I had a thought the other day, is being resistant to change anti God?
Change is inevitable, change is in itself a constant, something we know to be true. God works his miracles, often imperceptible to our busy minds and lives. Although we don't see the stem of grass as it grows, the lawn mowers of the world will attest to the extremely rapid speed with which it happens. Yet, He himself is unchanging, a true objective reality, a firm foundation. He is vibrant, pulsating Love.... the great creator, animating all of creation to the heartbeat of perfection. Christ himself shows us the broadness of the life-animating spirit when he debunks the pharisees' dogma by healing on the sabbath day. The law is good only so far as the context is also taken into consideration. The law stagnant and still does not have the life breath of our savior animating the moment to the truth that is needed.
So how does one balance timeless truths with constant change? I think maybe there are two components. One of yoga's philosophies is practice and non-attachment. We come to the mat daily to nourish our physical bodies, to prepare for meditation. When the body is strong and flexible we can sit in stillness longer and address the mind (Be still and know that I am God).
Going into deep prayer and meditation free from being distracted by the body the mind can focus more freely. We go to God, in stillness and silence, offer up our prayers and then.... let go and know that God's sovereign plan will ultimately be done. So we ask, but then we let go, we have spoken and the rest is up to him.
I guess some of these thoughts came to mind also due to a recent conversation. I was speaking with a lovely elderly gentleman after church. He seemed dismayed by the thought of statues being taken down. These statues were constructed for mothers who had lost their sons in battle. As he explained, it was a way to honor their sorrow and be a physical representation in the world of that loss. Others have expressed sorrow for the loss of the artwork or the beauty of a monument. So the intention of these monuments have something laudable. Yet for others these statues represent something very different, very painful. A time when their status as a beloved child of God, made in his image was not recognized. When the story of the age said you are less than, worthless, a mere possession. How do we balance these coexisting truths?
I personally have never been someone overly attached to material things. Often too much excess makes me feel weighed down, but at the end of the day, these attachments are really less about the material plane. The true attachment rests in the mind and the idea of what is represented.
Maybe in this time of great change for the whole world, struggling to balance in an unbalanced chaotic state of unknowns, God is calling us to allow his life-animating spirit to mix things up. To see just where we are gripping to our own ideas and rejecting his push to let go and let him. Maybe these tugs at our senses or heartstrings are reminders to not rest in our own understanding but in his infinite love, knowledge and wisdom. Can we hold our own understandings and preferences a little more lightly and create room for something outside of that to enter in? Flowing rivers are clean and healthy, unlike a stagnant pool, bacteria laden with the potential for great sickness.
When one grips too tightly to something that must change, chaos ensues. Last weeks events were a testament to that. It is easier to hold and to force than to allow. The illusion of control can be so powerful, so gripping and strong. Allowing makes one vulnerable, allowing treads in the unsteady waters of the unknown, and yet that is where the most beautiful possibilities lie. The realm of the all-possible is just beyond our reach, so perhaps if we stop grasping, what will be brought forth to us will be far greater than our wildest dreams.
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