Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

Up to the neck in mire, no place to stand, no place to grab hold, deep waters, dry mouth, weary eyes, and constant waiting for God.

This is what it means to be spiritual?

This is sometimes what it means to be spiritual.

It is a place where we are, have been, may return, or return often in our midnight memories and darkest nightmares.

It is place to which we go in search of others who are sinking.

It is where we first learned to pray.

" Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
I am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God."-Psalm 69:1-3 (ESV)

It is not by our merit that we grow into the full stature of Christ.

Waiting for God who is already present, we come to realize something.

Something.

We live with regrets.

We navigate with blind spots.

"Every age has its massive moral blind spots. We might not see them, but our children will." - BONO, 2004 PENN Address

We have had them; we have them; we will have more. We must do our best to know them, confront them, and see through or around them.

We come top terms with the sad reality that there are no do-overs in this life.

We cannot turn back the clock even five minutes to change our last poor choice.

We only have grace.

Grace makes it possible for us to live with ourselves and be transformed.

Regrets linger and haunt.

All we have is peace.

We are not required to carry a backpack full of shame to weigh us down as we hike the heights.

Life goes on as it must.

There are no excuses for wallowing.

We do not have to remain in the mud or quicksand, but we have to remember.

We get no pass for the past.

It is over.

We cannot withdraw from today because we blew yesterday.

We cannot avoid the future because we are ashamed of the mud scars we carry.

We always remember we have been drawn out of the mire.

We are always humbled by the  memories of our mistakes, oversights, failures, poor decisions, rebellion, and selfish ways.

We carry the sorrow of those we have wounded and yet, we walk on as healers of others who are wounded, bearing our own wounds as well.

We endeavor to be honest about our imperfections and realize there will be more.

We claim no special genius because God has revealed Himself to our hearts, no secret handshakes, no exclusive understanding, no elite standing among the masses, no exceptionalism for being blessed.

If we do well, it is because we have been loved and accepted.

"Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius." – Mozart

So, let us love.

We have been granted mercy and forgiveness, not to be proud, but to be vulnerable and free.

"…You have rescued my soul from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living."-Psalm 56:12

Rescued men and women aid in the rescue of others.

" You have noted my lamentation; put my tears into your bottle; 
are they not recorded in your book? " -Psalm 56:8 (NRSV)

Those faces stained by tears can never turn away hardened to the tears streaming down the faces of their neighbors.

Did we become spiritual in the mire or as we began to emerge? Was it before or after we bathed? Was it at our lowest or at our highest? 

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is not about us, but the one who drew us out and breathed life into us.

We may step in it again, we we know when to call when  we do and what to do once we emerge.

Save me, Oh God for the mire is muddy.

Rescue me for I am in trouble.

Deliver me from both the sorrows of my own making and the slurs of my enemies and friends.

I am tired, discouraged, and sorrowful.

I cannot go on like this; yet, I wait for you.

Reach down and lift me out of this quicksand for I am drowning.

And grant that I may go back into the swamp with you to rescue others.

In Jesus' Name. Amen.