Going Sane

Lord, You know those trust games people play at team-building retreats? You close your eyes and let yourself fall back, trusting your team partner will catch you. Well, I just realized, I am doing that here. I mean, this is a practice in trust. Every day I show up, trusting You will show up. And then, encapsulated in that, I am trusting You are You, You are good, You will speak truth. And that I am not crazy.

With all the evidence you have, from all your years with Me, you’d be crazier not to believe, not to trust. I want to talk to you about expectancy. 12-step recovery programs warn about expectations, about putting trust in others.

Yes, they say that sets a person up for disappointment, and resentments. 

But the very foundation of a successful program in recovery rests on a key assumption and expectation: that a “power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

Yes.

So in this case, one particular expectation leads directly away from “crazy” — and that is trust and reliance outside oneself. When you rely on Me, you are relying on first, in the words of the program, a Power Greater. A Power Available. But I Am so much more, as you know, than a Power. I Am a Person, Who loves you. So you are not relying on a Power, you are relying on a Person.

Yes, right.

So let’s use this language for a minute. What in your life feels crazy right now?

Well, talking to You may seem crazy to others, but it is one place, sometimes the only place, that seems sane. The government shutdown, with lots of blame being shouted back and forth, seems crazy to me right now. It affects so many people!

Aren’t you glad My Kingdom, My Power, is not cut off?

Yes, Lord, I am. Thank you. It seems crazy to me the way women, a lot of women, are still being treated. It seems crazy to me that in our society we still have folks, right now, tonight, who are hungry and who are cold–right in this country, in this community. And I am talking about everybody from folks who should be in safe, caring institutions, who don’t have the mental or emotional resources to care for themselves; to people who are struggling with addictions; to those who simply need a break, who are eager and able to work, who can’t seem to make ends meet. God, we as a planet, we have so much need. And so much greed. That seems crazy to me. And You said, bring my burdens to You. So. There You go.

Do you remember the story you heard years ago? About how a person had a vision of heaven and hell? About how in hell all these people had long-handled spoons permanently affixed to their hands, and while surrounded by plenty of food, they were all starving, because the spoons were too long to reach their mouths? And then the person had a glimpse of heaven, and all the people there had the long-handled spoons, and how upsetting that was, because the people looked the same?

I remember. 

And what was different?

In the view of heaven, all the people were satisfied, because they fed one another. Their spoons could easily reach the mouths of their neighbors.

Yes. Now this is more a view of earth, than of the afterlife. It is a teaching vision, a teaching story.

So what is my part? Feed my neighbor, right?

You cannot do everything. But you can do something. The invitation you received today, to do a specific action to help ESL children in your community, the one you said yes to–that was well said. Everything in your heart leapt up to say yes to that opportunity. And then, you began to wonder how you would find the time, what others even in your own family might say in response, and you began to doubt the wisdom of your yes. But I Am here to say, thank you. You will receive so much joy from this yes, and you will give so much joy and so much hope.

Lord, it was wild! All those years ago, I had this thought, this “I wish I could” thought, and it was doing the exact same thing, only with Native American kids, out west!

And so it begins. Be at peace, little one. Every discerned yes only adds to the foundation of this life you so long to continue to build, in Me. Keep looking to Me for guidance, keep asking Me for direction, and I will guide you and bless you in paths that are perfect for you–perfectly fit to your longings and to your gifts. And remember, you cannot out-give God.

So I am not going crazy?

I would say you are going saner and saner–which may mean, you will look crazier and crazier to others, not all others, but to those who are farthest in outlook from Me.

Ok, Lord. And again, thank You.