“Grow in All Ways Into Christ”

The following excerpt is from Episcopal News Service.  It was written by the Rt. Rev. Chilton Knudsen, Bishop of Maine, during the time of prayer leading up to the General Convention last month.  It spoke to me, and I thought it might speak to you, too.
            Don

When our son Dan entered into early adolescence, those well-known growth
spurts enveloped him in cycles. Often, some parts of Dan grew while other
parts remained stubbornly boyish, untouched by the growth spurts happening
in various parts of his body. At one point, his feet were of adult size
while his arms and legs were still short and plump with the roundness of
toddlerhood. His waist would grow, but his legs didn't... and vice versa. A
downy mustache grew on one side of his upper lip but not the other. His
voice would sometimes resound impressively with the bass tones of a mature
man; at other times, his childlike treble would soar, birdlike and pristine.

Growth happens to us in uneven ways. We might be well-matured in our life of
prayer, but just babies in our commitment to actions of justice and mercy.
We might be well-grounded in our study of Scripture, but young in our
understanding of our own church's history. We might be faithful worshippers
and liturgically expert, but just beginning to take baby-steps into the
discipline of sacrificial stewardship. This is how it is when we
grow...including when we grow into Christ. Any top thing we grab off the
laundry pile might be too tight in the neck and too long in the sleeves. We
are not always comfortable in the uneven maturing of our own beings.
Sometimes our voice flows out deep and solid and richly mature. Other times
we simply squeak. How unsettling this all can be. One day we are grown-ups
in the faith...the next day we are babbling infants.
The Word of God reassures us. Gasp! We are able, the Word tells us, to grow
into the full stature of Christ! How does this happen? Once again, the Word
directs us, as the Word always will. Speaking the truth in love, that's one
mark of our growth. Dadgum it, it is so easy to speak the truth in the
parking lot but not at the table of decision-making, directly to someone we
disagree with. We are thrown back on Grace...God give us the grace to speak
the truth in the love which directly addresses the other. The Word reminds
us that Christian maturity is about being a "part" which seeks to work as it
should, as the whole body grows. As a wise and mature believer once said to
me: "I am just one instrument in the whole symphony...and God is the
conductor, not me. My job is to play my part as devotedly as I can."
In every moment of growing up, spiritually or physically, we may find
ourselves in that awkward circumstance by which we are both mature and
juvenile all at once. In fact, growing up into Christ is always uneven,
always bumpy, always awkward. We simply cannot do this on our own. But
thanks be to God, with whom all is possible. Day by day, we MAY grow into
the fullness of Christ, as we receive Grace to get up every time we fall
down. Let it be so, dear God. Let it be so.

-- The Rt. Rev. Chilton Knudsen is the 8th Bishop of Maine, and the 11th woman to be elected bishop in the Anglican Communion.