Being the Beloved - A Monthly Blog from CFDM Northwest
By Rev. Stan Jacobson
The image of eight years ago is still etched in my mind. The vivid mental picture is a large, Yellowstone National Park meadow with a trail meandering through the center of the meadow. It was on that trail that I was walking nearly eight years ago. There was tall prairie grass waving in the wind while spotted throughout the meadow were the charred remains of the jack pines, a reminder of the devastation of past wildfires. Wildfires destroyed thirty-six percent of the park in 1988 and yet, as I walked through the meadow there was beauty, the beauty of new growth, wildflowers in full bloom and new trees reaching out toward the sun. It was there that the Lord spoke to me with the words, “Out of the dust of ashes and death comes new life.” Words much needed, for you see, only weeks before, my wife of forty years had died of cancer.
Now, once again my heart is ripped apart, tears of anguish over the pain and destruction of Ukraine. This is the first time my heart has been broken over an international conflict occurring thousands of miles away. What does an image of a meadow in Yellowstone have to do with my broken heart over Ukraine?
A few weeks ago, I met with my spiritual director, and we talked about the brokenness of my heart for the people of Ukraine. It was in that conversation that I came to realize that to have a broken heart over the pain of others is a gift from God, for God’s heart also breaks with the pain and agony of others. Not only is such a broken heart a gift from God, it is also a form of prayer. From the depths of a broken heart come groans too deep for words as the Apostle wrote, “God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.” (The Message, Romans 8: 26)
And now to the image from Yellowstone: God in Jesus Christ is the One who takes our pain and brings life, takes our grief and brings newness, who takes death and brings resurrection, who takes all that would destroy creation and brings about unimaginable newness. That is the Hope that holds me, even for the people of Ukraine. May it come true, in God’s ways and in God’s time!
What books, media, activities are nurturing your heart, soul, mind, strength in this season as we are loving God and our neighbor as ourselves? Post in the comments below or hop on over to our Facebook page and share with one another.