Saturday March 19, 2011

Happy St. Joseph's Day!

Matthew 4:11

"Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him."

I feel like this is the real lesson of the story - or the clearest expression of the message repeated thrice - that the devil is lying when he tempts. It's nice that we go through the ways that the devil lies most commonly and some of the basic tricks he plays, but the real message is here: his choices are lies. There is always another way. All of Sophie's choices, Hobson's choices, the lesser of two evils - it's lies. You can transcend the dichotomies created by impossible choices. Look beyond, look above, and ask for an answer you haven't considered.

The angels will come.

People get into impossible situations. That's what miracles are for. The act of looking up to God in those terrible situations is the miracle, a lot of time. And if we have the strength to listen in those moments, we have to believe than an answer will come. To guide us out.

When we look back on periods in our lives, we often think how silly we were to take the things we took so seriously, to accept the premise handed to us and think that these were our only options. I think I wrote a rant once that featured the perhaps unfair principle that anyone who told you "These are your options" was manipulating you. Because you always have ten thousand options. Ten million. You could, instead, quack like a duck and wander off into the sunset. You could trust in God that everything will work out and be willing to let it. You never have only the options stated. You never have only the options you yourself could come up with.

You can always look up, and ask the angels to minister to you in your need. That act of looking up, that is the miracle. That's what impossible situations are for.

Dear Lord, please give me the wisdom and the courage to turn to You in all of my struggles. Help me to remember, when I am beset, that there is always another way, that there is Your way, and that You will guide me if I ask it of You. Please Lord, be with me always.