It feeds back into itself. Anxiety breeds anxiety. Uneasiness opens the door to more uneasiness. Worry hooks up with dread and makes little jittery babies. 

Circles are powerful. But not all-powerful. 

It is either an abdication of will, allowing oneself to be attracted by whatever or whoever is most powerfully magnetic in the moment. Or else it is an intentional bending of the will towards something or someone whose worthiness moves us, but does not force us. 

In our bedroom, the cat was playing with the cord dangling from our window blinds. I shooed her away by spraying her with a water bottle. She bolted out of the room, down the hall, past the bathroom where my son, at the very moment the cat passed, turned on the faucet. 

“Wow!” He exclaimed. “That was crazy! As soon as I turned the water on the cat came running!” 

Transcendence is always difficult to define. The more we try to clearly define it — with adjectives, in categories, reducing it to one’s and zeroes — the more we lose something essential. We may gain something, for sure. 

Language expands as much as it limits. 

I often tell myself, “I’m going to work hard today!” Translate that to, “I’m going to power through and end my day exhausted.” As if any of that is really satisfying at all. I’m already not looking forward to my work day. 

An abstract calling will only sustain you so long. A concrete calling will give you roots that can weather the storms of years of ministry. 

And in some cases that may be needed. It might just be the wisest next step.