Get in the Pit

We are all seeking a treasure. Though none of us really know what the treasure ultimately is. We think we know. We carefully define goals and outcomes to find it. We push through all sorts of obstacles and challenges to get to where we think it is.

But that does not mean we know where, or even what, our treasure is.

Many have pushed their way through to accomplish their “dream.” They have set their goals and accomplished them, only to find, upon receipt, that completion was quite underwhelming.  They received very little satisfaction or sense of fulfillment from it.

How could the accomplishment of a lifelong dream not bring a sense of ultimate purpose? Think of the Super Bowl winner the Monday or Tuesday after, or the next Monday after that. Even a Super Bowl winner has to deal with his own existence (and laundry). Life keeps coming.

Sooner or later the big win becomes history.

Time moves on. If we stay attached to the achievement, we have already lost it. That’s the ironic and slippery nature of treasure. Finding it brings very short-lived satisfaction, especially if the nature of our goals is about a “what” (a win, trophy, destination, etc).

Go! That’s the nature of our transient life here. We can not settle into our accomplishments. Even, and maybe especially, the great ones. There is nothing sadder than someone living years later on the remnants of past fame. Many can not compete today with their former self.
If they try, they lose.

They are stifled. They got atop the mountain and made a monument there. They forgot to keep moving - put their mind on earthly things, became stagnate, focused on what they did but forgot who they were. Take heart, the same person who did those former things is still in there.

You can’t stop. You can’t ever stop. We can never rest on our past achievements. We are, amd must remain, pilgrims here. Pitch your tent. Don’t build a mansion. Stay nimble. Celebrate what is. Don’t get stuck here. You are still alive for a reason.

If you are still breathing your attainments are not finished. Simple. There are still things to learn.  People to support. Initiatives to start. Press into that. Remember your who-ness and the who-ness of all those around you. Celebrate the vastness and mystery of your personhood today!

That mysterious vastness will seem like an overwhelming sand pit of possibilities, an impassable juncture to maneuver around or through. It is quite simple, though. Listen! Enter. We all have to enter that same sand pit we are desperately trying to find a way around.

But we all must enter it. And at the end, where you enter does not matter all that much. Get in!  That’s the point. Don’t be an observer. Get in the pit. Go into the vastness that is you, the un-paved desert of possibilty. Enter in and do not fear. Your heart is there with you.

The Spirit is also there with you. Listen well. In surrendering yourself will find it. Don’t give up. Trust. Be willing to die. Have courage. It is in there. What you seek is in there. The life you desire is in that sand pit of possibility. You must go in to get out!

And you may lose it all. Oh well. What good is keeping what you can’t have anyway? Let it go. Instead open your hand and let your Creator guide you through the pit and into your future.

Embrace it!