In his book, ‘God of Surprises’, Jesuit priest Gerard W. Hughes writes that although so many Christians claim their utmost desire is for true intimacy with God, very few of us actually mean it. He likens the situation to an individual who is running toward the edge of a precipice and plans to launch out off the edge of known ‘terra firma’ in order to free-fall into God’s loving embrace and care. It’s as the individual approaches the precipice that fear begins to well up within as the realisation slowly emerges what truly giving up control will look like - free fall. So, Hughes makes the point that very few of us actually move forward with God in true intimacy when we’re presented with the opportunity. Despite all of our proclamations we turn from the edge of the unknown where true trust would replace measured security.

This is where an Anam Cara or Soul Friend is needed to help us release more and more of ourselves to God through intentional reflection on His nature and activity as shown in Scripture and our own experience. This is the vital role that the emerging church conversation could play with the wider Church . . an intentional discourse which leads to intensive reflection on where God’s showing up and what He’s doing in and through the Church around the world. Unfortunately, for most of us (Christians) the book has already been written on how God works and where He shows up - with no blank pages left for Him to rewrite the story Himself. It’s like a friend of mine, author Steve Stockman, once said, ‘We claim we know God’s wardrobe . . what He’ll be wearing Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.’ Could we ever fully grasp or wrap our souls around the limitless, inexhaustible nature of God this side of knowing? I doubt it. It’s a progressive revelation of Himself which He offers and it usually takes a friend to help us realise just how God is inviting us into deeper relationship. This is the invaluable role the emerging church could play in the life of the wider Church if only it would open itself up to the conversation of possibilities . . including the possibility of being changed.

It’s already been alluded to how useful reflective questioning can be in the life of an individual, especially as it relates in the relationship between the Anam Cara and the directee. It’s through thoughtful, clear questioning that God’s invitation to walk more closely with Himself can be ascertained as one sees how He’s already been active in ones’ life. The Anam Cara offers questions which allow the individual to come to conclusions on their own - without pressing any agenda - so that the directee gains confidence in learning to discern where God is and what He’s doing for themselves. After all, the most important end result is a greater level of intimacy and trust between the directee and God.

It’s toward this end that the Anam Cara works; inviting personal reflection which leads to deliberate action toward more freedom and greater trust of oneself to God. The same could be true for the somewhat tenuous relationship the emerging church conversation now holds with the wider Church. So much good could come out of such an opportunity for self-reflection and yet much of the current situation has degraded into suspicion and defensiveness. Two points must be made clear right now: (1) some elements of the wider Church have embraced the conversation waiting to see where it leads and (2) the emerging church is not a separate entity from the wider Church - it’s also a part of the Body. For purposes of illustration it has been useful to speak distinctively about these two sectors, albeit inaccurately. The emerging church is a reflective, discerning part of the wider Church that desires to become more than it currently is. It desires (by and large) that the Church become all God dreams it can be and it is inviting the rest of the Body to consider what that might be. In a sense, the role the ‘conversation’ is playing within the wider Church is that of a spiritual director to a directee. Will the Church be willing to enter into greater levels of soul-searching (which often leads to uncomfortable cognitive dissonance); trusting that God will lead to the desired future where it can realise its place in an ailing world as a redemptive force of change?

This is where we need God to speak into our lives, to literally inspire us and speak those life-bestowing words which brought our world and universe into existence. We need to be re-created. This transformation comes about through personal transparency before our God whom is Love. Therefore, how well we receive from Him the alterations to the interior of our being determines how potent our life is to those whom we rub shoulders with. God is at work within and without us. Where is He active? What is He doing? How is He inviting us to become involved with Him in His world? These questions are given thought as the Anam Cara encourages the directee to explore afresh the Scriptures inviting God to speak, and helps the directee to perceive the finger and footprints of God throughout everyday circumstances.

As the directee meditates and contemplates on the Scriptures bringing herself before God, what are those thoughts / themes that continue to arise within her? What issues, causes and needs in the world spark her imagination and ignite a fire within her? What gifts has God sown within the fabric of her soul that she can serve others with - gifts she enjoys using and others actually benefit from? Someone once said, ‘God’s call is where your passion, gifts and experience meet the world’s greatest needs.’ Could it be as simple and clear as that? In many ways the emerging church conversation is calling the wider Church back to that same simplicity of intent: a desire to know Jesus truly as our Friend (most churches already have a strong grasp of Him as Saviour) and to partner with Him in all of the endeavours in which He is already at work in the world. This work includes moving beyond and outside of Christian denominational borders, boundaries of other and no faiths and into those areas in which we would never envisage ourselves apart from Jesus’ leadership.

**End Part Part Two**

Part One is HERE