Calling the people and his disciples to himself, Jesus said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever gives up his life for my sake will find it. For what would it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul? And what could a man give in return for his soul?”
Mark 8:34-37; Matthew 16:24-26
The process, for it is a process, of denying oneself and truly opening one’s heart and soul in submission to the One who brought it into being is not a painless one. The act of living with one’s arms outstretched and palms open, the soul postured in exposed vulnerability to the רוּחַ (rûaḥ)1 of the great I AM, goes beyond explanation. Words cannot do justice to the wrenching pain of loss and grief, the loneliness, uncertainty and unfamiliarity of it all. And yet, words cannot do justice to the peace and the overwhelming beauty and joy, the freedom and grounding that coexist with the pain.
Though weeping may tarry for the night, surely joy will come with the dawning sun.
Psalm 30:5
Let all that I am, every part of my soul…
Let all that I am praise the Lord.2
1 Hebrew word meaning Spirit of God, what is manifest in the Shekinah glory, and the very breath of life.
2 Psalm 104
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