You must give your burden up to someone else, and you must carry someone else’s burden. ~Charles Williams
Well, there you are. Coffee mug pressed to cheek, you’re waiting for the rising sun’s warmth, and dreading the day.
You’ve considered changing your status to “Avoiding People” and heading back to bed.
The hours stretch before you like a gauntlet–flaming, spinning swords; you, dodging and dancing, stumbling out the end. You light a candle, and mutter a plea you will make it through intact.
As the sky begins to lighten, you dream of a you-centered world . People say what you wish, and fit your desires: a fantasy.
And perhaps a fantasy life is best, an alternative everything alive in your head. You get to write the script, stage every the action, provide for your every need. Applause and delight, the only part others play.
So predictable, so safe. The first step towards hell.
Descent Into Hell
It was one of the 15 Books That Found Me. A theological thriller, I purchased it because the author, Charles Williams, was an Inkling–that Oxford band of literary brothers–along with C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Descent into Hell is a tough, but shattering read.
The theme of the book is co-inherence–what happens to one, affects us all–and to ignore that truth is to slowly die. But when we set out to “bear one another’s burdens” we discover the path to life.
In response to pain, Lawrence Wentworth chooses to live for himself, to create an inner world of his own making. In response to fear, Pauling Anstruther turns outward and embraces self-giving love.
We follow them, as every small choice to serve self or to serve others leads one to inner torment and the other to fearless joy.
Waiting For The Sun, Again
There you are. Coffee mug pressed to cheek, you are waiting for the sun’s warmth, eager for the day. You drink in the quiet and pray for the adventures that await. Whose burden will you lift today? What sorrow will you share?
The hours stretch before you–there will be so many chances. Your dance card will fill–with the sad-eyed, the frustrated, the weary, the bitter. Even the turned-inward ones will wander your way. You’ll get no applause, no glad adoration–just a glint in their eyes, a new spring in their step.
And your own soul being saved.
(Philippians 2:12-13 Galatians 6:2)
Which way are you leaning, while waiting for the Son?
