...faith, hope and love... the kingdom of God...
It seems to me that we oftentimes sell ourselves short. We talk so often about what we are going to give up, surrender, confess, release. But we forget that for most of us, in order to let go of the rope that we so desperately (and sometimes foolishly) cling to, we have to be jumping for something else that we can hold on to.
It seems to me that forgiveness often works this way. We can't let go of the anger, fear, and pain we feel about someone, unless we are able to begin to live into a new kind of relationship with them that we can picture, can dream (if only distantly); a relationship of forgiveness, redemption, hope and love. This is the beauty in the words and life of Christ. He didn't come just to free us from darkness. He came to be light. If we live into this life of Christ, we too become light.
To begin with, this way of Jesus is more than just things we DO NOT do or be. The way of Jesus is not an absentee way, a way of void, a way of nothing - no laughter, no fun, no pain, no joy, no sorrow, no weakness, no desire, no mystery, no action. The way of Jesus is in fact a way... and I would argue that it is the best way... to live life full of laughter, fun, pain, joy, sorrow, weakness, desire, mystery, action and more. It's more than just letting go of the things that are "bad".
There is no doubt that for all of us we have parts of our way of life that are "bad". Perhaps these are addictions, reactions, bad habits, open wounds of the soul that we desperately try to protect. Whatever they may be they are certainly things that don't help us or those we love. These are not things that might bring us closer and more deeply into the mystery and love of God. We all have them. We all know that they are "bad". I can name mine (at least the ones I notice right now, perhaps my wife given the chance could enlighten us all further
If I might borrow from the Biblical story, I'd argue that we are back to Adam. We are back to the beginning. And that's only IF we could on our own stop doing those things, let go of them completely. But as in the case of Adam and Eve, even IF we did let go of these things, we would choose to go back to them or another thing that would center our lives solely on ourselves, harming others, disrupting our souls, separating us from the things that are lovely, good and pure.
To simply let go of something is not enough. We must begin to live into the kingdom of God. This means that when I do give my "sin" (those things that separate me from others and God) to God because I cannot get rid of it on my own, that I have to keep going and begin to live into this way of Jesus.
What is this "way of Jesus", this "kingdom of God" that you are talking about? While I cannot describe it fully here, I can tell that it involves love for yourself, for others, for all of creation and for God in ways that are beyond us. And this love is not just a "down in my heart" kind of love. It is a love of action, of movement, of concern, of desperation, of help, of presence. It is a love that none of us have fully in us. It is a love that we begin to experience as we try out this way of Jesus, but also one that we LIVE INTO as we practice this way.
The thing is... we cannot do this alone. We can't live into this life separated from everyone else. We have to be connected to not just God, but to each other, to our neighbor next door, our neighbor half a world away, our brother, our sister, our enemy, our friend.
This is the kind of life that I'm trying to "live into". It is a life that I fully believe is worth living. It is a life like no other.
So join me in
letting go... and picking up;
walking away from something... and towards another;
breathing out... and breathing in
dying to self... and living into the Way of Christ.
To close I offer an invitation from Shakespeare, "Come take hands with me and let us shake the ground whereupon these sleepers be."
