11/07/2024
"I Don’t Know What Anything Is For"
Over the past several months, Pastor Luna has been giving us the invitation to say to ourselves regularly, “I don’t know what this is for.” We could call this self-message a moment of spiritual humility. Most of us like to know what is going on and why we are making choices.
Every one of us develops certain stories in childhood about how the world works and where we fit in that world. Whether that inner story is more about belonging or not belonging tends to depend on how safe and nurtured we felt as a child. Either way, these stories run like a constant background in our minds. Check in with yourself right now. I suspect that you have a whole set of stories happening in your mind right now–about yesterday’s election, about your body, about relationships, about your finances, about the future, about a recent mistake you made, about everything. I’m not suggesting your stories are right or wrong. I simply want you to see your own inner story factory for a moment.
If there is any part of us that wants to be led by the Holy Spirit, then we need to loosen our grip, loosen our belief, in our own stories. One of the best ways to do this is to say at any moment, “I don’t know what this is for.” Try it. You can look at your hand, or at an election headline, or at your spouse, or your bank account or home or neighborhood, and then say to yourself, “I don’t know what this is for.” Say it a couple of times, if that helps. The goal is to feel your insides relax just a little. That relaxation is the humility that comes when we loosen our attachment to our inner stories, our inner judgments, our iron grip on our view of reality. Now take a breath. The Holy Spirit is ready and willing to enter our hearts and minds and bodies at any moment and show us what’s really true. Spirit, is this something you want me to worry about? Spirit, do you have a job or purpose for me right now? Spirit, am I safe? Spirit, do you love me? All we need to do is ask.
Holy Spirit, in this holy moment, you be in charge
and we will follow you, trusting that your direction leads to peace!