Lent 2022, Day 11

 


I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid.

Leviticus 26:6


This reminds me of the verse from Micah that George Washington liked to quote: “Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig-tree, and no one will make them afraid.” Powerfully aspirational words and concept for a young country, and just as powerful and longing-filled for today.

George Washington most likely (ok, definitely) did not have yellow street dogs in mind when he worked these words into speech after speech, but they fit into our musings on becoming safe and accepting belonging. Peace has been granted to Libby, and no one is actively trying to make her afraid, and yet she has not gotten the memo. In the moments when it’s just us and things are calm, though, Libby drops her guard and sometimes forgets she’s “supposed” to be afraid. Those are the moments of freedom, the moments of joy.

 And as for me? The truth is that when I momentarily forget that I’m “supposed” to be in charge/overcommitted/worried about the future/afraid/politically divided, when I can accept and lean into the promises that have been given to me … that’s when I am able to settle down and experience peace.

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