Today’s post falls on Epiphany, and that makes today a good day to call on our ancestors and descendants for help with our vocations. Looking back and looking forward is a good way to tune into the present moment. To help us we have another installment of my extended conversation with author, speaker and good-trouble-maker, Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow. Read and listen to our earlier conversations here.
In this Epiphany episode, I ask Bruce about the idea of “choosing faith.” The phrase is part of his newest book title. Everything Good about God is True: Choosing Faith (Broadleaf, 2024) is available wherever books are sold.
Specifically I asked Bruce to tell us about how “choosing faith” changed over time for him. He sees choosing faith and leaning into one’s vocation as intertwined.
How is “choosing faith” the same and different compared to earlier parts of your life? How are choosing faith and choosing vocation related?
Find out what Bruce says about choosing faith and how it is related to his ancestors and descendants.
Two Invitations for Epiphany
My conversation with Bruce prompts two invitations to you, dear reader. In this Epiphany moment, a time of revealing, I want to prompt you to explore two invitations related to your faith and your calling.
Ask yourself:
With ancestors and descendants in mind, what does God intend for me in this moment? Who has prompted me with a new calling?
Invitation #1
Thinking back to those who have gone before you, how do they invite you to faith and vocation now?
A mutual friend of mine and Bruce’s, Sandhya Ja, author of Rebels, Despots, and Saints, offers wisdom about understanding our ancestors. The ancestors can be biological, adopted, theological, or spiritual. The influence or connection to your life can be positive or negative. Their actions may inspire and invite you. They may call on you to help heal the harms they felt. Or your relationship to ancestors may itself need healing. This is a dynamic relationship.
Freewrite to get in touch with how your ancestors are calling you. Ask yourself:
How God is putting an invitation or calling in front of me through the presence of my ancestors?
Invitation #2
Thinking ahead to the generations yet to come, as many as seven generations down, how do your descendants need you to live and work now?
Remember, descendants can also be biological, adopted, theological, or spiritual. You can write a letter to your descendants or imagine, as Bruce did, how they might write a letter of thanks to you.
Read Bruce Reyes-Chow’s August 20, 2024 post “A Letter from My Great-great-great-great-grandchild, Cruz” on his substack, The Amalgamation:
One of our exercises was to write a letter to ourselves from a descendant seven generations down the road, roughly 150 years. We were invited to write as if our work made a difference. This exercise was meant to remind us that what we were striving for in the world could happen and to trust and believe that all things are possible. In a day and age when people are so driven and stifled by fear, political expediency, and a lack of liberative imagination, I found this exercise profound and inspiring!
Let your letter answer the following question:
How God is putting an invitation or calling in front of me within my vision and imagination of my future descendants?
Blessing and peace this Epiphany
I wish you blessings and peace in the year ahead. I pray for you blessings and peace as you remember and honor your ancestors. And I hope for you blessings and peace as you imagine your descendants.
