Charleston: Letting Go of the Bone
“I have been changed. I am not the same person I was before. Over time, over many experiences, good and bad, I have grown in understanding, awareness and compassion. I have found a deeper sense of peace. I have come to appreciate the importance of love.”—Steven Charleston Daily Facebook Page.
I know we are called to articulate our truth as best we can, but then I realize that we must let it go. This is complicated because the life approach we were taught has been like a dog with a bone about issues we are passionate about. So I try to turn the situation over, to give up the “bone.”
Nevertheless, like that faithful Border Collie with a bone, we find it difficult to turn over concerns and problems we are trying to solve. Many of us have realized the cost of holding onto that bone to our own body, mind, and soul. We may find it difficult to achieve peace, to hold on to love. Our arteries tighten up. When we lose, we believe we must try harder. When we win, we may strive harder to keep doing it better.
This is my hope for change: that we will no longer see life as a win or lose. Instead, we have a part: We are to step out of our comfort zone, speak out in love, and strive to make a difference. More and more, we know that for every cross, there is a resurrection. God brings about the resurrection, rolls away the stone. So our job is to keep looking and listening for every possible sign of love and resurrection.
We will have setbacks in giving up this control, believing we are responsible for the resurrection, but stark situations that remind us we are not in charge will repeatedly bring us back to the truth. Believing that we have control of problems in our lives and the world is fake news, a fantasy. Still, there lives this sweet voice that whispers in our ears, continually telling us that we have such magnificent ideas and need to be an influential person who always accomplishes our agenda.
Suppose we recognize we are connected to something greater than ourselves. In that case, we acknowledge there may be a better plan than our own… that a strong person may be one who pauses, perhaps prays, and listens before she speaks… does the best she can…and then gives up the results to God, who may have a better view of the situation than she does. Breathtaking.
Joanna. Joannaseibert.com
