Earlier this week someone I admire referred to his faith as a tether - something which, through the course of his life, kept him from drifting too far off the track or too far into the storms of life. We all need the tether of faith - without it we can lose our way along the path or flounder adrift at sea. And yet, as the story of Jesus and the man who was unable to relinquish his possessions illustrates, it is all too easy to tether our faith to the wrong anchor and wind up running through life in constricting circles. When I tether my faith to any of the idols that give me comfort - possessions, security or self-image - I wind up chasing my tail. It is only in those moments when I have the courage to tether myself to the God of adventure, the One who calls me to "lose my life in order to find it," that I feel like my running has both joy and purpose.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Running in Circles
I believe it was Mark Nepo who told a story about walking through a field one day and noticing at a distance a man walking his two dogs. The dogs seemed to be excited by the cool fall air, and were both running excitedly: one in a straight line, and the other in circles. The dog running in circles oddly kept doing just that: running in circles as he kept up with his master. Struck by this unique behavior, he approached the man and inquired as to why the dog would behave in this way. The man simply said that as a puppy, the dog had never ventured outside of a crate, and that even when liberated from his confines into the great outdoors, the dog had never learned any other way to run.
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Your story reminds me of another I heard recently about God holding each of us in relationship by a string, cord, or tether of love. When we turn away from God, it's like we cut that cord that binds us to God. When we turn to God for forgiveness, then God ties the cord again, securely, granting us forgiveness, and we are even closer to God than before, as the cord shortens in the process of the knot having been tied. I've thought that the same image might be used to describe our connections to anyone we encounter on our journey.
ReplyDeleteI try to work at recognizing when I've carelessly cut the tether that ties me to others or to God, and, then practice trying to turn back to God or to the other person to ask for forgiveness. It is this practice of cultivating forgiveness in which I have found the most challenge and the most spiritual growth.