Bless the Lord

The greatest blessing one can give to another is to reflect back to that person who they are. The greatest honor one can have is that another would think enough of them to be like them in every way. Not just an imitation, but a giving over to and allowing a forming and fashioning into their image, a submission to their way and a forsaking of one’s own. A transformation of their entire character to model and display the character of another. This is what it means to bless the Lord.

The great leaders are all going somewhere. They never stop. Inherently, they know that there is more ahead and that they totally intend to go there. Most are not even sure where that exactly is, but by an internal driver that relentlessly churns, struggles and grinds to get there. To catch some glimpse of the glorious destination. Some whiff of the sweet fragrance. A taste of the most satisfying of foods. All joyous clues and assurances of a journey well taken and undertaken. The way is not easy and is fraught with all kinds of obstacle, wrong turns and nay sayers. But nothing easy is ever really great. Easy is common. Great is superior and glorious. Not given, it is taken. It’s no wonder that lawyers and doctors have practices. They practice their work constantly because they are always refining, always getting better, working a thing toward new heights and a perfection that is always a step further down the road. Both of these are high calling and not to be scoffed at. So often people misunderstand those professions and reflect a character that is not great. They twist them into self-glorifying journeys and tarnish the very idea of greatness, the glory of righteousness and of eternal life. Of course, in this life there is never a complete righteousness or eternal living in the physical sense, but the greatest of doctors and lawyers know that their high professions are but a type and shadow of the glorious kingdom of God. They are not easily won, in fact they are hard earned.

Dr. Conway Edwards is a great leader. He not only has attained a doctorate, he has come a very long way and has his eyes firmly fixed on a destination that is not of this world. His eyes are on the complete entity of God, The Triune Godhead of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. It is his total intention to bless God by reflecting God’s character back to Him. To display the trifold character of God to any and all who would look at him with eyes that can see. He is not perfect, but he knows where perfection is, Who Perfection is, and is intentionally going there. How can anyone know perfection? But, because he intends to go there, God is helping him in every way. You see, God, in His Perfect Love, intends for him to get there, to be there with Him. To see Perfection.

He has this thing that he says all the time about “sitting at the table”. The concept he consistently presents is that it is not that you are sitting at the table, it is that you get invited to sit at the table. The thought being that the table is a great place to be and that the great are already there. The thought being that an invitation to the table is greater than sitting there is because there is a voluntary humility and submission to a circle greater than oneself. That there is a place that is greater than the one you are currently in and that there are those that have already gotten there. Furthermore, the ones that have gotten to that table are already looking ahead to another table, the next table. Waiting for the invitation to that table of great ones.

It is March of 2022 and Dr. Conway, my Pastor, has just returned from a trip to Florida. He got a chance to sit at the table of one of the great ones. For a very long time Dr. Conway has intentionally dedicated his attention to a lifetime education on the mantle of leadership so that he could model and display it. In the course of this intentional quest, he has followed some great leaders in that field. That intentional drive set him in a position to get himself invited to “sit at the table”.

All this to say, there is a Great One Who sits at a table of Great Ones. My Pastor intends to sit at that table. Not because he has accomplished and proven himself worthy, but because the Great Ones have seen their greatness reflected in him, have been blessed by that and invited him to be there. God, in His Triune Glory has always intended for him to be there, so when he intended to get there, the Great Ones leaned in to ensure that he has all the help he could ever ask for to get there. The Father Creator, The Son Redeemer and the Holy Spirit Sanctifier in the trifecta of glory, pulling him the direction he is pushing.

The greatness of this dissertation is that Dr. Conway Edwards is not the only one that has this calling. He is truly a great leader and one to follow. He is going somewhere great. But know this, God, in His Perfect Love and the Glory of it, has made that same way for each and every person that ever lived, is living and will live. He gave us the Greatest of Leaders, Jesus Christ to follow. Dr. Conway is here for for such a time as this and for those who see and know him because of God’s great love toward us and for Dr. Conway himself. He is “a light in the darkness” and he knows that That Light is not his own,  it is The Light of Men, Jesus Christ, The Greatest Reflector of God that ever walked this earth.

So be encouraged and go somewhere great. Find the great ones, and The Great One, bless them by modeling and transforming to be like them in spirit and in truth and you will be a blessing to those who look to you. Shine. You too can be a great one if you intend to be one. God certainly intends you to be. It’s in your DNA. In fact, the fact that He created you at all is testimony that He intends for you to be great and to ultimately sit at His table. Why would He create you for anything less? You can be a great leader, you just have to follow :)