Sunday, April 29, 2012

A Broad Place


In A Broad Place: An Autobiography, trans. by Margaret Kohl (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008), Jurgen Moltmann writes:

Behind the life that has been lived there is always the wealth of possible life still unlived. The older one becomes, the more one senses this wealth. Whether we are young in years or are growing older, we are always standing on the threshold of our possibilities. Sometimes it takes a little longer to become young and to seize the possibilities with delight and love. But to do so is to feel as if newborn, and in this sense ‘young’ and full of hope. These are the challenges of the life that has not yet been lived. The possibilities really demand nothing, but are an invitation to go out of ourselves and to live out the fullness of life which is in us and round about. If one becomes older in terms of years, this can even help one to become younger, for one loses the fear for one’s self, and threats from outside cease to be threatening… (pp. 285-286).
I read a similar thought in his another book two years ago. At the time, his theological thinking did truly help me put life into perspective.  He helped me understand what it meant to move forward as if new possibilities were out there and moving toward me. Now when I read these words again, I realize that I am experiencing the actuality of the possibilities. I no longer anticipate, but actualize. From anticipation to actuality, it has been a long process. In the process, He has allowed me to experience His greatness and grace.
“You have set my feet in a broad place” (Ps. 31:8b).

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