Charleston: carrying heavy burdens and listening to the rain
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“I know you carry a heavy burden, one you do not often share. I see its weight, even behind your hopeful smile. Let me hold it for a while, trusting it to my safekeeping. I would like to see how high you can fly without it, how far and how wide. High enough to see a path before you. Wide enough to give yourself options. Long enough to let you breathe the clean air of an open sky. Take your time. There is no hurry. I will be here, praying for you when you return, holding something that suddenly seems lighter.”—Steven Charleston
I hear the gentle rain on our roof as I read Bishop Charleston this morning. I imagine my worries being washed away as the rain rolls off our roof. I think of the third step in 12-step recovery, “turning our lives and our wills over to the care of God.” We often forget the last part of that sentence. God is taking care of all our concerns. Caring for them. As I imagine this, as I pray it, for seconds, I feel free. I do not have to be in charge of the world any longer.
Of course, it is our custom to keep taking our concerns back, as if God were not able to handle them. Amazing that we do this. This morning I have a little “taste” of freedom to become the person God created me to be, instead of worrying about the rest of the world. I am embarrassed to say that I once believed that if I worried about something enough, it would never happen! Another example of how our amazing minds can trick us.
This morning, I am listening to the rain.
Joanna joannaseibert.com