Harden not your Hearts
Today at church I watched a man try to stand up at the end of the liturgy. It was clear from his effort that he was determined to get up all by himself and without the help of his wife. I am not sure what physical issue made this movement a challenge. He tried several times as his wife watched. As I watched his efforts and her ability to be present without taking away his control, I wondered how long it would take for him to get up. I wondered how long I would wait if I was his wife…and then in that split second he stood up and reached for his walker with great ableness.

What were the circumstances in this couple’s life that created the space free enough to allow each other to move from that place of knowing and sureness? In Paul’s reading today, he says plainly to the hearers of the Word, “I should like you to be free of anxieties.” 1Cor. 7:32

What inside of me watched this man with a certain degree of anxiousness…hoping that indeed he would be able to get up without help? Certainly this man and his ability to stand could be a metaphor for me and all the times I don’t recognize the power of God at work – within us, within creation, in people who see the world from a different vantage point – to do the unexpected and at times the impossible.

All things being equal, I wished that I had not been aware of my doubts and concerns that this man would not be able to get up by himself. Yet, it was because of him, that I became more aware of the many ways that I do doubt the bigness of God, the places where my heart may not be harden, but does have some crustiness forming where in my anxiousness I miss the opportunity to be present and “just” trust.

This awareness begins the step toward change and the beginning of having a heart which is open to the bigness of God.