Tug of War

Yesterday I played tug of war with scripture... on one side of the rope was saint...on the opposite, sinner.

My place in the picture vacillates as quickly as breath and thought rise and fall.

How can things teeter and totter the way they do? One instant we've "got it"... that is, the perspective of merciful, generous and loving vision.

Then, sometimes in a heartbeat... we are the side of self-protection. Part of self protection is the feverish effort to find somebody (or somebodies) whom we can hold accountable (blame?) for the current frustration we face (whatever it may be).

Media of all sort... blogs, tweets and all forms of social connections are actively involved in this teetering tottering tug of war. One person posts something that highlights a problem... the thread then dances back and forth between identifying blame and posing a solution.

If you stay with the thread and acknowledge your own place in the foray, before too you are in a tangled mess... at least that is true for me. So often I can see both sides of the story... and when I am honest I can see both sides of my place in it.... saint...sinner.

Here's a simple and (and quite common) tug of war match!

On one hand we are firmly committed to care for the environment, and stewardship of resources.... then, on the other hand, we cave in to the temptation to purchase yet another "bargain" ... which is just another thing that will require yet another storage place... (because we have an abundance of similar items already!)

Bottom line... we just don't have the ability to call a halt to this vacillation between saint and sinner.

That's why we are so utterly dependent upon Christ... our teetering and tottering of heart and mind (thought and deed) settles into stability when we halt the effort of tugging on our own and simply lean into Christ.

Clearly there is no tug of war game when one or the other sets down the rope...

whether I am "saintly or sinful" Christ calls to me and says... peace, be still Pamela... let me show you the way! Not only does He invite me to cease the struggle, God's action in Christ's life, death and resurrection cuts the rope and ends the tug of war!

Thank you, my Lord.... cuz I was getting tired!