I learned the hard way that a cup of flour does not weigh 8
ounces, but 4. A cup of sugar weighs 8. Those Christmas cookies I made for my prospective
in-laws when I first was engaged to Don, did not raise any expectations of
culinary delights to come. With twice the amount of flour needed, the ‘dough
balls’ fell apart and tasted more like sawdust than buttery delicacies.
He married me anyway.
Not every burden carries the same weight. Some press more
heavily on our shoulders, or hearts, than others. Some drag us down, while
others ‘ain’t heavy’ because they are carried with love. When I see a young
father, or mother, carrying a child on his/her shoulders, I know the weight of
that child is not negligible, but the parent isn’t thinking of the weight but
of the child that is so loved.
Banking and online issues are real burdens. People I carry in
my heart are not.
Yet Jesus doesn’t expect, or even want, us to carry anything.
He invites us to cast all our cares onto God, to get yoked up with Jesus and
let him bear the weight. I love the invitation and the imagery; I’m not always
so good at letting go.
Packing a back pack. Every item in needs to be weighed in my
thoughts: is it going to be worth the pressure on my shoulders, over hill and
down dale, or will I be ready to jettison it at the first opportunity? Tricky
to know, given the vagaries of spring weather.
Chaucer probably only had one pair of shoes, and they wouldn’t
have been cushioned and padded. Perhaps he spent more prep time thinking up
cracking tales to tell along the way, tales that would entertain for centuries.
Hmmm.
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