Skip to main content

The S-Word


Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21)

           There’s that S-word again. Somehow, they should find a way to remove two letters, then it would be a perfect bit of foul language. In this case, there’s the slight amelioration that it’s not one group of people specifically being told to submit to another group of people. This isn’t wives, children, or slaves submitting, but everyone within the Christian community submitting to others of the same kind.
In this time of crisis, the government has called on us to submit by isolating ourselves. Effectively, we’re supposed to care for others by caring for ourselves – by staying home. I don’t know about you but I have things to do, places to go, people to see, and a book to promote (soon)! I don’t have time for this isolation stuff. I’ve heard and read of young folks particularly, who refuse to give up their “spring break” in Florida because of this disease. Submit? No way! Life is too short, and they’re young, so it won’t likely kill them, even if it kills their grandparents when the students go home and visit them.
            As the park where I live in Florida is emptying out, I’m struggling with the issue of submission. I’m starting to close things down to drive north. Am I being unsubmissive? Should I be staying here? When I get up north, what am I going to do? We’re in a crisis. I’ve shared calls for the Church to rise up and be the Church. We’re supposed to move into the crisis and help others. I’ve read the books and seen the movies. Heroes rise up in a time of crisis. But the problem is that the crisis isn’t here. It’s somewhere out there and keeping it from being here involves submitting to restrictions others advise or even submitting to restrictions that we place on ourselves. While heroism often involves sacrifice, the sacrifice of staying home so that I don’t endanger others just isn’t as romantic a gesture as I want to make, especially since I’m not in one of the more endangered categories.
           Since I’m winding down and starting to pack, but don’t plan to leave for a few days, I have time to finish a few projects and to do some thinking and goal setting. And one of the considerations for those goals is to find ways to turn this part of my journey into something beautiful while submitting to the restrictions society and I place on me. How can I be heroic while hunkering?
           One of the answers to this is that hunkering doesn’t mean sitting around watching TV. Submission doesn’t involve passiveness. It involves doing what you can within the restrictions you face. You may know what that means, but since I’m facing my semi-annual migration, there’s a whole life to rebuild up north. I’m walking by faith into yet another unknown. We all are, so how do we do it with hope? Part of that involves finding ways to work while submitting. Time to set some goals.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, anger, fear, jealousy, and lust can crowd out everything else. This is like
Post a Comment
Read more

The Right Road

          Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)                  For years before GPSes existed, I told people I wanted something in my car that would tell me, “Turn left in half a mile…turn left in a quarter mile…turn left in 500 feet… turn left in 100 feet…turn left now …You missed the turn, Dummy!” The problem isn’t necessarily that I get lost so much as I’m afraid I’ll get lost. I don’t want to have to spend my whole trip stressing over the next turn. I have the same problem with my spiritual journey.   
Post a Comment
Read more

Not Sharing

            Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure . (I Timothy 5:22) Today’s is a hard one. The part about not being hasty in the laying on of hands isn’t so much the problem unless your love language is Touch. We aren’t pastors. We don’t tend to be involved in commissioning anyone. What we don’t tend to think of when we hear “laying on of hands” is that it involves relationship and approval. Our sending them away as our representatives may not seem real to us, but just think about what being seen with the wrong folks can do to a reputation. I’ve heard that Billy Graham would not be in a room alone with a woman. Others follow the same policy, or at least make sure the door is open so that anyone who wants to can see that nothing’s going on. But the hard part is not sharing in the sins of others. What does it mean? It’s comparatively easy to say that being pure means not having sex with someone who is not our spouse.
Post a Comment
Read more