Free Your Navel

by Linda Hagen

I have been enJOYing what seems to be the newness at New Life recently.  I find the teachings about being the blessing particularly refreshing.  Serving others goes a long way towards freeing the mind from the culture of navel gazing ad nausem, so popular today, especially in modern church culture.

Sunday a few weeks ago was an especially joyful day for me. That morning at church our own Alan Smith taught on the subject of being the blessing. That afternoon, I had the privilege of joining the choir at the First Presbyterian Church in Hickory to sing in a small concert,  "The Festival of Hymns."

The guest Director/Composer was from Indiana. Before the concert started, the he spent several minutes talking to the choir. He spoke eloquently about singing with the intention of blessing the audience.

I recognized many of his words and phrases as those I had just heard that morning at New Life.  Then, during the concert, two different speakers addressed the audience briefly with the same theme. One said "Who among you will be the blessing.?"

As the concert progressed. the Spirit of the Living God visited. I have heard Presbyterians refer to themselves as the "frozen chosen." But that afternoon, I saw some in the audience weep or break out in great big smiles. Each song ended with very enthusiastic, joyful clapping.  (Apparently very unusual for those frozen)

I myself had to lip synch some of the words, as the depth of the meaning touched me and I got all choked up. After the concert, I heard the singers say things like, " Did you feel that? I haven't experienced that sort of joy in the music for a long time."  Another said, "That was anointed! What a joyful afternoon!."

The next week at church, another of ours, Ray Abbott, told me about the word "INTENTION".  "When you sing", he said, "what is your intention?" Now I found this question to be very provocative. I thought of the Presbyterian concert. The choir's intention was just to bless the  people with the music, never expecting the response that that occurred, and look what happened!

Well, what if I my intention is to bless someone without the preconditions of my finite vision?  What if I learn to regard all encounters, all activities, all work, as opportunities to be the blessing.  What if I hand over the responsibility for the outcome to God?  What if I trust Him to do what's  best? Dare I step out in that kind of faith?

I think I could do this because I know that God is always working behind the scenes on behalf of us all. We ask- He answers. He has ordained this strange partnership between heaven and earth. I don't understand it, but I know it's real.

This frees me, my navel, and the one I intend to bless, from the burden of the expectation of God's response as prescribed by either one of us.. We are free from the restraints of feeling responsible for the outcome.

We watch God work.

What if I learn to pray for healing, or sing, or work, or befriend, or speak, with the intention of blessing and then trust God to do what is best in the life of that person. I pray with faith in God because He said to. He does that which I could not have known. I can step back and watch him work.

It's amazing as I practice operating with the intention to bless, how the peripheral clutter of

 my human  expectation falls away. Sometimes ,the things of earth grow strangely dim.

Often, a focused word comes from heaven, or there is a surprising turn of events.

The Creator of the universe at work. What a joyful adventure.