I’m glad you’re here.
When I was very young, I wanted God. I could not have explained much about Him, but the longing was there. After all these years, and after so many words, meetings, questions, and beginnings, I find that the same longing remains. I want to know Him as the One whose life becomes my living.
That is the heart of Gaining Electrum.
I know how easily I can become occupied with everything surrounding Christ. I can read about Him, speak about Him, and become deeply concerned about the condition of the church, while scarcely pausing to receive Him in the next ordinary moment. Even writing these words can carry me away from the fellowship I am trying to describe.
So I write as someone who needs to return. There are things I have seen that seem precious to me, and there is much I am still learning to live. I hope these pages leave room for both.
Many of the writings began as letters to Ray, a dear brother and friend. A letter helps me remember that someone is listening. It brings my questions back into friendship, where I can speak honestly, acknowledge my own failures, and remain open to being helped. The essays give some of those questions more room. The short films offer a quiet moment to linger with them.
Again and again, I come back to Christ as our source—the One whose life we share. What might prayer become as we grow more at home in His presence? What might happen between us when we receive one another from that same life? Can the love of the Father and the Son become real to us while we are working, listening, waiting, or sitting quietly together?
I carry memories of fellowship in Isla Vista and Santa Barbara that still awaken something tender in me. I remember the beauty of being together when the Lord Himself seemed sufficient. Those memories leave me longing to know Him freshly today.
Perhaps you recognize some of this hunger. Perhaps you remember having it and hardly know where it went. You are welcome here with your questions, your weariness, and whatever small hope brought you to these pages. I would be grateful for your company.
My hope is that something you read here gives you room to turn toward Him and remain a little while. That would make these words worthwhile.
With love,
Brent
If you are new here, begin with a short letter and a quiet minute of reflection.
