WHAT'S NEXT, PAPA?
May 26 Entry
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. (Romans 8:15-16, The Message)
Our time in Korea is drawing to an end, as we have less than a week to go. While there is still room for more adventure and surprises, there has been enough adrenaline from the adventure and the surprises we have experienced. We came to Korea by asking, “What’s next, Papa?” We knew our “next” would involve Korea and/or Koreans somehow. As we leave Korea, we are asking the same question. But the “next” is not the vague amorphous kind; instead, it is sharper and is filled with specific expectancy. As expected, our Papa is not giving us one choice meal to either take it or leave it. Instead, our Papa is dropping hints and possibilities almost like the meals we had in Namhae with 20 some dishes to enjoy.
As I ask, “What’s next, Papa?” I picture Papa replying with a question and a warm smile, “What do you want?” Papa is not giving us one thing to do or a marching order of some kind but is giving us options like a buffet spread before us. Papa asking us the question, “What do you want?” sounds so much like a good, loving, and caring Papa. I love this Papa!
From this time in Korea, I have grown to greet God with a childlike greeting. A month-long stay at Yangpyeong and the time outside of Seoul definitely helped as we soaked ourselves in nature, which is God’s gift to us, and submersed ourselves in less busy contexts. With the people we encountered, we were able to see eye to eye long enough to notice and affirm the depth of each other’s souls. We were also able to linger without the pressure of time and gaze in the same direction as if we were dreaming the same dream. During our time in Korea, several people back home (in the US) told us that things are happening around us without us striving. Not to discount the notion of striving at all, I want to embrace and learn more about how to ask Papa, “What’s next, Papa?” The childlike asking stands in direct contrast to striving, it seems.
Apostle Paul answers and connects the dots between two of life’s most foundational questions: “Who is God?” and “Who are we or who am I?” Paul explains the basis of a childlike greeting to Papa: we know who we are, and we know who Papa is. This foundational awareness orders all (I mean, all) of life’s existence. Out of which comes the question, “What’s next, Papa?” The question loses its significance and power without the understanding of the existential awareness. Only then, striving or performing is no more. Striving is what Peterson calls, “grave-tending life,” or “the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear” (ESV).
A couple of childlike qualities I have further embraced are simplicity and curiosity. Children know abundance from simplicity. I have experienced the depth and beauty of such simplicity. In simplicity, there is profound abundance. Life suddenly is not about more and more but being fully immersed in the little of what is in front of me. I do not have to have an exquisite buffet spread out in front of me, but one sweet potato will do. I do not have to have my calendar filled up with successive important and impressive appointments, but one schedule with one person will do. I do not have to see many attractions or do many activities, but one hike to a mountain right behind our place will do.
Children possess endless curiosity coupled with adventurous expectancy and know what they want and do not want. There is far less filtering in voicing their desires and indifferences. I think I know what I want or do not want with the kind of assuring confidence that children possess. I do not want to subject myself to institutions, particularly institutional Christianity. I do not want to own a home. I do not want to be in US long-term. I want to write. I want to speak and communicate and share what I have been learning. I want to see the world. I want to relocate to Korea. I want to position myself on the edge of the inside. I want to be of help to people in Korea to deconstruct and reconstruct their faith. My writing came out of pursuing curiosity. As I followed, the conviction to write regularly and continually came gradually. Curiosity then turned into a desire.
Peterson’s sentence is reassuring to my soul. “God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are.” I love the choice of the word, confirms, which means to bear witness with or to testify unto. The work of the Spirit is to confirm who we really are, who we already are. If there is rebuke, correction, teaching, or guidance of the Spirit, it is to confirm so we can know and live like we are the children of God. With this confirmation and assurance, our asking of “What’s next, Papa?” is filled with adventurous expectancy.