MY BOOK: DIVINE PLACE OF BELONGING
Title: Divine Place of Belonging
Subtitle: Dancing on the Fringe of Believing There Is One
Motivation For The Book
I spend a considerable amount of time sitting across from individuals that are navigating their way through extremely challenging sets of circumstances; particularly in the tragic field of addiction. Over the years, I have become increasingly aware that underneath all of the complexities that people are so desperately trying to overcome—while it is important to pick up new tools and develop new skills that serve as an aid in trial—the deeper question still needs tending to; that is, who is it using the tool? Is it a spiritual orphan, or is it a loved son or daughter? And it seems to be that those that grew up in the church are not disqualified from these kinds of conversations either. There is nothing new about the message of love, sonship, and belonging, yet it seems to come across as revolutionary when the ear is ready hear. Helping someone bridge the chasm between their orphaned battles and an experienced position of sonship has been a gift like none other, and certainly, all the motivation that I have needed to “put it on paper.”
Purpose Of The Book
Looking forward, the purpose for the book would be, I hope, at minimum, an offering that serves the reader much like the wind would serve the faithful sailor as he forges forward toward the finish line. Perchance, in the same way God sent Ananias to pray for Saul, opening his eyes, filling his sails with the Spirit that would convince him of his sonship and divine place of belonging, the bolder hope is that these pages would partner with what the Father is doing in the lives of those that find this book in their hands.
Could it be, because of Him, that a Saul starts the book, but a Paul finishes it?
Reason For The Book
Looking back, there are several reasons that I could pull on as to what may have caused me to pen these pages. There are also very many reasons I could probably come up with as to why I should not. I took both seriously, and concluded, with the arrival of our first born, our son, Samuel, that God knew what He was doing when He commanded His people to continue to tell His story. We have a tendency to forget what it is that God has done, unless of course, if the stories are kept in the forefront of our endeavors. God’s victorious story is unfolding, and sharing what it is that He has done in our generation serves the generations that will follow, greatly.
In short, God’s desire for my son to know God’s story in our family is the reason.
“In general, weaving involves using a loom to interlace two sets of threads: the warp which runs longitudinally and weft that crosses it. Weft is an Old English word meaning, “that which is woven.”
Outline Of The Book
Part 1: The Warp
Chapter 1:Truly Great
A short story that took place in a middle-class living room of a friend. She found herself deeply confronted as she courageously considered the question: Upon what do we flippantly bestow description such as great, and with that, upon whom then, do these descriptions belong? What seemed to be a divine walk through our thoughts as we negotiated our way through the conversation, it was no walk in the park. What was at stake was an adolescent boys place of belonging.
Chapter 2: A Room at the Inn
This chapter is a storied discharge of a life that battled on because of a vital misunderstanding around strength and weakness. It unpacks how our tribulations feverishly strive on in our refusal to hoist our white flags of surrender because deception has said that surrender translates to weakness. It highlights also how we have been deceived enough to believe that weakness has no place in victory. The main theme is named and properly introduced in this chapter.
Chapter 3: From the inside Out
"From the Inside Out" discusses the power of storytelling, drawing parallels between fiction and real life. It emphasizes that stories, whether fiction or non-fiction, serve as a medium to convey deep-seated ideas and truths. The narrative delves into the concept of the battle between good and evil, both externally and within individuals, highlighting the universal struggle between darkness and light, and the yearning for a "happily ever after." It uses the example of "Beauty and the Beast" to illustrate how selfless love and acceptance can transform a person from inside out, challenging the notion of spiritual orphanhood and emphasizing the idea of being loved and belonging unconditionally.
Chapter 4: Curious Hope
This chapter reveals to the reader the field in which many of the statements made in the book were exercised, observed, deliberated on, and certainly experienced. The chapter is primarily to give experiential context to some of the underlying truths of the book that a believer in Christ would hold onto tightly. However, the field being addiction and more specifically the opioid crisis, and being so close to it, I deeply consider what it is I behold, and what best reflects that, and invite readers into considering that for themselves.
Chapter 5: Well-Informed
Being well-informed as this chapter suggests, could almost have been an extended curation of chapter 4. It does make a turn, though, and so for the sake of the reader and highlighting what seems to be a sensitive topic in the church today, it seemed better to give this portion of the text its own title. While the tools we use to navigate well through life are necessary to attain, this chapter echoes again the question: Who is it using the tool? A spiritual orphan or a loved son or daughter? In addition to that, two main themes in this chapter are religion and spirituality, and offers, for one, a clear and concise definition of spirituality, and secondly, contrary to what many might suggest, perhaps there need not be so much hostility between spiritualty and religion.
Chapter 6: Wisdom Has Her Reasons
Drawing from an ancient story that primarily puts on display for us the necessity of Godly wisdom, in this chapter it exposes the lengths to which the world will go to remove a child from his or hers rightful place of belonging. The chapter begins with gripping imagery and walks the reader through an age-old debacle that we experience still today. This chapter presents a fascinating parallel between a wise king and his sword, the Great King and His Spirit, and a battle that results in beloved sonship in a secure place of belonging, or spiritual orphanhood.
Part 2: The Weft
Chapter 7: Sealing the End of Our Braided Lines
As the book enters into the second part of the offering, I briefly summarize the core ideas already laid out and offer a framework for its landing platform. In this chapter we learn that love is paramount and I offer the reader a provocative statement about loving God that would hopefully entice the reader to “take stock” before moving on to the final two chapters.
Chapter 8: But Would You?
A telling of a true and painful, yet stunning and beautiful period in time of two seemingly different men as they discover the unrelenting love of the Father. The chapter would have the men find out that perhaps they were not so different after all. I write about this shift from spiritual orphanhood to sonship in a storied way and hope to invite readers into something greater than themselves.
Chapter 9: Welcome Home
The final chapter endeavours to add clarity to the title “divine place of belonging.” This chapter also recognizes that not everyone has landed in the womb under favourable circumstances; however, God Immanuel still rings true in the womb even before first light outside of the womb; and that means something for us and the way we live today. The chapter will close with the aged message that we have never seized to be loved, have never seized to have a divine place, of divine belonging, and that we have never seized to have Jesus, the One Who came to reconcile us back into both.
