by Brooks Jackson
It's that time of year again! School is back in session, which also means I am back at it with graduate school classes (*written with sarcastic enthusiasm*)! In case you don't know, I am a student at Freed-Hardeman's Graduate School of Theology, where I am pursuing a master's in Pastoral Care and Counseling. Pastoral counseling is a unique form of psychotherapy that uses spiritual resources as well as psychological understanding for healing and growth.
As you can imagine, the Pastoral Care and Counseling master's has included a mixture of counseling classes and Bible classes. This semester, one of the three counseling classes I'm taking is called Life-Cycle Development; in this class, we're learning about the different stages of life (e.g birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, ect.) and how each phase of life brings unique challenges, opportunities, and psychological needs.
Our first class session for Life-Cycle Development was this past Monday night. During class, our professor showed us a video about an old documentary titled Seven Up! Seven Up! is a film that follows different individuals thoughout their lives every seven years, from age seven and onward. In the video, one phrase really stuck out to me that I thought carried significant spiritual undertones and application: "Time is the story. We are the characters."
The phrase "time is the story, and we are the characters" suggest that time is like a narrative unfolding, with each of us playing a unique role in that story. It highlights the idea that our lives are part of a larger, ongoing story where we are active participants, influencing the narrative through our actions, decisions, and interactions with others. What in the world does any of this have to do with our faith?
The idea that time is the story and we are the characters challenges us to live purposefully, recognizing that our faith calls us to actively participate in the sotry God is writing. This perspective encourages us to trust in God's guidance, seek to fulfill our God-gives roles, and understand that our lives have eternal significance within His greater narrative. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works" (Ephesians 2:10 ESV).