My day started out something like this….I’m finishing up homework in one of my counseling classes and learning about Attachment Theory, which in short, presumes that  all humans form attachments with those closest to us (like family) that, when healthy, produce feelings of dependency, safety, security, well-being, optimism, and give us a sense of identity in the bigger world. When those attachments become strained or severed for any number of reasons, it can have a profound effect in every part of our lives, producing grief, loss, trauma, lack of security and separation anxiety….

So, OF COURSE, when my husband stopped by my desk to see if I needed coffee he found me surrounded by a pile of fluffy, slightly used Kleenexes, blowing my nose and assuring him I was “fine” when clearly I was not….but one of the things we have come to understand about this new reality where grief is companionable one moment and a roaring lion the next is that the language of grief really has no words….just slightly used Kleenexes and pink-ish-tipped noses, and after a quick hug he scuttled down the stairs to retrieve the coffee that I was clearly in desperate need of!

The gospel-writer, John tells of an event that Matthew, Mark and Luke do not, which isn’t so unusual for John….he’s the disciple who writes in a way that not only tells us stories of the life of Jesus, but makes us feel them as well (so, ya know….I kinda get him!)

After yesterday’s parade-entry into Jerusalem, Jesus spoke these words to a crowd:

“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is, destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.”                                                                        John 12: 24, 25 (The Message)

There’s been lots of talk in recent days about what the future may look like after we are out of our homes and back to whatever “normal” may be, and while none of us can completely know that yet, this word from Jesus just jumped off the page to me today…

“But if you let it go….reckless in your love….you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.” 

I think that’s a pretty good place to put our hope, don’t you? Maybe some of our ways of doing things need an overhaul and maybe the seeds of today’s efforts need to be buried in the ground during these days of silence so God can breathe new life into them, producing new ideas, new focus, new hope…  So, maybe if we can be reckless in our letting it all go, we’ll have even more than before! And not just bread for today, but for all eternity!

Being made new,

Shellie