Bags you weren't even aware of have been weighing you down right along with the gaping tangled mess of a very heavy suitcase that you keep dragging for one reason...you don't have the stamina for processing it's content. The long black train describes your journey into nowhere, and you have lost your bearings to the point of having no idea who you are or what you are about.
You understand what the lady in the line for best ice cream in the world means when she talked about the way people spit at her dad when he came home from Vietnam. In a certain sense, the country that spends more on dog food for 1 dog than what the average refugees have in their food budget for a month, and on top of that, have such overwhelming variety in the cereal aisle that the chefs at General Mills, Kellogg's, and all the other fruit loops out there constantly need to continue creating new kinds simply to satisfy first world hunger problems. This country, basically doesn't care what you have seen elsewhere. This culture doesn’t care what you saw, or how it affected you. So sorting the bags can become something you don’t touch, cause you are simply surviving.
One of the rules in the first world is "You must be happy, and if you are not, please don't overwhelm us with it." That means anyone grieving anything has to be careful how they process. So whatever hard things life throws at you, you can apply metanoia. But go ahead and get deep into the pain of whatever it is, before I continue.
All that sad, hard, messy tangle can be turned in for the joy of the Lord. There's nothing He won't accept as a trade. He gives grace, peace, joy, and sets the vibes you give off back to loving ones.
It's the breakthroughs at the climax of the journey that keep us going. It’s sunrise after darkness. And it’s coming if it hasn’t already! No matter the challenges you are facing or have faced, there is joy, hope and rest. But good chance is, it doesn’t come without a struggle.
It’s metanoia. That’s Greek for a journey that changes your heart, soul, mind or way of life. A spiritual conversion. If it weren’t for the bags, or the uprooting of moving overseas, or to a new community, would metanoia even happen? It takes dry, harsh, arid environments for some of us to find breakthroughs. While we may never call some events good in our lives, we can become grateful for the things we learned through it. Metanoia.
Crisis has a way of opening the door to transformation. We can't choose what happens, but we can choose our response. When I want to grow from it, instead of being bitter, redemption can come.
The Japanese repair broken porcelain with gold. They believe it just adds beauty and value to the piece. Look at this process of metanoia as adding beauty to your life. It's God redeeming your broken story with gold.
No matter if you want it or not, God isn't stopped by anything in His pursuit of us.
https://youtu.be/ygcyxpvo0zI
The only thing holding us back from metanoia is ourselves. Let down your guard with God. He's up to a lot of good!
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