What, No Blueprint?

In this entry, I discuss the possibility of us being co-creators with God of our life here on Earth and my feelings about that as it relates to my beliefs about God’s sovereignty over my life.

I am continuing my study of Listening Spirituality, Volume II: Corporate Spiritual Practice Among Friends, and I came across a passage that has been really bothering me for several months now. The passage in question appears in a section that discusses focusing on a particular dynamic in your relationship with God as a co-creator of your future, as opposed to attempting to discern God’s will for your life. Thomas Merton states that basically people act like God has plan or map for their life in a drawer somewhere and that we think all we have to do is find the right drawer containing the right map and we’ll be all set and on our way. He says it’s not like that. There is no predestined plan for us because we are co-creating the plan with God. He says it is more like a great improvisation that is constantly unfolding.^[1]

What? You mean there is no blueprint for Juliet’s life? Really? I don’t want to think that is true. What if it was? What if I’m really entirely responsible for all my choices and unlike Robert Frost, who chose the right road not taken, I chose the wrong one and end up in a mess? I mean I’m human. I’m human, self-centered, selfish, can’t get out my own way. Man, don’t put me in charge! Yikes! And besides, I was never that great at improvisation. The improv classes I took at the University of Miami were really gnarly and made me sweat buckets, even in rooms that were cold enough to hang meat.

And what about the following passage from the bible?

Before you were formed in the womb I knew you. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord Almighty.

~ Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)

To me this scripture makes it pretty clear the tGod does have a plan for my life. Was Merton disagreeing with scripture? As a monk I am certain he was familiar with this well known verse.

Maybe he means that since there is that of God in me that it’s like I am co-creating my plan but it freaks me out. What if I make the wrong choices and create the wrong thing? That bothers me.

The bible also tells us:

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

~ Psalm 139:13-16 (NIV)

I can see how we are co-creators in the sense that we have been given free will and can choose to follow God or not. We can choose to get to know, love, and make God first in our life or not. So in that sense, I suppose we could be creating the blueprint of our lives.

In Step 3, I choose to turn my life over to the God of my understanding:

3. Made a decision to turn our will and lives over to the care of God as we understood God.^[2]

So I am a co-creator in the sense that I choose to turn my life over. I have free will and can choose to hand Him the reigns or not. In Step 3, I handed Him the reigns and let Him have the driver’s seat.

But there is more. I choose to believe that God does have a plan for my life. If I remain in a constant state of prayer, listen for His guidance, and practice unreserved obedience to Him, I think I will be able to follow His blueprint for my life.

I am also a co-creator in that I have to choose to keep listening and doing what he wants me to do.

I think that is another place in my life where Step 11 comes in:

11: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out.^[3] 

I have to stop whatever it is that I’m doing, go sit in prayer and meditation every day, and spend time with Him. I need to spend time in scripture. Reading scripture helps me to learn more about God. The more I get to know Him, the more I will begin to listen and understand His plans for my life. In that sense, I am a co-creator.

Maybe there is a blueprint for how God wants my life to go, but if I indulge my stubbornness, selfishness, and self-will and let that take over and go my own way, then another, less ideal blueprint is created. Then I could goof it up.  That is a scary thought. Hopefully I won’t do that.

Okay, so maybe I won’t find a drawer with a map in it. But I’ve never been good at reading maps anyway, and even with my new GPS that my sister and brother-in-law so lovingly gave to me for Christmas one year, I am an expert in getting lost. So hopefully the map is really a spiritual blueprint that can be discerned through prayer, meditation, and the study of scripture.

I find great comfort, promise, faith, and hope in the scriptures. They have gotten me through many tough times. I believe they are the inspired word of God.

I also believe that God will provide for me everything that I need. He will fill the empty space inside of me. He will be my companion, savior, protector, friend, and deliverer. I don’t need anyone else. God is here. Juliet needs to keep her eyes on Christ and what He wants her to do.

What a revelation! Thank you, God!

And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding,

with knowledge and with all kinds of skills.

~ Exodus 31:3

I do believe God has a plan for me that was created before I even came down to this planet. That is what works for Juliet.

I have a positive affirmation that relates to this topic:

God has a plan for my life better than I could have orchestrated. I give my life to him and let go.

God has a plan for Juliet’s life. So whether it is a blueprint, map, diagram, or drawing, I will use the tools I have to seek it and follow God’s path. Nothing I ever do in this life could be more important.

^[1] Loring, Patricia. Listening Spirituality Volume II, Corporate Spiritual Practice among Friends. Openings Press, 1999.

^[2] Co-Dependents Anonymous. Co-Dependents Anonymous. Dallas, TX:  CoDA Resource Publishing, 2009, p. iv.

^[3] Ibid.