The Gospel reading for yesterday -- at least for the Greek Orthodox -- was the story of the feeding of the five thousand. You all know the story so I am not going to recap it for you here.
What has been rattling around in my head on it is the part where everybody has eaten their fill and the disciples are picking up the left overs. Do you remember exactly what it says about that? Here it is:
And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost."
I want to believe that. I do. But, there are some things about me that seem pretty unredeemable. And it seems like maybe they should be wasted. You know, you've got to know when to cut your losses. There are some things... I just don't see it.
It's the "...that nothing may be lost" part that's got me thinking.
I have heard people say that nothing is ever wasted, that God finds a way to use everything.
I hate to be so faithless.
If God is going to gather up the scraps of my life that means He will see them I suppose. My inclination is to ignore them. "Oh, those little scraps... well, Lord, let's just leave those." I want to move on without God seeing some things. There are some things that it would be easier to loose, rather than have them exposed to the light of redemption. Ouch! Couldn't we just leave a few scraps?
"...that nothing may be lost."
I believe in miracles. I've seen God turn heart anguish into bliss. He's done it for me! Yet there is a piercing, there is pain in such transformation and for some reason I continually avoid it.
I hope it's true. I hope that God can make something of the useless and irredeemable pieces of me.
I hope I am not too much in His way.
Such high hopes early this morning.
9 comments:
This post takes my breath away.
You say it like it is when I sure need to hear it! Thanks.
And I tagged you for a meme!
Me, too. Hope for all of us.
Wow...
really wow, Lindy.
These brilliantl thoughts blind me a bit, but leave me with this observation:
Sometimes life hurls gnarly bits at us, and we play them like bad pitches, and we hit some foul balls, and we make a mess.
But our job is really to re-focus on the next pitch, and to do our best to score one for The Team.
It's counterproductive to beat ourselves up over what we didn't get quite right. I think God would like us to look forward toward that next pitch, and strive to do the best we can.
I'll bet you do that daily, and just need to be aware of it.
A keeper for next time I preach this gospel. Thanks for the thoughts. What I am thinking tho is that some things have to go in the compost pile to get recycled for some other use - maybe fertilizer for the next garden.
btw - if you want my book send me your address - I have some.
"I hope I am not too much in His way."
There we are Lindy - in the way - and right where God wants us to be. You know Jesus struggled too - Let this cup pass from me. God is with us in that pain of transformation.
I have a few scraps that I'd like to just forget, too.
Oh, great Ann. I am glad to give a little bit towards the cause. Some bits, no doubt, get made into fish tacos the next day, some others go into the crab cakes, and still others are destined for the compost. My point is that they all get looked at and acknowledged before going to wherever they belong. To be honest, I'd rather just buy potting soil than have my composting examined. But, that's not what it says...
I'll email you my address. I promise not to give this one away!
Lindy
Post a Comment