It's Time To Be A Blessing In Action.
Beyond the Head...
Karl Rahner famously said, “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or [they] will not exist at all.” But I don’t believe Rahner was saying they would be just a mystic. Mysticism has brought us to new and healthy ways to understand God. But I think even Rahner knew the Christian of the future would need to go beyond that…
11 years ago (as of this article), I began posting on Instagram. At first it was prayers as response to daily readings as The Modern Monk. Then, as my thinking and theology deconstructed and reconstructed, Monk in Docs was born. Every day for just over four years, I’ve posted about shifts in how we see and understand God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Scripture, how we do Church, and (probably most importantly) what this might look like when we move beyond the head, through the heart and into the hands and feet.
This last thought (moving beyond the head, through the heart and into the hands a feet) has been a point of personal struggle over the past 9 months or so. It became a point of long contemplation and lengthy sabbaticals from posting to sit with. I kept sitting with the questions:
What does practicing what I have been write about for the past four years actually look like?
and
What can I do so that what has been formed and shaped within me can make a difference outside of me?
I realised that these are questions for all of us; questions that many who had been taking a similar journey to me were pondering. It became pretty obvious why.
…Through the Heart…
We are designed to be vessels of God’s blessings, channels through which God’s love flows into the world. Like water that constantly moves, God's grace is meant to flow through us—bringing life, healing, and renewal to everyone it touches. But what happens when water no longer moves? It becomes stagnant. Cut off from its source of movement, it grows stale and begins to stink, losing its purity and vitality.
In the same way, when we withhold the blessings God has poured into our lives—our love, our service, our kindness—those gifts grow stagnant within us. We become spiritually still, cut off from the vibrant life that comes from sharing the grace we've received. We were never meant to be reservoirs that hoard what God has given us; we are meant to be conduits through which those blessings flow freely, refreshing others and renewing the world around us.
…and Into the Hands and Feet.
Just as fresh water must move to stay pure, God's blessings are most alive when they are passed on. The act of loving service, of giving generously, of showing compassion—these are ways we keep the living water of God's grace flowing through us. And in this movement, we encounter the very heart of God, becoming more deeply connected to Him as we let His love move through our lives.
So the challenge is this: where is God calling you to let His blessings flow? Is there an area of your life where you have held back, out of fear, doubt, or complacency?
What Blessing In Action is about.
What will be gathered here in word and audio (and maybe video too) are personal thoughts and practical tools on steps one can take to release those blessings, to let them move into action. The greatest struggle isn’t knowing that we have to do this, or even wanting to; but to figure out the where and the how. I’ll be sharing my personal journey via the work I am launching into, as well as passing on teaching and resources that shape both the philosophy and the action , the being and the doing.
What I’ve realised is that once we recognise the being and the doing, the rest seems to naturally come together. Whether it’s offering a hand to someone in need, speaking a word of encouragement, or taking a stand for justice, we simply let God's love flow through us. As you do, you’ll find that the more you give, the more your own life is refreshed, alive with the movement of grace.
You become a Blessing in Action.
I pray our little community that gathers here will find ways to make a difference in big and small ways all over the world. This space will also serve as a hub for those who are following and supporting my own work as a blessing in action through various projects.
I hope you will subscribe so you won’t miss anything that might help and inspire you to be a blessing in action where you are in your own life. There will be content and resources here that you will not find on any of my other channels. Note also that if you choose a paid subscription, all proceeds will be going directly into the work I will be doing among the Karen people of Burma. (More about that soon).
I am incredibly excited about what seems to be happening via Blessing In Action, both as a movement of “contemplatives in action”, and as a foundation for the projects I am working on. If there is any way I can support and serve you through this work, don’t hesitate to drop me a line.
And may Grace, Peace, and Love go with us every step of the way.
MG