Today we considered several lessons from the Upper Room. We read “Blind Spots,” “Live for Christ,” and “Do Not Lose Heart.” The scripture for the last mentioned was Isaiah 41:10 (NRSV) “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God.” In our discussion of this devotion which urged us “not to look back and become preoccupied with mistakes of the past,” Mitch mentioned that we sometimes overlook the time and effort required for development, for example, spiritual development. This reminded me of our visit to Busch Gardens (see previous blog) and the performance we saw of acrobats doing amazing things, such as balancing on five or six towering layers of items, all unstable. Watching the show, I was tempted at times to say “ho hum” too easily forgetting the probability that no one in the large audience including me could balance on even one layer nailed down much less the feat being accomplished on stage. The relevant phrase is that those greatly accomplished can “make it look easy.” We too often forget the vast amount of skill, talent, and practice required. This can be true also of spiritual development. When witnessing saints of the church it can be easy to take their spiritual achievements for granted and assume attaining them was a piece of cake.
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The Agonies and Ecstasies that daily keep our brains buzzing and hearts compassionate
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