Over the Edge of the Boat

 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

 

Even in the presence of Jesus, it is too easy for us to be afraid of the wind and waves of life that threaten our peace. Sometimes we have to ask ourselves, ‘what would it take for me to stop doubting and start believing?’ But no matter what we see or experience, we still find a reason to doubt. Jesus could have easily let Peter sink to the cold depths of the sea for being scared of the wind and waves. After all, if Jesus Himself calls you out of the boat and causes you to literally walk on the surface of the water, wouldn’t THAT be enough to stop doubting and begin believing? 

Yet, as Peter’s fear took over his faith, Christ Jesus still reached out His hand with speed and haste and caught Peter before his own failure spelled his doom. 

This is a perfect parallel to the Grace that Jesus showed us on the cross: God commendeth His own love toward us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He doesn’t demand perfection first. He’ll sanctify and edify and reprove his children later. He only asks for you to step out of the boat, and to walk toward Him. He’s going to catch you, He’s going to save you, just where you are, just how you are. 

The Earworm

In the barren wasteland of my mind is a small hole in the ground. 

Within that hole, a creature lives a quiet and unassuming life, far away from the reaches of my cognition. 

I don't know him very well, but he recently began whistling a tune. I have never heard this tune before, but it is the catchiest darn melody I've ever encountered. 

I really can't remember this ever happening before. I've been writing songs for the better part of 10 years and I usually labor laboriously over the melodies. If you haven't noticed, words come way more easily. 

But for the last 3 weeks, this catchy little quirky melody has been whistling in my head day and night nonstop. Such noise for a usually empty brain! 

This little earworm creature usually is pleased to play songs I've heard before like "It's a Small World After All" or "Baby Shark", and for that, I'm hoping an earbird comes along and eats him. 

But alas, I'm stuck with a new, original, unforgiving melody. 

I feel like it's a great allegory for life (don't I always when searching for blog material?). Sometimes, we strive so hard for something that will happen almost by complete accident later. When it does come, all we need to do is let it happen and enjoy it. 

Lately, I've found tremendous comfort in just letting things happen. 

But enough with the snow job. This melody is driving me crazy. Hoping for meaningful lyrics!

...or an early earbird. 

Exacting Perfect Revenge

I would have invited them to carve the Thanksgiving turkey had I known they were this good at stabbing in the back. But, no matter, now that they've made a Caesar salad out of me (et tu, croutons?), I do what everyone learns to do when someone hurts their wittle feelings: I walk it off. 

And I plan the perfect revenge. Oh yes. After everything that made me sad, made me miserable, and that I certainly didn't deserve, it's time that my offenders learn exactly what it feels like to be hurt, betrayed, and implicitly mocked every time I'm reminded by someone. Because, again, I didn't deserve it. But they very obviously do. 

What could possibly feel more liberating to a hurting soul than to hurt another soul harder? All the impulses of the bleeding heart cry for a one-sided and tunnel-visioned justice that will promptly stamp out the source of pain and discomfort and set right what was set wronged. 

But is that actually going to bring peace? Is that what I truly want? If justice is to be completely satisfied, then I should be thrust into the incoming destruction in tandem with the perceived evils I wish to have vanquished as well. Then the victory to me would be more hollow than a dead tree. A hollow dead tree. Trying to paint a picture here. 

I feel like I could write a whole book on my personal journey with forgiveness. I've had very uncomfortable encounters with people in the past that were objectively wrong in my direction. Each time, I had to make a speedy decision to forgive. To just let it go. To let the offender get their own hurt out of their system so that I could move on and heal without spreading the poison elsewhere. Each time, the challenge was a little harder, but the forgiveness came more readily with practice. 

So why is this particular episode extra hard? Well, if you've followed my recent series of unfortunate events, you'll get a quick picture of why it's easy for me to feel like I've been kicked when I was down. I'll give you a quick summary: When things got tough, the girl I loved left me to marry the fellow she was seeing on the side, and right after that, there were a few family health scares and a damaged water pipe causing catastrophic water damage to 3/4 of the house I lived in. Everything happened at once. None of it could be helped, but that first thing felt extremely personal. 

I wasn't ready to move on. It was my first heartbreak and it came at the worst time. There were so many cross and harsh words I wanted to say. But I couldn't articulate a single one. So I gave up. No more fighting. No begging. I didn't deserve to have anyone, I thought. So in resignation, I published a book of poetry that encapsulated all my feelings about our long, tumultuous romance and its unexpected and abrupt ending then released it on my first Valentine's Day alone.  That'll show her. 

It didn't show her. She never read it. She doesn't know it exists. But it sure showed me. It showed me how deep my wounds were. It showed me how many wounds I had. Some wounds were my own making. Some wounds she made. Some wounds were from none of us and I have no clue where they came from. The darkness set in. 

Anyway, read the last two blog posts to get a picture of my feelings since that point. No need to hash that out again (again). But now I was ready to move on. In the midst of injustice, all my heart longed for was satisfaction. Any satisfaction. So in walks God. 

Actually, He had been there the whole time. I was too sad to see. Over the course of the year, I spent time reading God's Word, praying in tears, and I let myself feel feelings so that I could learn how to navigate them. Here's what God taught me:

1. He's listening. Psalm 66:17-20

2. He chastens those He loves. Proverbs 3:12

3. He is my source of Strength (remember this one, it's important). Psalm 46:1

4. He will fight for me. Psalm 34

5. He will direct my steps. Psalm 37:23-24

6. He will avenge those who wrong me. Psalm 40:11-16

At this point, I was ecstatic. All these great lessons and now, like Jonah under the shade of the gourd, I awaited the destruction of those who had so horrifically wronged me. But there was one more lesson God wanted to teach me:

 

7. He will forgive those who forgive. Ephesians 4:31-32; Mark 11:25; Matthew 6:15; Matthew 18:21-22; Colossians 3:13; Matthew 5:23-24; Matthew 5:7; James 5:16 

But how can I? My broken heart longs to be patched up. If I forgive what was done to me, I would have to let the one who hurt me go free. You see, as a Christian, I have a very unique insight into what forgiveness is. Jesus paid the penalty for the sins I would commit before I ever repented of them. Complete forgiveness for me, even though I never deserved it. He has separated me from my sin as far as the East is from the West. He threw all my iniquities into the depths of the sea. As much as I never wanted to, God clearly tapped my shoulder to tell me now it is my turn to forgive. 

Ok, I'll do it after I heal a bit from the heartbreak. I'd hate to relinquish all the hurt she owes me only to be hurt again. But is that really forgiveness if there's no more hurting? 

At best, that's just calling a truce. 

Maybe I'll send her a card expressing my well wishes and that'll accidentally remind her about all the horrible and definitely evil things she did to me. Then when she says sorry, I'll triumphantly forgive her, scoring the winning round! But is that really forgiveness if I'm doing it to prove a point? 

At best, that's revenge. 

No, my friends. The time for forgiveness is now. When I'm hurt. When she doesn't ask for it. When nobody deserves it. When I won't get peace from it, or social clout from it, or recognition from it, or any kind of special favors. For it to be true forgiveness like Christ's, then the one who did me so wrong walks away freely, owing nothing more to me, with a record that shines clean like it never happened. 

Can a feeble, broken heart bear the heavy weight of such a task? Only in Christ. Cliche it may sound, it is only through the Strength (remember this lesson?) that comes from God that forgiveness can be offered from me to her. It is only through His direction (and this lesson?) that I can follow through with it. The burdensome fate can only be realized when I wrap myself up completely in the LORD. 

Do this with me: 

-Think of someone who has wronged you. Especially someone who wronged you and got away with it. 

-Tally up in your head every single thing that made it wrong and with it an equal and just punishment to effectively atone for what they did. 

-Now take that list in your head, and destroy it completely. Forget every piece of it. 

With no list of wrongs, no due punishments, this person is to you now just as clean as if they had never done anything wrong to you in the first place. As far as you're concerned, they haven't. 

Congratulations, we just forgave someone together. You know what's cool? We got to display a very significant aspect of God's love for us through our own sufferings. You see, love keeps no record of wrongs, and it endures through everything. If we are called to love one another, what better place to start than to truly forgive each and every person who comes through our short and significant life? Keep this lesson close to you. There will be others who will hurt you, others who will wound your fragile heart. It is your Christian duty, then, to forgive each and every single one -- that is to say, to love them as wholly and deeply as Christ does. It is certainly a task too big for us unless we rely on the Strength and Grace that only comes from our Heavenly Father. 

What could possibly feel more liberating than to forgive those who trespass against us as our Father in Heaven forgives when we trespass against Him?