Yet another storm, stronger than the first, capsized our family’s clipper and into sea we were cast.
The following years up to this moment have been exhausting, treading water and just trying to keep our heads above water in order to breathe. Every now and then, land appears and we are hopeful that some relief is near. But curse those rogue waves that sneak out of nowhere and try to take us under. Hope gets soaked with the reality that once again, we are stuck in a rip that is pulling us out to sea.
It’s times like these where one’s faith truly gets tested and the battle against doubt and fear can be overwhelming. But I’ll save that topic for another time. On this occasion, God provided a common, but perhaps underused resource to buoy me up – a simple lifeline that just enough to rescue me in that moment.
Clearing Fog
Sometimes my computer gets stuck. I mash down on the keyboard and feverishly click buttons to effect change, but nothing seems to make that spinning circle go away. That’s when I have to reboot the machine. Today, I decided to go back to the beginning. To a moment when there was clarity and a definitive call. So I blew the dust off an old CD sleeve, popped it into the tray, and skipped forward to a familiar soundtrack.
There it was. The “why’s” flooded back to mind and almost instantly, the clouds parted as the skies began to clear.
The power of music on the brain is amazing. So much so that it has been used since the days of Moses to pass down critical history, lessons, laws, principles, and more from generation to generation. We see this in the Song of Moses recorded in Deuteronomy 32, just before Moses dies.
Deuteronomy 32:44-47 NIV Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
And this wasn’t the first time that Moses broke out in song. Back in Exodus 15, he and older sister Miriam recorded a duet upon crossing the Red Sea. Furthermore, David & Asaph saturate the Old Testament pages with their passionate music in verse after verse of what might be called the hymnal of Scripture.
Psalm 100:1-5 NIV Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.
This one Psalm is a good summary of what we consistently see in scriptural songwriting. That is the reflection, praise, and worship of the goodness and majesty of God.
Reboot to Derut
Do you feel like you are afloat in the vastness of your own sea of troubles, uncertainty, or discontent? Maybe you’re not awash in waves, but just treading water day in and day out. Are you stuck somewhere? Have you lost the trail and not sure how to get back onto the path? (I have another story for that). Try to ‘derut’ by rebooting your mind with music, from a time when you understood things a little better and from a clearer vantage point.
As for me, with a little help from Caedmon’s Call, I’m ready to swim ashore, climb out, or step off – whatever the fitting metaphor – I’m derutting and getting back to pursuing my calling.
Again.