Monday,
March 16th:
By
Jodi Kirk
SCRIPTURE:
Psalm
27:1 – 3 The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.
QUOTE:
LORD
OF THE RINGS:
FRODO: I can’t
do this.
SAM: I
know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s
like in the great stories. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and
danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could
the world go back to the way it was when so much had happened? But in the end,
it’s only a passing thing, this sadness – this shadow. Even darkness must pass.
A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you.
That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think,
I do understand. I know now. Folks in those stories had lots of chances of
turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on
to something.
FRODO: What
were they holding on to?
SAM: That
there’s some good in this world … and it is worth fighting for.
REFLECTION:
“Enough. I have had enough!” I am tired of sadness and more bad news. This winter has been difficult. In addition to the seemingly endless cold and predictions of yet another storm with promises of more school delays and closings, I feel like I am in the middle of a sea of struggle. Everywhere I look, I see people fighting: Fighting to get well, fighting for peace, struggling with loss, battling grief - trying to stay afloat on an island of despair. So much sadness!
You open up a paper or turn on the news and are bombarded with such difficult realities – unrest in the Middle East, ongoing war in Iraq and Afghanistan, car bombs, the rise of ISIS, horrific beheadings and mass slaughter, war in the Ukraine, humanitarian horrors in Asia and Africa. You move on to national news and are assaulted yet again. What seems to divide us appears to dominate what brings us together. People drawing lines in the sand based on color, religion, sexual orientation and party politics. And locally, there seems to be an abundance of problems with too little compassionate problem solving. So much easier to dismantle tent city or force our kids to take yet another standardized test.
I look around at my community of friends and family and am quickly overwhelmed by the burdens they carry. Taking care of kids and aging parents. Losing a loved one. Struggling with financial woes and worrying how to make ends meet. Dealing with difficult prognoses and trying to navigate through new medical realities. Battling depression or addiction. Colds. Sneezes, Aches. Pains. Another bout of the flu. Flat Tires. A fender bender. Just trying to get through another day...
In the midst of struggle, any struggle, it is easy to let weight and worry crush your spirit. Sometimes the problem becomes so big that it feels impossible to make a dent. Any action, any prayer, any hope feels too small. You feel too small. So very insignificant. It is easier to bury ourselves in fear and sorrow. We become paralyzed, part of the very darkness we seek to avoid.
I have found myself drifting into the abyss of late. I allow myself to be overcome with grief, with worry, with the hugeness of it all. Everything feels too big. I look at the whole and get stuck by the enormity of it all. I cannot stop the horror in the Middle East, but I can make my voice be heard. I can petition, I can march and I can vote. I cannot prevent the endless testing but when I teach, I can foster the joy of imaginary play and creative problem solving with every child that I come in contact with. I cannot erase the heart ache of family and friends who are struggling, but I can reach out to them and listen and reflect the goodness that does surround them. I cannot tackle the entire house that needs to be cleaned and reorganized, but I can do a load of dishes and start on the hall closet, I cannot lose the 25 pounds I had planned on losing before my nephew’s wedding next month, but I can choose to go for a walk. I can complain about the snow and the cold or I can celebrate the fact that I live in a house with a working furnace and two boys who are ever ready to build another snow man.
I can choose to love. I can choose to forgive. I can choose to pray. I can choose to still my mind. I can choose to offer assistance. I can choose to stop and listen. I can choose to take a small step forward.
It is hard to hold on to the good in the midst of struggle and despair, hard to see the light in a sea of darkness, and it is hard to take action. Even when the heartache of the world – of our individual journeys – threatens to overwhelm us, God is there. He is our light and our salvation. With him – through him – all things are possible. There is good in this world – in our world – and it is worth fighting for.
PRAYER:
Dear Lord, in a world where the darkness threatens to overshadow your light, help me feel and reflect the power of your love. Remind me to search for the good that comes with every set of challenges and obstacles. Help me to seek help when I am overwhelmed and grant me the strength and resilience to persevere. However, small my action, help me be an agent of change. With your guiding presence, I believe fear and worry can be dismantled so that the road of peace may paved with love, understanding and forgiveness.
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