H,
Now, of course there is a
marked difference between being helpless in God and inertia. You have that
noted well. Yet I fear our problem with being helpless goes much deeper. It is
much harder to sit still and listen than to act. All these things we are told
to do; to retaliate in love, to turn the other cheek, to be the good Samaritan
or to realize we may be the sower or the one who waters but never the one who
gives the increase, these are the most difficult acts of all. If we are honest,
it is better to work hard, in the normal sense of the word, at getting our own way
and fulfilling the flights and fancies of our own heart. We can call these deep
premonitions “gifts” and pointers to “destiny” as we construct ministry and
calling around the edifice of self. We might even call it God. It is easier
than the other way. It is easier to do something than to be someone. Especially
if we are told that the person we are to be is divine and we must die, here and
there, to finally be full of our real nature. This is not sexy. And it sounds a
lot like being helpless or out of our precious selves.
The thing about this road is
that it does not feed anything we want to keep feeding. It sets a standard too
high and a path too low. There are no flashlights and there is no real marker
for improvement. At all times you are very human and maturity comes from realizing you have not really grown up that much. The more dependent you are on
God, the freer you are. It is all this paradox and steel nails into fading skin
that makes it seem like an uphill task.
It is only uphill
however because we forget to give up and be helpless in the first place
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