The bare, sinewy branches of the acer stretch towards the
grey skies above. One or two of the twigs have grown into the corner of the
house, causing them to change course and turn upwards. Others, encountering an
obstacle, twist back down towards the ground.
We don’t all always have options. Some things leave us with
no choice. But when we meet a blockage in our way, we always have a choice as
to our reaction. We can go down, or we can rise up.
I think of Michelle Obama’s advice during a vicious election
a few years ago. ‘When they go low, I go high.’
Jesus tells us to keep our eyes on him. To trust in him and
be alert to his voice and guidance. Even in the apparent dead-ends, he is there
to guide us up, to help us to choose the better way, to inspire us to soar
rather than to slump or crash.
As we near Christmas, one or two of the lines from the ‘Night
before Christmas’ poem which my dad read to us every year on Christmas eve, and
we read to our children, come back to mind. The most awkward line usually
slowed me down, ‘As leaves before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with
an obstacle, mount to the sky’.
May we all mount to the sky today, whatever obstacles we
encounter.
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