There are days when I open my eyes and wish I awoke to a simpler world. Pandemics, politics, racial injustice, loss, grief, violence, and senseless hate, crowd us on every side. It is a hard time to be human! Life is wearying and difficult. Most people I know are struggling with some level of anxiety or depression. We are all being pushed to shift, change and pivot at a constant rate.
The ancient wisdom of the scriptures says, “Do not grow weary in doing good.” (Galatians 6:9). Or as the old hymn says, “They will know we are Christians by our love.” But if I am honest, it feels like complexity and questions wear me down. I want to embrace the simple way of love, but all too often weariness creeps into my soul no matter how hard I try to keep it out.
Jesus said that all the Law and the prophets hang on two things: love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). It sounds so simple, and yet it feels so impossible some days.
That is why we are starting this new series called A Hidden Wholeness. We are borrowing that phrase from Parker Palmer’s book by the same name. We live in a world filled with the forces of fragmentation. There are so many different things to care about! How can we map out a journey towards an undivided life? How can we begin to live in ways that are congruent with who God has made us to be in solitude and then also lived out authentically in community with others in this world? Those are the questions that will guide us in this series, and 2 Corinthians 4 will be our main scripture passage. Maybe you want to read it ahead of time?
I hope you’ll join us as we move together into a hidden wholeness.
Susie Grade 