Three Longings of the Soul
There are some things that are so deeply woven into the human experience that they can actually connect us - common denominators that resonate in every human soul. This giving season, we want to focus on three things that we all long for and share about how ReWire is serving these fundamental desires of the human heart.
To be connected to God.
To engage in work that truly matters.
To find a people to whom we belong.
Connected to God
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”
Somewhere in each of us, there is a longing to connect to something greater than ourselves. There is recognition that we are not the source of our own life force. This is not simply a desire to know more about God. This longing comes from a deeper place that thirsts for God in an experiential way. We want to be connected to God’s immediate and eternal presence. We are created in the image of God who is Trinity - a God who is communion and invites us to participate in this divine unity.
ReWire’s spiritual formation process is grounded in rhythms of contemplative disciplines that have led spiritual seekers and Christian mystics to deeper union with God for centuries. We believe that contemplation, solitude, awareness, and reflection are ways our souls can encounter God - and in this presence, encounter our true selves. We teach and practice Ignatian spirituality, the Examen Prayer, Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina, silence, solitude, sabbath, gratitude, and many more practices and postures because they move us to deeper connection with the Divine.
Read more about how communion with God is woven into the ethos of our community here, under “Our Inward Essence.”
Meaningful Work
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”
We all want our lives to be meaningful. We want the work that we do, the attention we devote, the energy we spend to be significant. For ReWire, spiritual formation and meaningful work are not separate. Formation happens in the work - and Kingdom work is empowered through formation.
As followers of Jesus, we are discipled to align with and engage God’s mission of restoration in the world. We are called to embody the subversive values of the Kingdom of God in our life actions, practices, and priorities. The practices and actions that embody Kingdom values are the work. It is the work of the Kingdom to demonstrate dignity and value to every human, to build solidarity with the poor, protect the vulnerable, tend the sick, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the lonely, and liberate the captive. Each of us is called in our own unique ways to meaningful work for the love of others.
Call: Discovering Your Call in Community is a core ReWire formation course that approaches calling as an intersection where your pain meets the pain of the world - and thus, in bringing healing to your soul pain, God may work through you to bring healing beyond you into the world. We are led to meaningful work, filled with purpose and passion, as the Spirit works to heal our own souls in the process.
Meaningful work is a phrase that captures another core element woven into our ReWire ethos. We call it our “Outward Essence.” As we are committed to deepening our inward communion with God, we are committed to the ways this inward connection turns us outward to the brokenness and pain of the world. It is the heart of God that moves us to the work of God’s Kingdom mission.
The evidence of this inward to outward movement is captured in the stories of ReWire staff practitioners across the country and into the world - connecting pastors and ministries to the work of justice and reconciliation through prayer in St. Louis, dedication to racial reconciliation in Sacramento, empowerment of pastors and leaders in Argentina and throughout South America, conviction to equip and empower Black male teachers and educators in Los Angeles, commitment to advocacy and care in marginalized neighborhoods in San Francisco, spiritual direction in prisons in multiple locations, and the list goes on.
Belonging
“So in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
We are created for communion with God and community with one another. We experience deep belonging when we are free to bring our full authentic self and where our gifts are evoked and embraced. As we freely receive the gift of belonging with the divine community - Father, Spirit, and Son - we are led to extend that gift of belonging to others in our commitment to community. We all want to be seen. We all want to be known. We all want to be received for who we are.
Belonging happens when your presence matters - when your story and your gifting is woven into the larger story of the community.
For ReWire, belonging and community are at the center of our “Together” essence. Community is the context of our practices. We belong as we devote ourselves to deeper connection to God together in our commitment to prayer and inward reflection. We belong to one another as we share in the meaningful work of the Kingdom while calling forth the unique gifts within our community. In community, we discern our own calling. In community, we practice inclusion by inviting the poor and vulnerable. In community, we practice the subversive values of the Kingdom in the ways we live, work, relate, and love together.
Belonging is most centrally expressed in ReWire’s vision for Kingdom Outposts. As small communities of devoted believers, Kingdom Outposts are structured to deepen the authentic experience of Christ-centered community, evoke the gifts and calling of those who belong to it, and inspire meaningful work, deeper connection to God, and rhythms of reflective prayer.
A Life Woven Whole
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
These three longings are not separate pursuits. They are interwoven threads of a single, sacred life.
When we nurture connection with the Divine, we find the courage and calling to love others.
We find belonging when we love others, and in belonging the fullness of our authentic selves is called forth and included in the larger story of the community.
When we offer our work in service of love, we join in the Creator’s ongoing story of renewal.
For ReWire, these are not simply longings - they are our convictions and commitments.
We are committed to the inward life - a devotion to reflection, awareness, and contemplation that seeks intimacy and union with God. Here, we experience our own belovedness - the most fundamental truth of ourselves.
We are committed to the outward life. We follow Jesus to the margins and the vulnerable. We believe that to see the world as Jesus sees is to see the world through the eyes of the poor. In this, we seek solidarity, work for justice, and embody the good news of the Kingdom to the hungry, imprisoned, sick, and forgotten in ways that meet tangible needs.
We are committed to doing this work together. We practice allegiance and fidelity to the Kingdom of God in the ways we live together in community. Here, in our collective context, we commit to the subversive values of Jesus. We work out our Kingdom calling. We invite the poor and outcast in radical hospitality. We seek after the Shalom vision of fullness, harmony, and flourishing in our life practices.
