Wait...hold it!
Do I really want to know?
Honestly,
I am
thoroughly
and
profoundly
TERRIFIED
of what Your will might be.
Is it Your will that I make some sacrifice?
I can make sacrifices.
I can give up anything,
everything,
except the stuff I want to keep.
Is it Your will that I suffer?
If I say, "Thy will be done,"
am I gonna get walloped by something?
Father in heaven,
where do we stand?
As I see it,
You want me
to love You
above all things,
with all my heart,
and all my soul,
and all my mind,
and all my strength.
What do I want?
I want to love You
as much as I can...
as long as I can do other things too,
and as long as it doesn't get inconvenient.
When that happens,
I want to negotiate.
What are the rules?
What do I absolutely have to do
in order to avoid...
you know...the Other Place.
I know I don't want to go there.
I want to love You, really.
But I want to clear some space
where I can just take it easy,
where I can do my will
without offending You, of course
(or, at least, not too much).
What do I want?
I want to be a good person.
I want to have a good life.
I want to make some sacrifices for higher things,
but I would like to be secure in my basic comforts.
(n.b. "basic" means "first world basic")
I want money.
Of course I mean "honest" money;
I wouldn't dream of stealing.
In fact, I don't want to dream about stealing,
so I beg You to give me invincible ignorance
about where it all comes from
and whose getting ripped off.
After all, there's nothing I can do about that. Right?
I really love my wife.
And I will be faithful to her.
I also want to make my wife happy,
and I'm willing to work on that...up to a point...
beyond which I hope we can make a deal to put up with each other.
I want economic security (i.e. money).
Children? Oh yes!
I want wonderful children who will raise themselves.
But since they can't do that, of course I'm willing to help them.
I love my children.
I really do.
I want to fulfill my role as "father"
(By the way, what the heck does that mean?
How do I know I'm doing it right?)
I want better health,
but not so good that I lose my excuse for being lazy, heh.
Actually, I wish my health were so good
that I never felt the need to be lazy.
I want to maintain a good standard of living (i.e. I want money).
I want to do important work.
I want (easy) access to the resources
that can assist me
in this important work
(which means I need money).
I want to educate people.
In fact, I like nothing better than to teach them about You!
I really do want them to love You.
I hope they will love You more than I do.
I also hope they will love me.
I worry that maybe they don't love me.
I want them to praise You, O Lord.
I also want them to praise me...
obviously not the way they praise you,
oh no no no no.
I just want a little ego gravy.
And, of course
I hope they will pay me
some money
so that....
"Enough!" says the Lord God. "I already know these things you are telling Me."
And the Lord God says, "Here is what displeases me: this word "worry". I do not approve of this word."
"Why do you worry?
Why are you afraid?"
Ummm....oh, heh, that....well...
I'm afraid...that...maybe...I'm not...um...
loved.
And the Lord God is silent.
Oh...ah...of course I KNOW that You love me!
You created me, and give me my being,
and You sent Your Son who died on the cross for me....
"But...."
Hmmm. ...but I'm afraid.
I'm afraid because....
Sometimes it just seems so strange, the whole thing.
Here I am, a screwed up human being.
Why me?
Why should I be loved?
I mean...there's nothing worth loving here,
nothing,
I don't deserve to be loved...certainly not by You.
You know I'm nothing but a sham.
I've never done anything....
I kept on talking but I couldn't hear myself anymore. There was only the weight of His arms around me as He lifted me and drew me to Himself. And then it was quiet.
