The last several months of 2014 have been a bit of a primer for the season of life that is the new year. It started when Holy Spirit began to lead me down some old paths but were very new to me. It has been as if I have discovered a new land but only to find out that I am certainly not the first to step foot on it’s shore. My heart resonates with G.K. Chesterton when he describes his journey toward biblical orthodoxy in this way. This is a very new and unfamiliar season for my family but it is a new season filled with old things, ancient things, and even forgotten things. A season I am more than glad to embrace.
This season is more than just about diving head first into the traditions and teachings of the church. It is about the resurfacing of dreams and desires that have been, to some measure, laid to rest. Dreams I thought were dead. Far to long I have let circumstances, people, and fear dictate my life and leave me paralyzed from doing the things my heart burns for and this is the year that ends. In the past I have been so quick to speak about my heart and not follow through with with any of what I was so excited about. I am done with that. I am done with just talking. I am done with not seeing the things my heart aches for come to fruition. This year is about resurrection.
I had a wonderful experience this past Sunday that really stands to me as more confirmation of the path my family is on. I attended for the first time a liturgical church and it was a blast. My friend Brock and I stuck out like a sore thumb but were kindly embraced though being strangers. The experience was great!! I enjoyed the adherence to the ancient liturgy and the reverence that surrounded the worship service. The best part for me was the taking of the Eucharist. It was so beautifully orchestrated with the youngest to the oldest kneeling at the alter feasting on the beauty of the incarnation. It was a far-cry from the Mcdonaldized version I am accustomed to and it carried with it an ancient weight that was totally new to me. There I was, a Young and dumb Pentecostal punk, on my knees with tears in my eyes and the only English I could muster up was “Thank you…”. Jesus revealed himself in the breaking of the bread. He revealed himself to me in a way I had never experienced before. He manifested his great love for me in a new old way. I hope that will not be my last visit to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.
I am so ecstatic concerning this new season and I can not wait to share with you everything that comes with it. I ask that you keep my family in your prayers. So far, surprisingly, we have been met with a a good boy of resistance. To be honest it seems that in just a year we have managed to burn down almost every bridge we have built over the last decade. It sucks, but I’m learning that we have plenty of new bridges to build and new paths to tread that unfortunately inhibited people from coming along with us.
We have a few projects in our scopes that I am so excited to complete. These are the new old things I was speaking of; the dead dreams.
-I have started writing music again. Which is a huge thing for me. It is 100% different than anything I did before and that is what makes it new. I am hoping to be able to get in the studio soon.
-As a teen I consistently blogged and the last few months have been a trial run of starting back. The response has been more than I could have hoped for and I am stoked to keep this consistent.
-I have a few book projects I am working on. A couple of the books are smaller and pertain to matters of Spirit, one is a lengthy fiction novel about a boy getting lost at sea, and the other is a children’s book that is a pivotal plot device in the pre-mentioned fiction novel.
-I started making test/mock recordings of the LESSONS FOR DEAD GUYS podcast. Hopefully I will get the quality to my standards and be able to share it with the world.
These are the three projects we are currently pursuing and have several on back burners staying warm while we get these things finished.
Through whom, to whom, and for whom all things exist!
-Ryan
Ryan Cagle 