Happy Wednesday, Dear TSJ Friends! (Remember if you are reading this on your phone be sure and click on green header for much easier reading)
May you experience something wise and wonder-full in your day. (It doesn’t have to be a major life-changing “something.”)
But with an attitude of expectancy ( faith and hope) it is amazing what “shows up” to “lift up”our spirits. In life’s trials, we mortals easily lose focus on God – our Source of life, Love, joy and peace.
I confess I lose focus easily. My vision gets clouded. So looking for something wise and wonder-full in my days is how I am practicing my faith while entering the spirit of Lent. . . the season of remembering the temptations we face while in the wilderness or desert experiences of life.
I know we cannot skip suffering, but I also know we can find pockets of pure pleasure even while we are in difficult times.
One small aside here . . . while asking myself the age-old question of why is my friend or loved one suffering or why must I experience this pain, I keep relearning the truth that even unwanted and painful experiences are infused with God’s Love.
It has occurred to me that in dark times yielding to God’s love and wisdom is as difficult as a person yielding to medical experts even though they have overdosed on something life threatening and must be taken to an emergency room. The victim’s stomach needs purging. He or she needs to yield to an unpleasant but life saving treatment. An activated charcoal treatment is often effective to absorb and release the toxin.
Where this analogy works best is that spiritually speaking we sometimes need purging from our overdoses on things that could destroy us. Things like greed, pride, lust, revenge and self-indulgences (addictions and gluttony) and worries. When suffering from consequences of our own mistakes, I wonder if the consequences are part of God’s love and activated charcoal treatment plan. Unpleasant but life saving.
But sometimes our most heartbreaking troubles are purely from acts of nature or tragedies. At those times also, though, we need to allow God to show up in our state of emergency to give us a love transfusion.
No matter the cause, God’s love sometimes shows up in what feels like a most undesirable fashion – suffering. Like any teacher or parent has told their children, love does not spare us from tough times from which learn and grow. But it does carry us.
Like sheep, when we graze on love (make it our steady diet) we are lifted.
Love Lifts
Sometimes love shows up in most unanticipated ways. Sometimes even if we just turn our head aside and pause to look or listen we get a new perspective. We need to simply to notice.
Sometimes turning a bit changes our focus. I literally did that one morning this week while reading in my office. And guess what I saw! A magnificent sunrise. Talk about lifted!
Another example happened while cleaning.
I have mentioned before that my mom has left a remarkable legacy in my heart through her constant singing around the house. This mirrored her goodness, and her faith. I have also mentioned that there were dark spells as well. I remember both with gratitude for what they taught me. That does not mean I can skip over the residual scars that have challenged me. We all have them. I am sure, however, this is partly why I keep growing into the concept that life is a both-and experience. Hard times and joyful times. Times of mourning and celebration. A mom of song and of fury.
So one day this last week while I was cleaning around the house – which was when mom crooned her tunes – one of them came to my mind with great clarity: “Love Lifted Me!’ The chorus that replayed in my own mind (of this old church song ) declares joyfully,
“Love lifted me. Love lifted me. When nothing else could help, Love lifted me!” Then I recalled that the song begins with , “I was sinking deep in sin far from the peaceful shore…when Love lifted me.
Sometimes we grow weary from treading water and truly feel like we are sinking. We long to be lifted up out of the water..
On that note, if you need a bit of love and levity to think about, I recommend Bob Goff’s books about Love. They are delightful. He has written: Love Does and Everybody Always. I suggest starting with Love Does and both are great fun to read.
Upheld and Lifted Up
Finally, perhaps divine guidance or at the very least, a poignant surprise came in my day when I opened my lenten lesson and read from Psalm 145.
I tried to absorb (breathe-in) the soulfulness of these words written by a shepherd in a far away place and a long time ago but are as relevant as today’s headlines.
May you feel lifted up today God knows your name and your story.
The LORD is faithful to all his promises
And loving toward all he has made.
The LORD upholds all those who fall
And lifts up all who are bowed down.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways
And loving toward all he has made.
The LORD is near to all who call on him.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
He hears their cry and saves them. (Psalm 145: 13b-14 and 17-20 NIV)
May you find some wonder in this day that fills you with amusement or amazement and lifts you up and holds your heart.
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