She Loves Us

Like a Rock

“There are times when God leaves huge question marks as tools in our lives to stretch our faith.”

Joyce Meyer (Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle In Your Mind)

Some of the questions I've heard a lot in the last few months are: How did this happen? What does it say about us? I, who was born into the Jim Crow South, and witnessed the feminist movement, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam protests, the disability rights, gay rights, marriage equality, and all the other gains made by minority communities across the world, am staggered by this hard turn around. And, yet, underneath it all, there is a strong sense of Spirit at work.

Sometimes, when we're comfortable, we become complacent. We've made enormous strides, we've extended rights, we've passed laws to protect our people and our environment. We've worked across the aisle and across the ocean and now, we can rest and just rock along. Reminds me of that old Paul Simon song, “Loves Me Like a Rock:”

“When I was a little boy

And the devil would call my name

I'd say, 'now who do...

who do you think you're fooling?'

I'm a consecrated boy

Singer in the Sunday choir,

My mama loves me, she loves me

She gets down on her knees and hugs me

And loves me like a rock

She rocks me like the rock of ages

And she loves me...”

We thought we had it wrapped up—no need to stress ourselves—Mama loves us. Big Mama in the sky, right? Complacency breeds inaction. We stopped mending fences, and the cows got out. We stopped paying attention, and entropy ensued, things fell apart, we slipped backwards.

That's when Spirit steps in. She takes one of her big ol' hands and slaps us silly. Not because she no longer loves us like a rock, but because she does. We needed a wake-up call that we couldn't hit the snooze button on. And, boy, did we get it. She rocked us like a rock!

Our questions are important to ponder—How DID this happen? What DOES it say about us? God is leaving an opening for us to grow in spirit, or run back to the caves and hide. Will we evolve, or not?

                                                                    In the Spirit,

                                                                        Jane