TEN WORDS TO GUIDE YOUR LIFE

Ten words, underlined in the bibles of many people young and old, represent an entire life's journey.

These ten words negate the need for any self-help book to see you through pregnancy, toddlerhood, midlife, retirement. So set aside: What to expect when you are expecting, Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care, Barron’s Test Prep and College Rankings, What color is your parachute?, Passages, Crazy Time and The Idiot’s Guide to Retirement. These ten words will save you from purchasing hundreds of books.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Ten words.
A life journey.

These ten words take us through every single developmental stage.

I – “I” describes the first baby glimpse – that miraculous life knit together in the mother’s womb.

I can – “I can” is the toddler’s first steps, first words, first leaps.

I can do – “I can do” is all of the things we celebrate about the youth in our community -creative, dramatic, athletic, faithful, smart, leaders, jugglers, dancers. We love seeing what you do.

I can do all – “I can do all” reminds us of our idealistic young adult days. All things were possible. A world wide open. No constraints. A future to live into.

I can do all things – “I can do all things” takes us to those moments when life becomes routine. Things are marked by the weekly trash take-out, taxes each April, take out food on soccer nights. Things can overwhelm.

I can do all things through – “I can do all things through” reminds us of the resilience through which we get through the tough parts of life. With thanks to friends and the faith community and the formation of prayer.

I can do all things through Christ – “I can do all things through Christ” gives us the strength that we are never alone. Christ, companion, savior, redeemer, friend, nourisher, healer and teacher is with us to the very end.

I can do all things through Christ who – Of course there are moments when we question WHO is this Christ? This resurrected one who calls me by name? Who is he, and who is he calling me to be?

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens – Strengthens, allows us to look back on a life’s journey and see the saving grace of Christ along the way who brought strength to sustain all things. This is the down in your bones faith – deeply engrained.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And finally, the ten words come full circle – back to me. Our identity is made complete from womb to grave by the presence of Christ who continually saves. This isn't a 'selfish' me, but a fully 'me' made whole through the saving grace of Christ Jesus.

Ten words, a life’s journey.

In confirmation class this year, we have been thinking about the strength Christ provides. And we have been considering a phrase from the Psalmist that ‘deep calls to deep’. In those words we hear the cry of a human deeply in need, calling out for the deep and sustaining grace of God.

In each of those ten stages of life represented in “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We hear a deep cry of human life calling out for the deep things of God.

The call of the church is to come alongside every stage in this life’s journey to offer scripture, sacrament, service and the possibility for being a good steward of the blessings and challenges of this particular moment in life.

Even though these ten words are most likely marked in your Bible, I’d invite you to consider several ways of praying through these words from Philippians 4:13.

First, you might use the words as a breath prayer –
Inhale: I can do all things
Exhale: through Christ who strengthens me.
Swimming laps. Earth day 5 K. Indian soccer runs. Doing dishes. Making choices.

Second, you might build on these words one by one – until you find the place where you find yourself that day.
For example, you might start by saying one word at a time:
I, can, do, all, things…
Until you find the word that resonates where you are today.
Things? Exams. Homework. Driving duties. Community involvements.

Third, visualize the cross as a prayer.
Horizontal line – I can do all things
Vertical line – through Christ who strengthens me
At the intersection of those two lines is the place where God is at work in your life today.

Breath prayer. Word building prayer. Praying through the cross. Ten words, a life’s journey.

Mark them in the margin of your Bible. Come back to them through every development of your life's journey and find anew the strength that Christ offers.