Lucky for me, I am surrounded by Grace, because fright is a very different thing from injury…
The other day, one of my sisters sent through a photo of her six month old son, on our family What’s App chat.
This is not a very unusual occurrence because – after all – we, like so many families, use What’s App as a mechanism to stay in touch and to share images of the little ones from time to time… But what was unusual was that in the photo, the little baby was sitting up – for the first time – on his own.
And I have been reflecting on that photo of a cute smiling little baby as I have been reflecting on the Grace of the Holy Trinity in my life.
You see, in that photo, that little baby was sitting up nice and straight and turned to smile at the camera as his mother took a photo, but he was not sitting all alone. You see, he was only new to sitting up alone, and so his mother did what any sensible mother would do – she took precautions. What did they look like? Well, they looked like cushions. That is right. My sister placed pretty much every single cushion that she owned around her precious little boy and made sure that they were close enough to him so that if he took a tumble, he would not injure himself.
And I have been thinking about those cushions today. Because it is highly likely that a little tiny baby, like my nephew, would take a tumble or two as he was learning to sit up straight and balance on his own. And so – I know from my own experience as a mother – and also from common sense – that it is highly likely that my little baby nephew will be surrounded by cushions for some time.
And what does this mean? Why does this remind me of Grace? Well – that is the easy part… You see, sitting up straight is what we do when God allows us to experience suffering in our lives. That is when we are asked – by God, our Creator – to trust Him, because He knows that we can do it and He knows that we can manage it. But He also knows that we are weak – just like a little baby who is trying to sit up straight all by himself for the first time. And that means that God does not just throw us out there into a cacophony of suffering with no cushion. He makes sure we are surrounded by cushions – in the form of GRACE – so that if we do take a tumble as we learn how to suffer, we will not be permanently or seriously injured in a spiritual sense, but instead, we will take a tumble and land on a cushion and still be alright.
And the most wonderful thing about that, is that a tumble is a scary thing. Most babies who fall back from sitting up start to cry from fright, even if they are not injured because they are so afraid of the tumble itself. And my soul is no different. When I am unable to bear the suffering that God choses to allow me, I too cry out in fright… Lucky for me, I am surrounded by Grace, because fright is a very different thing from injury…
And so, as I look at the photograph of my beautiful little nephew, I cannot help but consider the cushions. Because the Lord of the Universe, has surrounded me with them – and I barely even notice…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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