I want to share a thought from this week from a friend who said (paraphrased) “The wisdom words I’m reading at 47 are different than when I read them at 27. They are different than when I was 37. They will probably be different when I am 57”. The wisdom words are meant to be read again and again. To grow and change with us as we grow and change.
We’re going to bring together our wisdom words we read this morning and the children’s story.
First, let’s take a moment to bask in the “rest” that we are offered in these words. PAUSE.
Next, we should look at the word “yoke” from the reading. Often yoke means to bind in a way that is more of being tied, bound, or trapped. A type of slavery as echoed from the Old Testament. But that’s not what Jesus is saying here. Jesus is using the word yoke as a form of union, connection, united. The same, but different.
We can yoke ourselves and unite ourselves to a path. We can yoke ourselves and unite ourselves to an inspiration. Jesus, perhaps, could be something that we choose to yoke ourselves to. That burden is “light and easy”. We can yoke ourselves to grace, to God, or to the universal energy. The possibilities are beautiful and endless. What is it that we choose to yoke to and where does it lead?
These are big questions and they take time and space for introspection and self examination. Perhaps to rest in the heart of God is the best place to begin. What have we chosen and where does it lead?
Perhaps also we should also ask ourselves where have we strayed? Where have we made mistakes? Where have we missed the mark? If we’re not careful mistakes can unintentionally yoke us to something that’s not so good. Like guilt, shame, and hopelessness.
Deep introspection is often messy and scary. Perhaps this is why it’s important to have deep introspection with the type of “rest”offered in the reading. PAUSE. That place where we are deeply held. A place where we can deeply rest. A place where we are infinitely safe. It is in those places where we can engage in a sort of truth seeking and confession. I made a mistake. I missed the mark. I strayed. I want to change.
A place where we can cry and begin anew. To re-yoke ourselves to what truly matters.
Sometimes we don’t even notice what we’ve yoked ourselves to. We yoke ourselves to money and stuff and desires and power. We yoke ourselves to outgrown stories and old wrongs. We become lost. We feel alone.
The best place to begin is in this “rest”, resting in the heart of Grace. When we’re held, we can truly rest and truly trust. We can renew ourselves in the path of love. We can tighten the ties of our yoking. Or…we can choose for the first time to yoke ourselves to something bigger than ourselves and our stuff and outdated stories, traumas, hurts, and grudges. Those lead down a sad and dark path. Love leads…well, just ponder where that might lead. PAUSE. We can fall into Love. We might see clearly for the first time.
It is when we are held and loved, and in that loving space that we are safe enough to look deeply. And know that Grace is always with us. It’s like our breath. Sometimes we forget to breathe, but the next moment we can rest and connect with that which is bigger than ourselves.
There are mirrors everywhere. Friends are one of the greatest of mirrors. In the kids’ story the friendship is just such a blessing. It’s not just a blessing for the two friends. It’s not even just a blessing for the two families. It’s a blessing to all! Everyone in the village. Why?
True friendships mirror relationships of strength, confession, comfort, compassion. This might be why Jesus as friend is so powerful. We have our friends as children. We have our friends in our learning years. We have friends as we move toward and into our Wisdom Years.
A really good friendship will help us to see what we don’t want to see in ourselves. They help us see and sort through our mistakes with honesty and introspection. With compassion. They help us to shine forth the best version of ourselves, unafraid of being misunderstood. They help us to stay found in this world.
Looking deeper within is not easy and full of simple grace. Sometimes, there’s the burning bushes and the wrestlings to get to the other side. Ever notice that every encounter with an angel is terrifying? The first words are usually somethings like: “fear not.”
The digging is hard. There’s pain and grief. There are regrets and there are those cringe worthy moments. It’s often so obvious looking back, because we know more. We have all the pieces to the puzzle, or maybe not all, but a lot more. We’re not meant to have all the puzzle pieces as we’re living our life. We’re meant to work through the puzzle pieces one by one. Do these cringe worthy moments make us less? Do they make us unworthy?
Only if we don’t begin to learn from them. Only if we forget to truth seek in ourselves.
Learning takes quiet and rest. It takes introspection. It takes a pause to re-yoke ourselves to what matters. To remind ourselves, that we are all in this together. Wise thought of the week: perhaps we should not look at the Fourth of July as Independence Day, but as Interdependence Day. A day when we remind ourselves that we are yoked to one another. Another word for yoke is union. Another word for yoke United.
We hold up mirrors for one another. And when we have our red and our blue coats on, we can’t see clearly. We become “yoked” to our way of seeing things, our people, our teams, our side, me and mine and I. Maybe when we’re only seeing red or seeing blue it’s time to pause. To stop looking at the coats and look into faces. To see the eyes of one another, including ourselves. To see friendship in another’s face. To see our shared humanity. And perhaps even our shared divinity.
And when we see the color of “bad”, what do we do with that? Sometimes it’s so overwhelming we turn away, we bury our heads, or it’s so appalling we pull out our video cameras. We point our fingers and judge. We begin to see other people as different than us and defined by their behaviors.
But what could we do with it?
We could see our shared humanity. Faults are universal. And when we choose to yoke ourselves to one another, we see even the color “bad” as like us. Often the faults we dislike the most are ones that are echoed in some way within us. We can begin to see…oh, yeah, that was me, is me, or could be me. And the terrible things? Somewhere behind that terrible behavior is a human story. Somewhere behind that terrible behavior is another human being.
The color of “good”? Look for it! It’s so easy to get lost so sometimes we have to look for the color of “good” (around us and in us—don’t miss the small things…those small things add up). And perhaps for a time that’s all we need. But there is a next step. What do we do with it? PAUSE. We can emulate it.
It’s easy to see the good and admire it from afar. To look at those good people as something special and unique. But perhaps we could yoke it to ourselves. Look at the good and also say I can do that and then do it, even and especially when it’s hardest. It is a path of love and will lighten the burdens, not just for us, but for one another.
Let’s get past the coats and look into faces. To see the eyes of one another. To see friendship in one another’s faces. To seek out our shared humanity. To seek our shared divinity. To seek out the thing that God loves in each of us.
Invitation One: this week explore what it is you are yoked too. And where that path is leading you. Maybe there’s a shift to be made? Maybe you’re reminded you’re on the right path?
Invitation Two: (from the kids book) explore one mistake you’ve made.
Next write down at least three things you learned from that mistake. Remember hindsight is 20/20—this is where that comes in handy.
And lastly, notice how you have grown spiritually from that mistake.
Community Church of North Orange & Tully 