Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
The scribes and the Pharisees tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.
—Matthew 23.4, 6-8
Beware the voices around you or within you that claim to lead you by dispensing demands and guilt. They won’t teach you anything. Don’t follow what gives you shame; follow what gives you life, what sets you free. Don’t listen to the teachers who will show you what it’s like when everybody likes you and agrees with you. Listen to the ones who lead you toward the grace-full presence of the Holy One.
Don’t try to learn from what everybody else wants you to hear. Learn from your own doubting questions. Don’t trust the teachers who know a lot. Trust the ones who are still learning, for we are all students. Trust that God wishes to be your rabbi, to reveal herself to you in your life, in your way, in your heart and mind and experience.
You will grow in wisdom not by a greater command of the facts, but by a deeper openness to God’s presence. God is not outside of you waiting for you to figure out how to get there. God is within you, leading you. Listen to the voice of wisdom within you. It’s not a voice of certainty, but a voice of wonder, of openness, of learning. Open your mind to every moment as an opportunity for the Present One to be revealed to you. Enter every moment as a learner of wonder, a student of God. Trust the silent teacher within.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
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Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net