Creighton 2 - Version 2

When my husband, Wendell, and I experience something wonderful, we often react differently. Take worship, for instance. During an intense moment in a great worship service, I sometimes feel like I can’t hold the emotions inside my body any longer and I have to move my feet, lift my arms, and raise the volume just a little louder.

Then, I’ll glance over and see my husband staring at the screen where the lyrics are scrolling.

He might have his arms crossed.

And, he might be frowning.

While, I’m carried away by the music and the experience. Wendell is devouring the message behind the words. He is savoring the text and exploring all the nuances of its meaning. He is worshipping through study.

In his book, Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas explores those differences and helps us see that it is okay to be different in our expressions of worship. Whew!

Is it any wonder, then, that through this marriage of emotion and examination Wendell and I have birthed a beautiful person who became a Poet? Felicity is the best of us. She takes my drama and stirs it together with her dad’s logic and arranges words on a page to take your breath away.

Last weekend, we celebrated with Felicity and her family as she earned her Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing. She is all grown up now and has been living with her husband and four children in another state for several years. Yet, when she walked across the stage to be hooded by her professor, our poet surprised us by using the name Felicity Nickerson White.

That is when I remembered that sometimes sacred pathways intersect. Her father and I both sat very still as we watched. And, we cried.