This entry from the archives lifted my spirits, and helped me deal with a difficult week this morning:
Joshua
Joshua, the invincible, has lost an important battle. He prostrates himself before the Lord to find out what is wrong. The problem is one of his men have kept precious things from a previous battle, things which are tainted with the Canaanite gods, and were to be destroyed. It struck me that there is a deep, psychological truth here. The cursed things within us – our hatreds, our greed and covetousness, our projections of our evil impulses onto others and our arrogant holding on to only “positive” traits, that make us look and sound good -- all these things divide us internally, give us vulnerable attack points. It is only when we acknowledge, accept and are cleansed of their power – that is cleansed of the curse of them because we recognize the fault in us—that we can stand firmly in our own integrity, unassailable. These are the tools, the weapons our ‘enemies’ use against us, but if we acknowledge them and hold them ourselves, they can’t trip us up. This is the genius of 12-Step. It gets us focused where we have the most power, addressing our own behavior. Then, when we take a stand, we are standing for something – ourselves and what we need and deserve rather than against the other person, in all their brokenness. If we don’t attack, we are not as vulnerable to counter-attack, and if we know our faults, we can stand strong in who we are, the broken places stronger than the smooth ones because of the power of healing. It is through our brokenness that we actually can form strong alliances with others, a cohesiveness that comes from sharing brokenness stronger than that which comes from sharing strength, because it is more true.
Prayer: Dear God Help me always to look at myself first, to be ever mindful of my own flaws and brokenness and then to take and hold whatever stand you call me to. Amen
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