Struggle
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[April 14, 2011]
--"A very large crowd
spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the
trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him
and that followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in
the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ When he
entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is
this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from
Nazareth in Galilee.’ "-Matthew 21: 8-11
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There are some old Simon and
Garfunkel lyrics which go something like this, "I am a
rock, I am an island. And a rock feels no pain. And an
island never cries." The lyrics are intended to be
ironic, I think, but they nonetheless capture a very
human perspective. I need to seem fine. I need to seem
like I have everything together; like I am a perfectly
content autonomous being. For some reason, many of us
feel we need to act as though everything in our lives is
just fine, even when it isn't. And worst of all, we
feel the need to act this way at church. A few weeks
ago we hosted the "Permission to Speak Freely Tour," and
one of the leaders, Anne Jackson (whose book gave the
tour its title) once asked those who read their blog to
post things they couldn't talk about in church. The
list was long, and sad. But clearly they had been
taught the same thing most of us have. We need to act
like everything is fine.
And to those of us who feel this
way, I have two words. Stop it! If everything is not
fine, you don't have to plaster some sappy smile on your
face, nor do you have to talk about the weather or
current events, especially at church. Do you know what
the crowds were really saying to Jesus as he entered
Jerusalem? Save us, we pray! That is the what Hosanna
means. And they knew they needed help. They knew they
were in a bad spot, and they thought this man could
change things. They were right, of course, just not in
the way they thought. We don't have to be rocks all the
time. Life can be a struggle and sometimes, heck a lot
of the time, things aren't fine. It's okay to say so,
to others and to God.
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Prayer: Holy God, please help me. I am struggling in my
life right now, and I don't know what to do. I need your guidance
and support. I need you to save me, and show me people in my life
who can help me. Save me, I pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.
[Phillip Blackburn, First Presbyterian Church]
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