Reflection for January 1, 2014

I'm going to use a new source for my reflections in 2015.  Reflections for Ragamuffin: Daily Devotions by Brennan Manning.  I did something similar a few years ago with a Richard Rohr book.

"Remember Atlas who carries the world? We have Christian Atlases who mistakenly carry the burden of trying to deserve God's love."(Reflections for Ragamuffin January 1)

What an image.  A Christian Atlas. Someone who believes the weight of the world is on their shoulders.  Every problem out there is somehow theirs to bear.  All of us have burdens no doubt.  But becoming Atlases should not be one.  Yes there are problems out there that I must pay attention to.  But I am not called to be a superhero.  In some ways being an Atlas is a little narcissistic. Notice me please, I'm the world's beast of burden.

Atlas for a little while put the world down if I recall.  And that is something we all should do from time to time. Put the burden down.  We don't gain access to God's love by taking on the world's burdens.  We address the burdens we can because we've been given God's love unconditionally.

Blessings this year.
Ed