Expectant in Bethlehem: Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

The Lord is my strength and my shield;
   my heart trusts in him, and I have been helped;
Therefore my heart dances for joy,
   and in my song will I praise him.
The Lord is the strength of his people,
   a safe refuge for his anointed.   Psalm 28:8-10

“Ok, today I am in my calm mode.”

“That’s because you are not picking up perfection from the floor,” my friend quips.

I look at him quizzically. Then I realize he means Perfection, a children’s game that comes with a lot of small pieces. He knows all about the “game-falling-out-of-my-coat-closet” incident that occurred the other day. And he is correct. The name of the game that played havoc with my morning last week is Perfection.

I am arrested by the image he has invoked. Yes, life is much less stressful when I leave perfection alone, and do not attempt to pick it up once I drop it. Of course the very idea that I am able to uphold perfection in the first place is flawed. My humanity is showing.

I sometimes believe I can measure my level of stress by the number of balls I am dropping. What would life look like if I only juggled as many balls as I could handle? What if I allowed myself to focus on the task at hand and employ the time necessary to complete it? What if I remember that the number of balls I can juggle has no real effect upon the salvation of the world? What if I remember to rely on God?  After all, the work of salvation has been completed, has been perfected, by the one who holds the job title of Savior.

I think leaving perfection on the floor and walking away is a good idea.


copyright © Anne E. Kitch 2012