A Message from our Director

On Becoming…

The seed is a symbol for growth, reflecting how life is a process of continual maturation physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Like the parable of the mustard seed presented in Matthew 13:31-32, growth is a dynamic process that promises the smallest seed can grow into something great and strong. However, this growth can only be fully realized when we understand that it is belief in God and action on the promises of His Word that produces the fruit of our lives. Fruit that manifests itself in our becoming all that God Himself has designed us to be.

The process of becoming in no way implies the journey is easy. However, what is important to understand in life is that it is the becoming that counts, not the things we achieve, the roles we fill, or the things we accumulate. Instead, becoming is giving ourselves to be molded into the person we are designed to be, a unique, irreplaceable conduit of God’s love to a hurting world.

This process of becoming requires we grasp the fundamental truth that growing into the fullness of our potential is not something dependent on the circumstances occurring around us, but requires we continually pursue growth within us. It requires a willingness to look past the circumstances of the present and believe in a future we cannot yet see, but can trust to our loving God. In essence, becoming is about growing into our authentic self, a self never satisfied with simply fulfilling the expectations others have for us, but living a life committed to finding the greatness that is uniquely ours.

Today, you have a choice. Will you, created in the image of a personal, merciful, and loving God, allow him to continue the good work he started in you? Will you choose to trust the God that is the magnet of your soul, the call of your heart, and the source of your strength? Will you allow him to manifest the promise of a transformed world through the example of your life? Clearly, no one can make this choice for you, for such a decision must be grounded in the belief that placing our trust in God can do nothing to change the past, but everything to change the future. A wonderful future we have all been called to help shape.

In closing, Thomas Merton reminds us in his work, Seeds of Contemplation, that, “A tree gives glory to God first of all by being a tree. This particular tree will give glory to God by spreading out its roots in the earth and raising its branches into the air and the light in a way no other tree before it or after it ever did or ever will do.” Hence, irregardless of whether we are a flower, a bush, a tree, or a vine, what’s important to realize is that living a life of authenticity means we willingly share with others God’s gifts of faith, hope, and love. This starts by making ourselves available to his call wherever we are, however we must, so that Jesus who lives in us may continue to live through us. This is the purpose of becoming. And it starts…one seed at a time.

John Michel