For all sorts of reasons we can find ourselves on the wrong side of ourselves. Usually it can be as a result of a hurt received or a recurrent disappointment; somehow it eats away at us and then we strike out in some form of anger. We get filled with regret.
When we get life wrong our hope flies away.
Our spiritual enemy likes this situation as we sit dejected and punish ourselves in self-condemnation.
Predictable cycle?
Low times are, nonetheless, highly forgivable. It’s afterwards that we realise that our situations were never as dark as they seemed.
Turn! Turn! Turn!
I’m reminded of The Byrds song, Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season) (1965), where the deeply philosophical strains of the Book of Ecclesiastes (chapter 3:1-8) are set to a melodic tune encouraging reflection.
Life turns.
When life turns against us we can turn with it, or we can turn it back on top of itself, turning back to the Lord at all times, ushered by a mood of repentance.
But the key to understanding life is that we will get it wrong.
Life will appear bigger than we can deal with. It can swamp us with the not-so-fresh revelations of our inherent weaknesses; the infernal fatal flaw; that thing we’re so sick of and want to be rid of.
Time for the Big View
Standing further back from our problems and the seeming horrible messes we’ve made of our circumstances helps.
Like the tailgating vehicle that slows down enough to see so much more than the butt-end of the truck in front, or the woodchopper far enough from the forest to see the trees from all that wood, we gain a better perspective.
The big view is afforded with space that’s created in just enough time to slow down for the possibility of another view just as true, but healthier.
The philosophical view is best when things are too big to reconcile.
Making It Right
Christian people should mostly be noted for their ‘giftedness’ at repentance. (Truth be known, it’s what separates those with, and obeying, God’s Spirit from those not.)
And that’s all the turning is about. Life turns and so should we—back to God, in a humble manner. Reconciling our extraneous moments is simply a matter of taking a lighter look at ourselves.
We make a big thing out of little things sometimes. With ten minutes of fresh air, and cup of coffee or tea, it’s surprising how our perspectives can change.
Making it right again is not far away, and when we’ve done it, how good do we feel? We’ve not only liberated ourselves from the bondage of pride, envy or greed (or some other deadly sin), we’ve made it right (or better) with important others too.
Making it right is an individual effort, but with a team result in mind.
© 2011 S. J. Wickham.
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