Given our human resistance to change, we are more likely to stay put. Instead of moving ahead, we develop strategies for coping with life that is less than it could be. We might pretend that everything is fine as we retreat into ever decreasing spaces. We settle with brokenness and allow fear to limit our imaginations. Dysfunction and inaction are amazingly resilient responses that we can bequeath to subsequent generations. Acceptance of the ‘way things will always be’ is a kind of bondage that traps us and prevents us from being the people that God created us to become.
I think of a photograph that I took inside the historic Alcatraz penitentiary. From deep inside the island prison, which the National Park Service now operates as a museum, the photo shows a bright day beyond formable bars. The blue sky and creation outside the walls of captivity are blurred. The prison bars are in harsh focus. So it is when we find ourselves in bondage.
The trapped nature of our existence prevents us from seeing not much more than the bars. A constraining nearsightedness reduces our vista and hope. Instead of clarity and openness, fear constipates our action. We stay put, on this side of the threshold. We look through the bars of our reality and perception. The bright day that lies beyond remains blurry, even as it beckons our spirit with a restless possibility.
Silent Prayer:
Find a comfortable place to sit. Set your phone or watch for three minutes. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply. As thoughts come to your mind – push them aside. Now is not the time. Trust in God to hold your life without needing to control it with our thoughts or actions. At the end of your time – say a simple “thank you” or “Amen.” Tomorrow, we will build on this spiritual practice by adding more time. Consider the time spent in silent prayer as an Advent gift – an opportunity to enter into God’s shalom/peace.
Today’s Silent Prayer Goal – THREE minutes
Scripture:
Matthew 6: 25-34
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith? 31Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34"So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.
Thank you for reading the third blog of this Advent series. If it was meaningful to you, please feel free to like it below or share it with your friends. You may also leave a comment. Blessings on the journey as we head through this season of Advent together. In Christ, Walt.