Living reverentially

Dear God, this is Kelley.

When I was with hundreds of other people watching the eclipse, I felt so connected, so good, so … reverential. It didn’t matter what the others believe, how they vote, what they do. We were united by a willed stepping away in order to be awed.

But seconds later, God, we lost that unity. We lowered our eyes and entered once again into our divisions. We protect ourselves, we think, by hunkering down and looking at others as if they are our enemies.

I feel overwhelmed. I can’t fix this. I can’t fix my own problems. It’s easy, then, to lose hope, to consider this world trashed, and to stay immovably in this … mess.

That isn’t Christian. That isn’t faith. That isn’t what You made us to be. And what we did to counter Your will, what others do to mess things up, what Satan does to disorder things, NONE of that amounts to anything when it comes up against YOU.

How do I enact this truth, Lord? How do I replace the overwhelm with this faith? A few things come immediately to mind:

• I stop complaining, about anything.

• I slow down.

• I look others in the eye, and I remind myself they are most likely carrying as much baggage as I am.

Just these three things will help me to inch my way back to living reverentially. May I use Your grace to do just this.

Reflection

How can you make more effort to live reverentially?

Prayer

Dear God, we know we want to live in reverence, and it’s easy until other people come into view! Help us to see we’re those “other people” for other people! Help us to see what matters and what doesn’t matter. We walk on sacred ground. It is Your ground. May we work to nurture mindfulness of this truth. Amen.