Death and Resurrection

There are all of us, and the life we are living, and the life that needs us to live it.

That’s it.

We have to be aware of it,

And get the ratios right—

How much for us,

How much for the life we are living,

How much for the life that is ours to live.

How much what?

Time and attention,

Devotion and loyalty,

Focus and concentration–

You know, that kind of thing…

We dig in and get to work at the points of conflict.

We generally don’t want anything to do with conflict,

So we dismiss, discount, deny and ignore it,

Thinking we can disappear it that way.

But.

Conflict denied becomes symptoms overnight,

And it goes downhill from there.

To disappear our symptoms,

We have to be intently, and intensely, aware of conflict—

Plow into it,

Explore it,

Examine it,

Know it fully.

Bear the pain,

And work it out.

Making it work.

One conflict at a time.

Our conflicts are the path

To reconciliation, integration, unification, wholeness and peace–

When walked with mindful, compassionate, awareness.

It will kill us to deal with our conflicts,

And it will bring us to life.

It’s like death and resurrection over and over.

You have to trust me in this.

Published by jimwdollar

I'm retired, and still finding my way--but now, I don't have to pretend that I know what I'm doing. I retired after 40.5 years as a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, serving churches in Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina. I graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Austin, Texas, and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. My wife, Judy, and I have three daughters, five granddaughters, one great granddaughter, and a great grandson on the way, within about ten minutes from where we live--and are enjoying our retirement as much as we have ever enjoyed anything.

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