June 3, 2012

What does Abandon Mean?

This year of blogs started out with looking at Philippians 4;4-9 and 1 Thessalonians :16-20 in their parallel instructions to: Rejoice-Pray-Give Thanks-Be at Peace-Practice Faith-Do Good-Fulfill the Will of God. During Lent we explored Roads and Choices that can lead us to new beginnings, even though the path itself may be circuitous. Since Easter we’ve explored how the lessons of Psalm 100 might inform and inspire our lives and worship through joy, thanksgiving, and praise. Throughout, I’ve noticed that these are all things that pretty much anyone would agree are good. You don’t have to be a church-goer to know that being happy and positive, peaceful and joyful, focused and consistent are ways to live a better life.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the acclaimed 1970’s book by Richard Bach tells the story of a seagull who wants to be more than just a seagull searching for food on fishing boats. He wants to fly far and wide. After much work, he discovers, How much more there is now to living! Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there’s reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!”

The same is true of our journey of faith. We cannot live a life open and dedicated to God’s will without practice. We have to be willing to be open to new experiences and step outside the box. We each have ‘boxes’ that we use to identify who we are and what our ministry is. Just maybe God has something better planned and we have to quit the ‘drab slogging back and forth to the fishing boats.’ That’s why during June, I’ll be looking at what it means to ‘abandon’ myself to God.
There are two types of definition for the word “abandon.” One is to leave completely, desert or withdraw from and give up control. That is certainly one way of viewing what happens when we abandon ourselves to God like Charles de Foucauld suggests in his Prayer of Abandonment. The other definition is equally apt: to yield without restraint or moderation and give over to natural impulses (like joy or grief or life or God’s Call).

Few of us like to give up control of our lives or desert our plans. Sometimes, God calls us to change direction. Moses was called from being shepherd to lead the people of Israel, so was David. Mary was called from being a provincial teenage girl to the Mother of our Lord. Each of them had to abandon their plans and dreams. However, in answering the Spirit’s call, they also discovered a life that was totally and without moderation Abandoned to the joy of living and being “a man/woman after God’s heart.”

Yes, we are called to Abandon, to Renounce, to Yield to God’s call, but it is in that very yielding that we find Freedom. Like Jonathan Livingston Seagull discovered ‘we can be free…to fly!’ Answering God’s call to Abandon ourselves can provide us with, as Jonathan says, "the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way."

Think about what boxes you have put around yourself. Do you identify yourself as ‘mom’ or ‘teacher’ or ‘PTA president’ or ‘manager’ or ‘administrator’? Are there boxes of your past that you still have around that need to be emptied? Can you find the courage to get out of the box and let God act? 

Next time we’ll start exploring Foucauld’s Prayer of Abandonment. How can we more and more fully say “I am a Child of God, fully abandoned to God’s will for my life”?


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