I'm Back
Life gives us times of great insight. Life also gives us pause. During the past two years, I have been to the ends of the universe and back, dealing with issues of illness and death, economics and ethics, and how God may be using this time to teach me a very important lesson. What I have discovered -- and this is quite appropriate to one who styles herself God's sled dog -- is that our sacred story is a robust and durable one, quite capable of standing up for itself.
A year ago this spring, I lost my best friend and crossed an ocean to bury her. A year ago, my father lay in bed, hovering between life and death, unable to achieve either. A year ago, my heart in tatters, I prayed to God and said, "Dearest One, Whoever You Are, what am I to do?" And the answer came, "Save the world."
"But I am only one small person. I cannot save the world."
"Jesus was one small person."
"Jesus was you! You know who I am."
"Trust me."
Which is exactly what a good sled dog should do. I may pull the sled that gets us to Nome, but I did not devise the route.
If you've looked at the readings appointed for this season of Easter, you'll see that they are all about not only trusting God, but surrendering everything you are and have and hope for to this God. "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."
What repentance and forgiveness have you seen lately?
In the eyes of God, we are sheep. If sheep stray, they get into trouble. They trample things. They graze up everything in sight. They fall off cliffs thinking they are going to fly. For a can do species, this is hard to swallow. That our brilliance may not be so brilliant. That we need God's help to care for the pastures in which we graze. But with God's help, we can save the world. Not by our own devices. Not by our NGO's. Not by raising money. Not by acts of philanthropy. But by listening to God. Stay tuned. I have stories to tell.
A year ago this spring, I lost my best friend and crossed an ocean to bury her. A year ago, my father lay in bed, hovering between life and death, unable to achieve either. A year ago, my heart in tatters, I prayed to God and said, "Dearest One, Whoever You Are, what am I to do?" And the answer came, "Save the world."
"But I am only one small person. I cannot save the world."
"Jesus was one small person."
"Jesus was you! You know who I am."
"Trust me."
Which is exactly what a good sled dog should do. I may pull the sled that gets us to Nome, but I did not devise the route.
If you've looked at the readings appointed for this season of Easter, you'll see that they are all about not only trusting God, but surrendering everything you are and have and hope for to this God. "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."
What repentance and forgiveness have you seen lately?
In the eyes of God, we are sheep. If sheep stray, they get into trouble. They trample things. They graze up everything in sight. They fall off cliffs thinking they are going to fly. For a can do species, this is hard to swallow. That our brilliance may not be so brilliant. That we need God's help to care for the pastures in which we graze. But with God's help, we can save the world. Not by our own devices. Not by our NGO's. Not by raising money. Not by acts of philanthropy. But by listening to God. Stay tuned. I have stories to tell.
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