Surrender

If your perception is false, then your emotional response to it will be false too. Just because you believe something firmly doesn’t make it true. Be willing to reexamine what you believe. (William P. Young, The Shack, pg 197.)

Truth is not about the grip - grasping, seeking, collecting morsels of information and holding onto them as if the knowledge is salvation. Truth is about the release - receiving, trusting, humbling, allowing. Open the hand, open the heart, let go of knowledge and yield to wonder like a child seeing the world for the first time. There is peace in surrender.

Picture two people on a bricked walkway surrounded by beautiful landscaping, the warmth of the sun, birds singing, and the spirit of God, the unseen guest, hovering over all. An oasis for the spirit is set as two connect in friendship and talk about spiritual matters. Appreciation for each other's paths, though different, now converge into a deeper understanding of God and self.

We serve each other so perfectly by what we bring to this life and in the process of daily living I see the Potter at work shaping each one of us into His image. No small event can be taken for granted because life is perfectly orchestrated to reveal the God we serve.

Surrender is when I am able to set aside my knowledge, stop resisting His advances, and yield to His purpose that is beyond my understanding. On that path of acceptance, I am able to receive what He and others bring.

Feed Me

I’m tired of the excess, the fat, the weight of indulgence. I nibble at judgment like a tasty morsel. I feed discontent with a saucy bite. Swallowing, swallowing, always swallowing, forcing more down the gullet when already I am satiated.

Like excess lard clinging to the bones, hateful, spiteful darkness clings to the soul. I can jiggle the excess on my body and I can spew the excess in my soul. With words and attitude like one who has had a lot of practice, I can transform from light to darkness, from grace to judgment. I’m sure you’ve seen me.

Does that ever happen to you?

Offensive

Recent news reports exposed the indiscretions of New York’s governor. As a result, many of us cluck and tsk at the governor's actions, secretly priding ourselves in our own self-control. We like to comfort and reassure ourselves that we are somehow above such traps.

The way of the world is to accuse and condemn. We become vocal in our judgment, myself included, about such risky ventures of indulgence.

If I alter my perception from judgment/worldly to purposed/spiritual, I have a different view. What I see from this perspective is the sacrifice of being exposed in a compromising pleasure. But instead of focusing on deserved judgment, I realize that even this transgression is covered by God's grace.

Offensive, isn't it. The offense of forgiveness and covering of gross immorality is distasteful - unless we happen to be in the position of needing that kind of grace.

No doubt life is painful right now for his wife and children as the force of that falling rock radiates like crashing waves from the point of impact. Eventually the waters will calm again. In the interim, my perspective has evolved from one of judgment to one of grace, something we all need in good measure on a daily basis.