"Canoeing the Mountains"

 
They say that “the church” today
is like the Lewis & Clark expedition –
charting new territory,
exploring the ashes & ruins of Christendom,
finding a new route to the Great Commission…
it’s supposed to be inspiring.

Problem is, we’re not explorers at heart;
there’s not enough curiosity
and we never volunteered for this journey.
We thought we had already arrived.
Knew our map inside & out;
so convinced of its righteousness
we just slapped it onto the turtle’s back
without stopping to look
at the beauty of its shell.
Dug in our heels
and built our empire
(a place to be comfortable as we wait to be delivered)
…as near to perfection as a tower to heaven.

We never meant to walk off the map.
It just slipped out from under us
while we were busy navel-gazing,
leaving us in unfamiliar space,
and those who won’t use their imaginations
see it as formless and empty.
They cling to strings of certainty,
believing this will save them.

They tell us that, like Lewis & Clark,
we need different tools –
trade out our paddles for hiking boots;
but those are just different ways of doing the same job.

I’d like to humbly suggest
that the only tool we need
is a whole lot more
doubt.