10-05-23

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
October 5, 2023
In Psalm 55:22, we read:

Cast your burden on the Lord, 
   and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
   the righteous to be moved.

A few weeks ago, I reflected on the notion of casting our burdens and what that exactly looks like. I don’t believe most of my burdens are something I can really grab with my hands and then toss as far as I can. Don’t get me wrong, there are days when I desperately want to reach inside my head or heart and grab hold of the thing that is sucking the life out of me. And if it was actually a solid of some sort, I would then toss it and then kick it and put it on a train leaving town. Sadly, that’s not the case. Yet I am drawn to the language of how God will sustain me in that moment. I sort of wonder if the burdens we are carrying are a little parasite-like, sucking life from us. And even if we are not able to grab hold of that leaching liability, I believe God is seeking to pry it far enough away that it no longer is drawing life from us. There are times when I believe the Holy Spirit wedges herself just enough between us and the burden that it is no longer drawing anything from us. It might be close, but in the end, the Spirit is able to provide us with a reprieve to breathe and reclaim some of the strength lost due to that free-loading burden.

I call upon you, Holy Spirit, to find that little space where you can gain some leverage on that unhealthy cargo that is intending on dragging me down. Separate us just enough so that I am able to find renewal in you. Amen.