This week, we all watched the news as we learned of the cargo ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal. It seems to me that we have all noticed this because this impacts all of us – our modern economic structures and systems that are dependent on fast trade and exchange… and so a pause in one shipping route – even for a few days – can cause a disruption to the system.
And yet: the ship is stuck. Several attempts so far have not been successful in dislodging it. No one’s quite sure how it got stuck, no one’s quite sure how to get it unstuck. It’s just … there.
It can be quite an analogy for our spiritual lives, if we’re not careful. Somehow they go a little bit off-kilter, and suddenly: we’re stuck. We can’t move – our emotions get jarred, our prayer life suffers, our connection with God seems to be at an impasse. We can become as stuck as the MV Ever Given – and it can be just as baffling. We aren’t sure how we got there, but we did; we aren’t sure how to get out, but we know we need help.
It’s a good summary for Lent. The season of reflection and repentance, the season of trying to journey more carefully through our spiritual lives, the season of doing our best to prepare our hearts and minds and souls for the seasons of life. Lent is the season where we try to traverse the straight and narrow, and yet – sometimes – we’re stuck.
As we enter this Holy Week, humbly with palms and Hosannas, it is my hope that we will not rush towards Easter, even as desperate as we all are for a celebration of new life and renewed faith. For if we hurry to much, we may inadvertently shift off course, and end up stuck. Rather, I hope that we can continue the journey carefully and intentionally; with careful consideration of each day and each prayer. And should we notice that we’re getting stuck, being gentle enough with ourselves to recognise where we are, and to ask for help in re-directing our path, so as to continue not only for ourselves, but for all others who come alongside and after us.
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