02 March 2007

Burden casting

I'm flying home to Utah tonight to go to the baby blessing of my new niece. She is adorable. It will be nice to get with the family. I always enjoy visiting them - for short periods of time. A short weekend trip is always great. It's not enough time for anyone to get on anyone else's nerves. No arguments. Just fun.

I've been seriously thinking about coming out to my parents. I've known for several months now that I need to. It's important for them to understand my situation. But, knowing that it's the right thing to do doesn't make it any easier. I've had a few opportunities since I decided to, but have always been too chicken to do it. They are picking me up at the airport tonight, and it's an hour drive to their house. That might be my only chance to speak with them privately this weekend. It will be then, or it will have to wait for the next time I see them. I've thought about doing it in a letter, or over the phone, but I just think that it needs to be done face to face.

That gets me to my topic of the day - burden casting. No, it's not a distant relative of the "Chip Chuck" or "Watermelon Toss". I'm speaking of casting your burdens on the Lord. Also known as laying your troubles at his feet.

How on earth do you do that? I've taken 34 trips around the sun, and I still don't know how to do that. I am an engineer. A scientist. A mathematician. I'm an out-of-the-box solution creator. I am NOT an abstract thinker. To me the concept of casting your burdens on the Lord is very abstract. I can't actually walk to his house, burst in through the front door, yell "Burden!!!" and throw it at him. I can pray and admit that I know I am weak and list out my struggles to him, but is that casting your burdens on him? I still have to bear them, so I don't think it is.

I came to this conclusion recently. Part of our responsibilities here on the earth is to lift each other and bear one another's burdens. I think that bearing one another's burdens goes hand in hand with casting said burdens on the Lord. If you humble yourself and admit that you can't do it alone, and then go out and seek that help from those whom you love, that is casting your burdens on the Lord. They are tasked to help bear your burdens, so by you sharing yours with them, you are giving them the opportunity to fulfill that purpose in life.

I'm not sure if I've said this in a way that makes sense to anyone but myself. Maybe I'll come back to this post after lunch and edit it a bit. Or not.

1 comment:

l'écureuil said...

Welcome to Utah! Hope you're not freezing to much. Best of luck if you do/did talk to your parents. I've only talked to my mom, but it was a good experience and she has been a great source of support and faith when I come up lacking. Hope you enjoy the weekend!