Tag: Dawn Linton

  • Travel Light

    Travel Light

    The unfortunate art of perfectionism began in my heart as a child. I never liked making mistakes. And, although the sensitive heart of a child to wrongdoing is a good thing, lingering guilt sucked me into continued silent confessions. On the flip side, chapel sermons taught me that penance had already been paid. It’s part of the radical story of God—that the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience lead us to repentance. (Romans 2:4). Nonetheless, after confessing my sins, I often remained a guilt-carrier.

    “Please forgive me for…” And then, came God’s gentle response: If I thought you could have gotten it right all of the time, I wouldn’t have had to send my Son to die. His tender words put a “knowing” within my heart, and a hike near the town of Westport in Ireland (see photo) illustrated it.

    As I descended the mountain path (see video) of Craugh Patrick, I passed a man beginning his upward trek barefoot, as a physical act of penance. The difficulty of the steep, rocky path had required me to use hiking poles and strong boots for every difficult step. Where would I be if God required me to do penance for my offenses against Him? Physically, I’d still be on that trail. Spiritually, I’d be living a dull and defeated Christian life.

    But God paid a great price to take the penance out of repentance so I can travel light. This humbles me and gives me confidence to trust as I anticipate every next threshold with Him.

    The Treasure: “A life fully surrendered to God, has nothing to fear, nothing to lose, nothing to regret.” (Pandita Rumabai, India)

    If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

    This is the trail up Craugh Patrick in Ireland. The rocky trail came all the way from where the water is. It’s been a rough journey up—lots of rocks as you can see in front of me. And the important thing has been to take one step at a time as you come up. It occurs to me that in the new seasons of life when we cross thresholds into new places, sometimes the way across the threshold is really hard. It means something has happened that’s been painful, or it means something is taking a lot of emotional or physical or spiritual work. But, when we take one step at a time with God, it’s worth it because we come to new places. And we come to beautiful vistas when we stop and look back at what has been and where we have come from. But it’s not an easy trek. Pandita Rumabai of India once said, “A life fully surrendered to God has nothing to fear, nothing to lose, nothing to regret.” So, as you go into new seasons and as I step over thresholds into new seasons, it takes courage—it takes somebody bigger than us—it takes God to help us through. May we take one step at a time, not hurry the process, and know that it’s all part of a big story arc that God is accomplishing in us.

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  • The Hill of Slane

    The Hill of Slane

    I like quiet places. That’s why I said “yes” to a faith pilgrimage and crossed a threshold into the back countryside of Ireland. Celtic readings, reflection questions, and Scripture reminded us we were more than tourists; we were pilgrims.1

    Saint Patrick knew about crossing thresholds. Irish raiders had kidnapped the sixteen-year-old from Britain and sold him as a slave-shepherd. Seven years later he escaped, returned home, studied for his ordination, and returned to Ireland as their first missionary. On a place called Slane Hill, Patrick made a powerful and dangerous declaration that freed many to worship God.2

    Patrick’s courage on Slane Hill can inspire us to take treasures from the impossible parts of our stories, put words to them, and speak freedom into the lives of others.

    Our pilgrimage took us to Slane Hill. Sitting on the ruins of the Franciscan church and monastery (above photo) reminded me of the brevity of life and opened my heart to a world of opportunity. I felt joy on the Irish side of my threshold—great joy. But, as you know, joy and sorrow can be. close companions. They are for me, as I mark Steve’s departure from this life three years ago.

    Solitude in Irish beauty reminded me that the “ruins” of sorrow can be sacred if we honor them. We need not fear our tears. In time they can add vibrancy to our next burst of joy. Feel the winds of Ireland (in video) as you ponder your next threshold.

    1. Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press), 2000, 22.
    2. https://www.discoverboynevalley.ie/boyne-valley-drive/heritage-sites/hill-slane-coming-christianity

    The Treasure: When our strength is in God and our hearts are set on pilgrimage, valleys of weeping can become springs of replenishment for us and others (Psalm 84:5).

    If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

    In some ways I have stepped beyond a threshold. I’ve stepped beyond the fence, left Pilgrim at home. She has waved good-bye. I’m still a big part of her and she’s a part of me. But she’s not where I get my security; she’s not the main story. God has helped me move through a threshold, to step into a new season beyond deep sorrow and into new life and new joy. Sorrow will be a part of it.

    I am on the outskirts of Dublin at a place called, Slane Hill, where St. Patrick came to be missionary to the country where he was once a slave. I am really intrigued by his courage and by the power of God that happened as a result of his courage in the lives of many people. So thresholds are something we step over—step through a door—step into a new season of life. And the thing about thresholds is that sometimes you can never go back because you’ve changed; you’re different from the person you were once before. These are beautiful countryside places—quiet—to come away from the contamination of thoughts that can be so distracting. We’ll be talking more about thresholds in the future.

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  • We Need Each Other

    We Need Each Other

    Pilgrim, the teardrop camper rests within the fence during most hot summer days, but last week was a great time to take her to the dealer for some repair. The Road Trip Camping parking lot, loaded with campers, reminded me that, although we are not made in the form of a teardrop camper, our personal teardrops help form us with wisdom and understanding to comfort and encourage one another. Where would we be without supportive people in our lives? Bio families, growing families of faith, and even strangers (angels unaware?) can help ease our journey. They:

    • Celebrate with us in good times
    • Companion us in times of loss
    • Offer wisdom for complex moments
    • Warn us of blind spots
    • Pray with us for supernatural vision
    • Laugh with us in times of play
    • Support us in times of tragedy
    • Worship with us and point to God

    When we companion pilgrims “beyond the fence” after fear and loss, we are able to comfort them “with the comfort we ourselves receive from God (2 Corinthians 1:4).”

    Pilgrim the camper has provided a sense of comfort for me. But today, even Pilgrim is learning the value of relationship with others (see video).

    The Treasure: Teardrops shared with “brothers and sisters” can ease the journey along our pilgrimage in this world.

    If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

    Pilgrim and I have come out from behind the fence. We are actually in Orange, Virginia at the dealer. We’ve come here, two and a half hours away; we’re at the dealer because… actually, Pilgrim is broken. She needs a new air conditioner, so she’s come here to get some help. Actually she’s kind of happy; she’s been alone for a long time behind the fence and sometimes we go out to campgrounds. But she’s found that she has brothers and sisters here—other campers.

    A lot them are different. Some of them are smaller; some of them are larger. They all do something kind of similar but their different. This one’s really small. You can probably only sleep in this one. And then there are some that are a little bigger. This one is similar size, but then there’s a 400 right here that’s a little bit bigger and is capable of holding more people and more things.

    But what occurs to me is that, as pilgrims in this life we all need brothers and sisters. We need people different from us—people who are sometimes more capable and some areas and sometimes they need our capabilities and our gifts to minister to them. But it’s so important to uh, just be so open to relationship and not stay behind the fence and isolate and be alone all the time. So, I’m going to leave Pilgrim here for a week or so and she can have some good socialization and some repair, and uh when I need repair, I’m glad that I can call on you and we can call on each other. It’s nice to be in relationship with all of you.

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  • After the Storm (Hidden Beauty Part 2)

    After the Storm (Hidden Beauty Part 2)

    The flurry of snow scenes in the last couple of blogs reveals my love of winter. I last blogged from a mountain trail in a white-out storm in Colorado.

    I returned to that trail one year later (see video) and paused in the silence. Its beauty reminded me of St. Augustine’s writing on how nature points to God. Check out this passage of his from the Confessions:

    I asked the earth, and it answered. “I am not He.” … I asked the sea and the deeps and the creeping things, and they answered, “We are not your God, seek higher.” I asked the winds that blow, and the whole air with all that is in it answered, “I am not God.” I asked the heavens and the sun, the moon, the stars, and they answered, “Neither are we God whom you seek.” And I said to all the things and the throng about the gateways of the senses: “Tell me of my God since you are not He. Tell me something about Him.” And they cried out in a great voice: “He made us.”

    The Treasure:
    Creation is God’s craftsmanship on display for us to enjoy. It invites us to ponder His majesty and give Him our hearts.

    If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

    One year ago this month I was standing in this exact place on Morning Star Trail in snowshoes. If you remember it was a blizzard, and I said how things can look gray all around us—but that there’s beauty if we were to see beyond the gray of the storm. I just wanted to show you what it looks like on a beautiful, blue-sky day in the middle of the Aspen trees at 9,600 feet elevation with snowcapped mountains all around. So, a whole year has gone by, and maybe one year ago you were in the gray in a storm and hopefully you’ve come to some new beginnings this year. I know I have and I’m very grateful to have some of that trek up the path behind me and to be able to look out over beauty. We can’t be in the beauty all of the time, but when we are, it sure is nice to enjoy every moment of it.

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  • Hidden Beauty

    Hidden Beauty

    I wish I could go back and talk to the woman who said, “I feel guilty because I doubt God.” Would I give her ten top reasons to trust God when she can’t see to take her next step? Although there are many more than ten, that wouldn’t be my first response.

    I think I’d say, “I doubt too.”

    I’d tell her about the time a white-out storm blocked my view and how scared I was to put one step in front of the other. I’d tell her how, in time, the storm became the catalyst that helped me deal with my doubt.

    My ninety-six-year-old grandfather, Harry the Ancient, once told me, “The first hundred years are the hardest.” He lingered with me in that reality before giving me the second half of ancient wisdom, “But God is good and can be fully trusted with your life.”

    My grandfather’s words began to awaken me from spiritual amnesia to see the evidence of God and to begin shifting from doubt, into a posture of trust.

    Someday I will thank that woman for her honesty. Her words gave me a visual—God embracing her with His left arm and opening His right palm for her to deposit all of her doubt—and the guilt that went with it. What a beautiful picture.

    This reminds me of a snowshoe trail my friend and I hiked in a white-out storm on a mountain in Colorado (see video below). There was no color that day—only gray. But when I returned to that trail one year later the pristine view took my breath away. In the white-out days of life, there is always more going on than we can see as we shift from doubt to trust.

    The Treasure: “Honest doubt sends us on a quest for what is true and real, for that which we cannot only give intellectual assent, but can entrust our very lives to.”
    (from Your God is Too Safe, by Mark Buchanan)

    If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

    Hey! I’m out here in the cold weather on Morning Star Snowshoe Trail in Colorado. You’ll notice behind me maybe some skiers coming down…and then there’s this snow shoe trail. The thing that occurs to me today is – sometimes life can look all gray. Actually, if we could see—if it were clear, there’s an amazing beauty all around us up here. But it’s so gray, all we can see is the snow, the trees near us, and just a little bit in front of us. And that’s the way it is in life. Sometimes we plod along with one foot in front of the other on snow shoes, and sometimes we can be like skiers that are coming down—whisking down knowing exactly where they’re going. So wherever we are in our lives—whether we’re plodding along one step at a time, or whether we’re whisking along knowing exactly where we’re going, it’s worth it to walk every step with God. See you next time.

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  • Dog Sled Ride

    Dog Sled Ride

    You’ll remember from “A New Dawn” website, that my teardrop camper named Pilgrim is the inspiration for a “Treasures from the Teardrop” blog series. Pilgrim represents courage to go beyond the fence when fear and loss threaten to shrink our lives. This is my first one-minute video. You’ll see I have a lot to learn about technology, but I take joy in letting imperfection accompany me into sacred beginnings.

    The setting of this video is Winter, 2023. Pilgrim remains within the fence, warmed by the Virginia sun. But I have ventured West to the Colorado Rockies in the thick of ice and snow with four new friends. Within a short time I realize how their fun-living spirits, their faith, and their wisdom will add exponential meaning to this adventure. Each one of us pulls loads of one kind or another back home. But, for one week in this winter wonderland, we get to share life and pull our loads together.

    The Treasure: Walk with seasoned friends in the challenges of life.

    If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:

    Hey, so we’re in the mountains of Colorado on a dogsled ride. Each dog is paired up with a seasoned partner. And so in life, it’s good for us to be paired up with someone who’s seasoned who can walk beside us through the challenges of life.

    It started out at ten degrees this morning; I think it’s going to warm up a little bit. These dogs are awesome; they feed eighty dogs, one hundred pounds of dog food per day. Beautiful. Strong. When they’re still, they’re barking like crazy; when they’re working, they’re silent.

    Beautiful terrain here. The dog’s names are Cocoa, Merlin, Smarty Pants, and who knows what else? It’s worth repeating: Just like each pair of dogs, it’s good for us to walk with a seasoned person who can help us along the path of life.

    See ya next time.

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