Scripture: 1 Corinthians 7:17
Nevertheless, clinic each of you should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to you, clinic just as God has called you.

Thought for the Day: As I approached the shadows, one of them turned to me and said, “There you are. Come and join us.” As my eyes adjusted to the sudden and intensely bright light, I saw the shadows take form. There were beings from many places joined together, some who looked very strange to me. Men, women, and children (or what appeared to be men, women and children) were all gathered in this clearing. They were laughing, singing, talking, and debating. Sensing my trepidation, a few other beings came to greet me and invite me to what I could now see was an enormous feast. But how did all these creatures get here? Certainly they were not from my village, or from any village I knew. Many wore strange clothing and spoke in foreign languages. Many looked like no human I had ever encountered. “What is this place?” I asked.

A slender gentleman, dressed in what looked like the robes of a cleric, came to me. He took my hand, and all the shrapnel in my soul, all the splinters in my body fell away painlessly. “We have all been called to this place,” he said. I asked again where I was. The cleric replied, “This place is nowhere and everywhere. It is real and it is imagined. It is the beginning and the conclusion. It is what the world is and what it might become. This is a place of infinite possibilities, where all probabilities form in a moment of singularity. Here we are One but many.”

He led me to the feast with all the others, and I saw the most amazing sight: people who looked much like I, and other beings I could only have imagined or read about. In that moment I understood that somehow, each of us represented more than what we seemed. This was a gathering of beings from places beyond places. As I listened to everyone’s stories, I realized we had all been led to this moment through trials drawn from our own deep and dark fears. We were called to this feast of understanding to be refreshed and renewed, our task in the world now changed and illuminated forever.

Eventually, we parted ways, each of us tasked with returning to our homes to spread the news that we, though many, are actually One—loved into being, and sent home to teach others about our singular, transcendent existence.

Prayer: Renew my spirit and refresh my soul, God who is constantly calling me to new experiences. Work through my life that the world might realize a greater sense of connection and purpose. Amen.