Your will be done

In this morning's Fruit of the Vine, Nancy Almquist offers a reflection on Matthew 26:39-42, a reflection in which she considers what it has meant to celebrate the marriages of her two oldest sons and "send them across the country to settle into their new homes." It is, in Nancy's words, "completely new territory. . . . The truth is, I was afraid I was going to lose them; afraid that because we weren't in each other's space at least once a week we would grow distant."

Nancy writes of her pride in what her children have accomplished, of where they are going, of the choices they've made. She also writes of her fear.

In the passage from Matthew, Jesus prays in the face of his grief that "if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done."

Nancy offers a different prayer: "Lord, in what ways have I allowed fear and anxiety to cripple my journey or the journey of another?" 

For much of our history as Friends of Jesus, we have used questions or series of questions to guide our worship together, to prompt personal reflection, as spiritual challenge. We call these questions queries. In Nancy's prayer, this morning, I recognize a query. And over the course of these next few days, I'll be asking God to reveal to me the ways in which my fears are obstacles to this journey to which he has called me, this journey that we're on together.

For "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Eric Muhr