Lightening The Load

Over the course of our lives we gather baggage, a bag of trauma and pain that gets heavier and heavier, until we open the bag, we look inside, we see what we can let go of, get rid of. 

We have a God-given healing process to help us let go of things in the bag, through healing tears we process stories till we no longer need to hold onto them, through laughter, we lighten our perception, giggling away heaviness, till the weight of it changes. Through talking we can tell a story to another, and when it’s been heard it loosens its grip and falls to the ground, no longer on our shoulders. 

There is a side effect of looking into the bag, deep down at the bottom there is a dark, swirling vortex. You can think that you are almost at the bottom, and it pulls you in, catches you in its grip till you are turning and spinning, experiencing a deeper and darker pain than your own surface stories. It’s caught you and it’s got you, and there’s only one way out, looking up. 

There is a man on a cross, a man who died as a sacrifice for all the sin, and all the people who cause suffering to others, who go on to cause suffering to others. He was resurrected three days later, and has the strength to carry everyone’s bag. 

This is not to say that there will be instant healing from following him, but it’s a safety rope, holding you up, so that if you feel the need to look into the bag he’s got you. You’re not going to fall down into the deep swirling vortex again. 

We all need to look into the bag from time to time, we need to experience moments when we get to tell our stories, and be heard. Without experiencing kindness and empathy from others, how will we ever understand how to offer it ourselves? 

Sometimes people say, why are Christians so judgmental? Why are they so this, or so that? Or they say, if the new age is so bad, then why do people who follow these practises seem so kind and compassionate? 

I’ve wondered this myself and I think that perhaps it is that in many different forms of spirituality there are gatherings and the chance to tell stories, to be heard by other human beings, to look into the backpack and lighten the load. All of this is real and beneficial, it’s just that without the connection to God, and with practises that force the bag open wide, the risk of falling in and spiralling down is always there. 

When it comes to ‘judgemental Christians,’ well, we can only give to the extent that we have received ourselves. Perhaps there are some parts of the bag that they are still holding tight to, that they haven’t 100% accepted Jesus’s offer of lightening the load. Perhaps, it’s because we are all like wandering sheep that can get distracted and forget when we are not grounded in the presence of him, and the words of his promises; the Bible. No doubt the devils stalks Christians, targeting their vulnerabilities, loving to paint them in a bad light so the rest of the world turns away. 

One thing is for sure, only God offers complete eternal healing through his son Jesus Christ. One day ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” - Revelation 21.4