Let Me Teach You (2)
/Scripture
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. …. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29 NLT)
Let Me Teach You (2)
We are voracious devourers of information, some of it because of our vocation, or curiosity, or addiction to the various social media. Perversely the more we devour in bite sized chunks the stupider we get. Our ability to concentrate for long periods and explore issues deeply is proven to diminish measurably.
Concentrating on face-to-face conversation also becomes a greater challenge – we want others to finish the thought, get to the point. We lose capacity for watching for nuance, body language and emotional subtleties that give us important information that isn’t easily recognized.
We put our faith journey in a similar fix – we acquire information, ideas, come to conclusions about truth – and miss the one who is the Truth and desires to teach us. We look for answers, wisdom, direction, guidance when most importantly we are offered relationship, presence.
And this is done face-to-face, in the quiet of imagining his look, his words, his touch. It takes time, space and quiet, both external and internal. Let’s quiet some part of our week to watch and listen and experience the God who comes to us directly in Jesus.
A Prayer for Today
O God, we fall silent and remember him who came because words were not enough. Setting our wisdom, our will, our words aside, emptying our hearts, and bringing nothing in our hands, we yearn for the healing, the holding, the accepting, the forgiving which Christ alone can offer.