“Come to me, all of you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28-30

What is the limiting yoke or burden for each of us at this time now in our life?                                                                     

At 89 with Alzheimer’s, my limits are becoming legion and my most recent new burden has been loneliness.  But I have discovered that by accepting the new limits of each stage of our lives we can, with grace, find new sources of peace and even joy.  As an extravert, moving to Memphis where I had no friends and living with family who worked most of the time left me alone and lonely. While loneliness has made me really appreciate my friends here when I come back to Dickson for three months, it has also taught me to find grace in solitude, a very new experience for me. So, this challenge has become a gift in this part of my spiritual journey. I have found that each stage of life involves a letting go. Our times right now are challenging us to recognize not only our own limits, but those of humanity .The vulnerability of human limits, as both individuals and as humanity, is scary.  And Greed, power, anger, and addiction to pleasure are easier to live with than fear. Fear is actually the root of evil! Faith is the gift that can give us hope enough to face our fears. Though Faith is a gift, we have to let go of our personal way of escaping fear. It’s like being part of a trapeze act and having that moment of letting go to get across the void to safety.                                                                                                      The good news is that Hope based on faith can free us to love as Jesus loved. He understood that fear motivated his enemies. This understanding freed him to not only forgive, but to love them. He even trusted the Love of God when he felt that God had forsaken Him. Let that sink in! Jesus himself felt forsaken by God, but chose to trust. And two thousand years later, His enemies then are long dead, but Jesus lives on in us.  We are a called and chosen people! And right now, we are all being called to forgive like Jesus. When we choose to trust God, the Spirit that freed Jesus will free us from fear and enable us to forgive and love even our enemies.  This is our call. Are we responding to it?                                                                    Let us pray now for grace: “Lord we are frightened children of all ages in a world that seems to be spiraling out of control. But the times when Jesus walked this earth were the same for His people then. Give us the gift of faith to trust your love as Jesus did. Help us open our hearts and minds to the grace of your Love so we can pass it on, even to those we fear.”