Strength

There are big people in this world.  I realize the statement is relative; one always seems to assume one’s self is normal.  I’m not talking about people overweight or obese.  I am talking about people who stand over six foot six, two meters.  These individuals are fit, exercise frequently, and in good shape.  Compared to the norm everything proportionally shifts.  I find myself cowering, even when they haven’t moved or glanced in my direction.  I know they could cause bodily harm, even if it was unintended.
 
Strength and power isn’t always about what is on the outside.  Regardless of their size, mothers never seem to be intimidated.  The comparison on how our two dogs react is fairly accurate.  The size differential is approximately 10x.  Seven pounds versus sixty to seventy.  Charlie, the smaller dog wouldn’t stand a chance.  Yet most of the time you would never know there was a size difference.  Charlie is quite free to take on Mollie, challenging her right to a piece a raw-hide or a favorite toy.  Granted there are moments of submission – an acknowledgement of Mollie sheer brute strength, but for the most part Charlie holds her ground.
 
As I watch people react to life around them I find the paradox following the pattern set by Mollie and Charlie.  Size isn’t the determinant on who survives life’s pain and chaos.  Brute strength doesn’t inform relationships.  Mass differential isn’t the determinant of success.  Historical facts continued to be replayed today.  “‘Terrorized, that rock-solid people will fall to pieces, their leaders scatter hysterically.’  God's Decree on Assyria.  His fire blazes in Zion, his furnace burns hot in Jerusalem.”  (Isaiah 31.9) 
 
God looks for people who are strong on the inside.  This strength isn’t measured by traditional forms of power.  Those who prevail in life do so by a simple combination.  First, an accurate awareness of who and what “they” are.  Second, a connection, relationship, with Divinity in context of the first.  In short, take one’s weak, limited self and combine it with God’s love and compassion.  The result is simple, unadulterated strength.