“Be still, then, and know
that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the
earth. Psalm 46:11
“Before you speak of peace,
you must first have it in your heart.” —St. Francis of Assisi
Richard Rohr spoke of
imagining myself sitting on the shore of a river with boats floating past,
boats piled high with thoughts and feelings. And while acknowledging them with
a nod, yes, this is indeed one of my thoughts, I allow them to continue to
float on down the river without jumping on the boat. Just let it float away. This
is a practice in un-possessing, detaching, letting go. With every idea, with
every image that comes into your head, say, “No, I’m not that; I don’t need
that; that’s not me.”
As I walked down to the
Benedictine Monastery this morning to spend some time remembering my crucified
Savior, the one who chose to become what you fear: nakedness, exposure,
vulnerability, and failure. . . . He became the crucified so we would stop
crucifying, another image came into my heart, that of a rolling sea.
Waves are indeed real. And
they have force and strength, but if I don’t fight them, if I duck down under
them, they dissipate into a quiet soothing surf. And a peace surged through me.
A profound peace, perhaps that same profound humility that I have been asking
for.
It’s not about me.
It’s the we, the beloved
sheep stumbling through life.
The ones He came to seek.
Jesus became the
sinned-against one to reveal the hidden nature of scapegoating. Jesus
says from the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re
doing.”
I sure don't know what I am
doing.
But at the end of it all,
He will be exalted.
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning. New every
morning.
Great is His faithfulness.
Be peace.
Be peace.
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