Like Sisyphus of ancient Greek mythology, I feel as though I am destined to forever strain against an immense boulder as I push it uphill, only to watch it roll down once again.
Pushing my son, my daughters, doctors, teachers, therapists, customer service representatives, cable companies, plumbers.
I just don't trust that if I stopped pushing, there would be any movement at all.
I thought about this as I observed my bean plants pushing up through the earth.
Buried deep, with four times their height in soil packed above them, insanity must possess these seedlings as they push and prod their way to the surface.
This exercise of the will is not for the faint of heart. Not every seedling emerges, after all.
But most do.
And they push and they prod and they stretch.
Toward Victory.
They seek the sun. They push toward their life source. They prod to survive. They stretch to expose themselves. To receive.
I push because I do not trust.
They push because they do.
My prayer friends and I pick words each new year that God has set on our hearts to meditate upon throughout the coming months. My word of 2014 was LET. As in...
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace....and
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly....
Let is an action word. It's a word of acceptance. It's giving permission. It's receiving.
When I'm pushing, am I letting?
Let does not imply a lack of movement. Instead, it suggests reliance on someone else to push the boulder.
Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart..
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess...
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love...
Let us not give up meeting together....
Let us encourage one another.
May my pushing turn to letting as we press on toward Christ together.
