Resistance

Worry is, for me, based in the past.  Yet it only touches the present and the future.  I know the past is finished.  I understand that I have made it.  Everything should be good news, but I am worried.  I am full of fears, uncertainties, and doubts.  .
 
The parody isn’t totally lost.  I know the situation is silly.  I even understand things could be different.  Yet I need to vent, assign blame, and somehow revel in the anguish of what is.  I can imagine my role in the play.
 
“I squawk like a doomed hen, I moan like a dove.  My eyes ache from looking up for help: ‘Master, I'm in trouble!  Get me out of this!’ 
 
But what's the use?  God himself gave me the word.  He's done it to me.  I can't sleep—I'm that upset, that troubled.”  (Isaiah 38.14, 15) 
 
I look around and realize there are many others doing the same thing.  It is as if life has overwhelmed everyone around me!  Life, at times, stinks!  Holidays can be the worst!  If only I didn’t have to go through this.  If only I could change the driving force behind bad stuff in my life.  If only someone would hear my cries.
 
I’m not the first to find myself in this situation.  The David of the Psalms frequently complained and rediscovered the Spirit.  Songwriters of the present and past lament at the absence of God, even as they express the Hope they find. 
 
Embracing life, fully and completely, good and bad, pleasant and ugly, is a place to start.  Letting down one’s guard, abandoning all resistance to help, opens one’s heart to the touch of God – through the Spirit, through the touch of friends and family, and even through life’s mysteries.
 
These two steps set the stage for walking with Hope.  I let go of my resistance to life and embrace the wonder in the present.  I abandon my strength and abilities and let myself be part of an incredible community of Hope, Wonder, and Awe. 
 
You are welcome to the journey.