Tag: dependence

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Faith Life

Choosing The Better Window

All that God requires of us is an opportunity to show what He can do. ~A.B. Simpson

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Not every window should be left open.

During my two weeks in the south of France I ignored the newspaper, made no plans beyond lunch, and walked the cobblestone streets with carefree joie de vivre.

My what if? and what then? windows were left shuttered, my what’s here? and why not? panes were thrown open wide.

One day a bird flew into my fourth-story room, a symbol of the right here, right now attitude I’d embraced. Embraced because someone else was taking care of me–I was happily dependent on those in charge.

But happily dependent is not my norm. In the wee hours of restless nights I tend to respond to every insistent window tap of worry and concern. I throw open the sash to anxiety, and then fling my pleading prayers at the heavens, only half-believing I’ve been heard. When dawn comes, I marvel at my faithless night-fears.

But later with my morning coffee, I let the news reports sink their teeth in me, bold-inked headlines taunting me to straighten my tilting planet. I pile up oughts and shoulds like poker chips on the table before me–calculating, hedging my bets, plotting and planning until I’ve regained my illusion of control.

If you’re in charge of what you see out the window, you’d better not mess up.

A Window With A Better View

Oh, you weary, misguided soul, lay down your self-sufficiency, and be happily dependent once more. You were never meant to invent yourself, to be strong and stand alone. You weren’t made to measure up to the wisdom-less crowd, to please any set of eyes but His. Throw open the shuttered window and drink in a better view.

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“He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.

Psalm 147:8-11

Who is in charge from your point of view?

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Culture Faith Life

Declaration of Dependence

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. ~John Donne

A Connecticut farmhouse with generous lawns. Potato sack races, a pick-up softball game. Tables groaning with homemade cakes and pies. And, for only a quarter, bottles of birch beer and orange soda could be pulled from the ice–enough to make any child’s heart dance.

Because it was a Sunday School picnic, a hymn-sing–my aunt’s feet fueling the pump organ, generations piled on top of each other in the shade of the trees. The youngest ones, worn out by the sun-drenched games, would miss the sparklers and glow worms that waited for night to fall.

These were my father’s people, many unknown to me, yet mysteriously my own. A web, an unbreakable connection, my roots.

Many years later, the Santa Cruz mountains.  Marching band and homegrown parade. Ice-cream sundaes, women chattering on blankets in the shade of the redwoods. Men shepherding face-painted children on the lawn.  A worship service in the grove, the centerpiece of Family Camp–a family tied together not by blood, but by the Spirit.

These are God’s people, many unknown to me, yet mysteriously my own. A web, an unbreakable connection, nourishment for my roots.

Declaration of Dependence

I would prefer independence. I have inherited the American love for wide open possibilities and pride of self-reliance. Asking for help comes with a cost, the loss of the illusion that I am my own.

For, illusion it is. Self-sufficiency was the serpent’s lie, and we swallow it anew in each generation.

So, this is my Declaration of Dependence: Across the divide of generations and geography, nations and natures, we need each other.

Do you find it difficult to rely on others? What would you add to the Declaration of Dependence?

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