If you fall, fall on your back. If you can look up, you can get up. Les Brown
Meditation: Today I walked out of a nail place after a pedicure with those floppy little sandals. I was on the phone with one hand, holding my shoes in the other hand. And it was raining. So, within seconds I found myself flat on my back. I was perplexed. I did not expect to fall. I had not fallen down in a long time. I fell in a way that my right leg was wet and bruised and my right elbow had taken a hit, but I could move my arm. Thank God, nothing broken! I got in my car, grateful that I did not fall on my head. Yes, my thinking is clear. My elbow needs ice, and it will be swollen for a while. But I could get up. I even felt protected somehow. It could have been worse!
Many of us feel like we have taken a collective sudden fall. We did not expect it, but the conditions were right: We were preoccupied with life, took things for granted, got distracted, thought things were going just fine. And then, without warning, with the sudden rain kicking in, plus a misfit of footwear and no hands prepared to hold on, we fell flat on our backs. It hurts! This experience feels disorienting and humbling. And we feel bruised… Thank God, we are not broken. Maybe we are even more alive than before. Pain has a way of elevating awareness.
Prayer: Living God, suddenly we are not taking anything for granted anymore. We fell. We are in pain. And yet, we are looking up to you. We are able to get up. Disoriented some, perplexed. The politics around us feel oppressive. We feel the pain of those persecuted. We experience that just and fair policies are being struck down. We feel pressured by the daily news. We feel pain for those crushed and impacted by the new laws. We listen to your promise: “You won’t abandon us”. God, lift our Spirit, heal those who feel scared and broken, so we won’t despair. Amen
“We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair, we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. “2. Corinthians 4:8-10
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