Stubbornness we deprecate, firmness we condone. The former is our neighbor’s trait, the latter is our own. ~John Wooden
Why? My way is better. I have expertise and insight, my track record speaks for itself. While you were drooling in diapers I was moving mountains. It will all end better if you let me have my way.
Why? It’s more convenient for me. I’ve got everything mapped out to get from here to there. A scenic detour will mean more effort and long delays. We will get there faster if you let me have my way.
Why? I don’t trust your ability to make good decisions. In the past you’ve made some real bloopers, and no doubt you’ll make a few more. Face it, your critical thinking skills are fuzzy. I insist, let me have my way.
Why? I’m afraid, so great is my need to be admired, to manage my image and maintain my grip on the rudder. I’ll lose respect if I give you free will. I insist on everything going my way,
So you won’t be free to. Yours truly, the God you would invent.
Because God does not insist on his own way we can stop insisting on ours.
The Unstubborn Way Of Love
Our self-will is so subtle and so deeply rooted within our own selves and defends itself with so many reasons, that when we try to fight against it, we manage to lose in the end. We end up doing our own will under many covers–of charity, of necessity, or of justice.
But God’s love wills to stand naked and without any cover since it has nothing to hide.
I have seen this love. Indeed, every day I feel myself more occupied with him, and I feel a greater fire within. It is as if I have given the keys of my house to Love with permission to do all that is necessary.
May this be our prayer: “I do not want to turn my eyes from you, O God. There I want them to stay and not move no matter what happens to me, within or without.”
For those who trust in God need not worry about themselves.
From Life And Teachings by Catherine of Genoa (1447-1550)
Do you struggle to let go of control?
This is post six of our Lent To Love: A Return to the Source series on 1 Corinthians 13. Join us on the journey to Easter! Subscribing to e-mail is easy–scroll on up the page and turn right.
Photograph by MC Hunt