— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
It was one of my first gifts for my wife Lauren. I had drawn it after a picture of a small wooden sculpture of a child faithfully resting in a big hand. I wanted to share with Lauren this beautiful image of complete trust, no fear but the conviction that nothing can happen because I am held in the hand of a God who loves me and no one can pick me out of it.
What a blessing if you have grown up as a child with this deep trust what we call “Urvertrauen”. Nothing seems to be able to steal it. It carries even in deep oceans when the waves around are crashing in on you and your feet don’t quite feel the ground, it is the inner light against the outside darkness, the living water in a long stretch of drought which keeps you going because you know.
It seems some of us were just born with such an unshakable confidence while many others of us are just worrying and seem to have a hard time reaching even a small secure rock to rest on. Our worries and fears seem to eat even up these last resources and the dark of an unsafe(d)* world seems to extinguish the small sparks of light.
Is this just the unfair distribution of genetic information or the unjust fortune into which family we are born which put us onto the solid rock in the surf or leaves us tossed around without something to hold on?
Do we just need to swim harder, to climb higher or run faster to reach safety in our lives? How can I really know that I am safe and nothing can harm? How can we give our children the lasting reassurance that they are safe?
As mammals I believe that it part of our “life insurance” that we are born with an “Urvertrauen” which is nourished by the closeness to our mothers in the first days and weeks and months after birth. But however well fed we were by our mother’s breast, how cozy it felt in her arms as soon as we left the womb and opened our eyes, the reality of this world started tearing on the “Urvertrauen” leaving us in a rising experience of lost safety. Growing up we may have increasingly discarded it as naïve and childish, and replaced it by our own understanding and strength or the growth of our wealth as we lost or never developed the faith in someone bigger than we can imagine. While this need for someone bigger whom we can trust and build our lives on has led and still leads to many “false gods”, I believe learning to trust God is the only way of experiencing a safe place like in the image above in this troubled world.
While it is crucial that the rock we trust in is solid and strong, a God who is all-powerful all-knowing and everywhere present might still be a tyrant, and so it is in realizing His personal love for me when this faith starts carrying me through every day of my life. This faith is achieved by a one-time experience, but builds over time. Time of seeking His presence so we can learn to “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
As we follow Him, we are always called out on the waters like Peter and only there we will find and truly learn to trust God who said: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
Safety is experiential and relational. Only in the company of a loving other, walking side by side we will experience and learn to trust. Jesus walked years with his disciples before all of them would be able to truly say “My Lord and my God“ (John20:28) rendering everything to Him who loved us so much that he saved us so that we one day we may be together with him in a place where nothing can rob us of the certainty of His presence.
Therefore, our calling is to create churches and places, in our families or at work where people can experience being safe, can feel at home. It will be not words but our reliability, our listening ears, our heart-felt hugs, our honesty, our presence in the storms by which we will be able to create a safe harbor in the life of others. That is also why any abuse is so terribly destructive, hard because it frequently happens in places where the victim felt safe and had to experience that this was not the case, shaking all trust, possibly for life.
Lord, it is in the close relationship with you that we can experience your power, your creativity and your everlasting love. Let us learn to be still and trust. Give us a growing faith in your good will and plans for us which will increasingly become the rock on which we stand and know that you liveth, even when everything seems to fall apart. Make us ambassadors of your peace and help us to create safe harbors for the people next to us, especially our children and elder parents, friends and strangers, let us never abuse their trust but share with them the blessing of knowing that we are safe(d)*.
Amen
Psalm 121
Psalm 121
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
* The English grammar doesn’t quite allow the single letter extension …
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 