This commercial always makes me think about what I carry with me. Too often the little daypack I carry gets stuffed with too many writing implements, too many tea bags, various forms of ID (hey, I have to keep that Red Sox Nation card!), cell phone, keys, appointment cards, and whatever I use for money these days. Oh, it’s winter, so add the meds and the tissues! And lists, to remember what to do and where to go…it’s exhausting just thinking about it all! Exhausting because as much as I try, there is no way to prepare for every contingency the world throws my way.
Beyond the tangible things we carry, there are intangible ones as well. These can wear us down even more. We might call them burdens, or worries, or doubts, or just plain fears. The school bus is late…has something happened? There are 7 messages on voice mail….that can’t be good! A family member is hospitalized. A national tragedy heightens our anxiety and grieves our spirits. The bills are piling up, and we are being stretched so lean that we feel we will break. These are burdens many of us carry.
Yet, life also includes blessings. Here are some definitions… Burden: something that is carried, something oppressive or worrisome. Blessing: something conducive to happiness or welfare.
Have you ever noticed how some people can endure and even surpass the most incredibly difficult times in their lives? How is it that some thrive despite all that impedes the way of light and hope and love? And how is it that others are easily crushed, broken, or cast aside by the simplest of events?
Jesus has something to say to us about that. Read this passage from the Gospel of Matthew, from the translation, The Message: Matthew 5:1-11
We are told that no matter what situation claims us, we are blessed (we can be content, we can rest easy). We are blessed even when we fear we are at a dead end, or a time of deep despair. We are blessed in the midst of frustrations, calamity, and heartbreak.
Why is this? Because God, the holy One, the One who created you and fills you with all that is good and life-giving, is present. God promises to carry you through the storms and struggles and celebrations and triumphs. You are blessed with a love so fierce, so faithful, that even in the darkest of times, light will make itself known, light that clarifies, reveals, and supports you. You will recognize it because the tables will be turned. YOU will be carried – beyond what you have known -- to a new future, a hopeful future, a future that is touched by the holy.
It may happen in the company of a friend or a stranger. It may be words offered at just the right time. Or you may wake up one day and realize that something you have deeply longed for has indeed come true. And other times, there will be those surprising, amazing coincidences that occur which are all about mystery, a holy mystery, because through these events you will receive what you most need.
We will carry burdens. But blessings are different. They are given. They come from beyond us, and they are gifts. Blessings come to us and bring contentment, joy, and well-being. The most profound blessings take away the sting of burdens and encourage us to live in hope, to seek wholeness, and rest in the promises of God that all will be well.
Julian of Norwich, an English person of faith who lived during the years of 1342-1416, is known for this quote: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” She realized in her life that if “God made it, God loves it, and God keeps it.” She understood each day as a blessing from God. Here is a beautiful example of her words put to music.
So I think maybe Capital One is missing the point. Maybe it’s not at all about what we carry, or what we feel the need to carry. But this I believe: it is all about the One who carries us, beyond what is, to what will be.
May the God of new life, shown to the world in Jesus, continue to carry you and embrace you through all that is before you. “All shall be well” is the promise God invites you to rest upon. May it indeed be so!
4 comments:
Thanks for the Julian of Norwich music. That had the effect,with its chant-like quality, of levitating me into an assurance. It did what the column described: God's "outside" force carrying us.
I am grateful that God was able to speak to you through that music!
Anne Roser
I like your use of the Julian of Norwich quote "All shall be well..." with the Matthew 5 text. The music enhanced the sensation of wellness and blessedness.
Thanks for your comment, Pat!
Anne Roser
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