Tuesday, Day 17: Lilies

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

I have a lot of trouble with this iconic verse. Really? We're supposed to stop toiling, and just let God do the work? When has that ever worked out for anyone? Isn't that the dangerous trap of any religion--that we begin to trust God so much that we stop believing we have a role to play in making the world a better place, except to "be good" and wait to be swept into heaven? 

 Well, given the full context of Jesus' life as change-maker, rule-breaker, and advocate for justice, I don't believe for a second that this is what he meant. 

Instead, perhaps he meant that there is a place for trust in our lives. Perhaps he wanted us to just stand still once in awhile, noticing the beauty and power in our own fully and carefully created, unadorned selves. If we don't trust, at least to some extent, in our own wholeness, we will become paralyzed by fear, unable to do anything at all. Because, after all, we won't get to see the fruits of our labor. We may get to see some small part of the outcome of our justice work, but we can't possibly expect to see the whole picture in our own lifetimes. 

One of my favorite prayers is the one by Thomas Merton that reminds us that it is our intention that matters most. "Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean I am actually doing so. But I believe that my desire to please you does, in fact, please you...and I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."

Now that it the trust of the lilies, the bedrock of our faith, the true strength that underlies all our work in the world. 

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