Pilgrim Road Blog Photo

Pilgrim Road Blog Photo

Sunday, July 31, 2011

The Spin Parade

Dear friends,

I wasn’t awake but 30 seconds this morning before The Spin Parade began.  Any of you other ragamuffins like me know what I’m talking about.  It was early enough that I didn’t have to get out of bed, but my brain had already taken to the road, with the toxic stress that can kill a person at 3 paces.  All the repairs we need done in our house paraded past me, loading their burden in my cart.  Financial pressures and financial regrets piled on their weight of anxiety.  Relational troubles and the fallout of a life altering traumatic car accident put in their 2 cents.  Worries about the future, worries about my children, worries about what to make for lunch (am I giving you a glimpse of one of my most entrenched strongholds?) pounded hard on the already steep, weighty mountain of have to’s.  Frustration over a not yet won battle with a flea problem, a dirty car, and school shopping looming on the horizon spun a bleak rope around the impossible load, and I could almost hear the laughter of the enemy of my soul.  That did it.  I sat up and got mad, dagnammit! 

Remember the words of the great C.S. Lewis:

"It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind."

Better yet, the words of Jesus of Nazareth, lover of your weary soul:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Mt. 11:28-30

I picked up my bible and stopped the madness.  Like a cold glass of water on a hot- as-Hades day, waves of refreshing sanity stopped the Spin Parade.  Then in church I closed my eyes, left all my troubles at the Savior’s feet, and got my footing back.  Peter Johnson’s message reminded me of why I’m a follower of the most loving, compelling “I AM” of the universe…It’s all grace.  He loves me when I’m messed up in the spin, and He rescues me from the spin every time.  This poor sinner is also a beloved child, with a Hero for a Father.  He cares about the most heartbreaking sadness of my life and yours, and He cares about the stupid flea problem.  This Savior is with us here in the mess.  It’s not the religion of the Pharisees; it’s the relationship of Jesus to the poor in spirit. 

One of my most difficult sins to overcome is the spiral of worry.  But the Great One refuses either to berate me or let me off the hook.  In His compassion He is determined to get me to a place of trust while holding me close and putting His hand up to tell the Spin Parade where to get off.  Little by little, He wants to strengthen His ragamuffins to the point where we get in that yoke with Him, where the Spin Parade just passes us by as we walk along with Jesus.  By the power of the person of the Holy Spirit, we weak folks can walk with Him in the cool of the internal day, no matter the twister of circumstance that rages and blows.

Tomorrow morning, when I open my eyes, no doubt the Parade will want to take me for another spin.  By the grace of Christ, who daily bears our load, I will stand back from all my natural fussings and frettings, and come in out of the wind.  If I don’t, He loves me still.  But why spin when you can fly?

Your friend on the pilgrim road,

Loriann