This week.

Last week, while eating lunch with some of you at UAB, I mentioned how often I wished I could just cut my phone off.  We all get tired of what feels like constant demands to perform or accomplish something to show we matter and that we’re capable and successful.  Our world is filled with demands, people wanting something and wanting it now.  We’re all stressed by the feeling that we have to be our best self, correct, right, and confident in each and every moment.  We’re afraid one false step, one mistake, will ruin everything…forever.  The prophet Jeremiah writes a letter to reassure Israel that God cares for them, even though the demands of a new life far away from the familiar seem overwhelming.  Not all messages, it seems, just ask more from us; the right ones, from the right people, invite us to find meaning and purpose in our lives where we are, with new eyes.

Some students I meet feel that leaving campus to come to Trinity Commons is hard if they don’t know anyone, or don’t know what to wear, or are afraid of saying something, anything, wrong.  We encourage you to come join us, especially if you don’t know anyone, because you’ll be encouraged by the people you meet, and the conversations you end up having.  You don’t have to wear anything specific, just be who you are and trust God.

God doesn’t demand you be perfect, and no one at Trinity Commons does either.  But we do want to see you, when you can make it, when you decide you’re tired of having so many demands or feel the need to prove something.  May this week be an opportunity for you to hear the voice of God reassuring you to take some risks by seeing your life differently, to let go of the demands you face, and to embrace abundant life where you are.

–Thomas