Anchor

anchor

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses- let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need…it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Hebrews 6:18

In lockdown life, I’m currently on furlough enjoying pseudo early retirement: this involves lots of yoga and walks with friends, naps, coffee and Netflix and trying to read more. I was lucky enough to get married in 2019. Ordinarily, when I’m not pretending to be a domestic goddess, ‘yummy mummy’ (sans baby), I’m busy in the evenings (and sometimes all day 10-12hrs hashtag Christmas peak) as a waitress in Nottingham. I love my job, it really naturally taps into a lot of my strengths and personality traits. One of my favourite things to do in the lead up to getting married was to ask random couples I happened to be serving, what their best advice for marriage was. 

There were some great gems like: champion in public, challenge in private. Or ‘you are already whole’, your better half won’t complete you, don’t look to them to fulfil all the relational gaps in your world. Have friends, have family, have hobbies, do things with them, do things without them- you are both two wholes coming together. Some tried and true golden oldies like: never go to bed angry, always have date night. And, lovely surprise ones like: children are the best thing you’ll ever add to your marriage: have kids. Some of my top favourites were: try go to bed at the same time, forgive quickly forget even quicker and finally the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams, so marry someone who believes in the beauty of your dreams so you can have a future that you’re both working towards together. 

I’ve been reflecting a lot on the forgiveness one. If I’m perfectly honest, I’ve been stuck on the forgiveness one haha. My perfect, wonderful, genuinely incredible husband drives me crazy! (Sometimes). Often all that means is that he’s apologising, almost on a weekly basis about the same small things and I’m forgiving him, almost on a weekly basis about the same small things. But I’ve noticed something in myself as the newlywed eagerness has faded into delightfully compatible, domestic bliss: the pause before the forgiveness has become even longer, the sigh has gotten even deeper and I’ve become more begrudging in my heart in extending him forgiveness: not doing it quickly and definitely not forgetting quickly, about it either. I don’t know if you’re like me but I struggle with the same thing almost weekly if not daily when it comes to my friendship with God and without even realising, I make God into my image and not the other way around. Before I know it I’m cringing whenever I come into His presence because I know like me he must be exasperated by the same problems I always seem to have and the same sin I always seem to struggle with, the same fears and hopes and worries and dreams and He just must be so over it if not bored of it all by now. 

In his book “Gentle and Lowly” the writer reflects on the wonder of Christ our ANCHOR and writes “the burden of this anchor verse in Hebrews is Jesus Christ’s sheer solidarity with his people. All our natural intuitions tell us that Jesus is with us, on our side, present and helping when life is going well” and I’ve done all my ‘quiet time’ this week and I’m up to date with all my bible reading plans. The opposite is in fact even more true: it is in our weakness that Jesus sympathises with us. the word for sympathise is a compound word formed from the prefix meaning ‘with’ joined with the verb ‘to suffer’ hence co-sufferer in some translations of this Hebrews bible verse. Sympathise here is not cool and detached pity. “It is a depth of felt solidarity such as is echoed in our lives most closely by the relationship between a parent and a child; and it goes even deeper than that. In our pain Jesus is pained; in our suffering he feels the suffering as his own, his heart is feelingly drawn into our distress: the writer to the hebrews is taking us by the hand and leading us deep into the heart of Christ showing us the unrestrained ‘withness’ of Christ regarding his people.” * 

The reason that Jesus is in such close solidarity with us is that the difficult path we are on, on this journey called life, is not unique to us. “He, Himself has journeyed on it; it is not only that Jesus can relieve us from our troubles like a doctor prescribing medicine; it is also that before any relief comes he is with us in our troubles like a doctor who has endured the very same disease. Jesus is not Zeus. He was a sinless man, not a sinless superman. He came as a normal man to normal men.”* If He had lived today every last twitter follower and facebook friend would have unfollowed and unfriended him a few weeks ago at Easter, He knows what it is to be shamed, embarrassed, abandoned, misunderstood… lonely. Beloved our difficulties and same mistakes and repeated bad habits draw out, not disappointment and exasperation but a depth of feeling in Jesus beyond what we know. If you are in Christ then you have a friend who is in your character flaws and hardships just as much, if not more, than your joys and small moments of victory; His heart is too bound up with yours. 

And so if I could add my own sage wisdom to the long list of lovely customers who gave me their advice it would be this: don’t get lazy with apologising, don’t get tired of forgiving. 

Beloved move and breathe like you love yourself, like Jesus loves your self, on the mat but more importantly off the mat too. 

I honour the dignity and divinity within you Beloved- may it shine forth and be a light unto your path and to others, a lamp unto your feet: guiding and directing your steps today. Until next time, go in peace and be well. 🧘🏾‍♀️✨

breath in

and anchor yourself to this truth today: Jesus never ever ever ever ever tires of forgiving you.

breath out

the incredible truth: that in all you go through, Christ is with you and you are loved. Because of his great love, you are greatly loved.  Beloved breathe in great love, breath out great love.

(Christ)-Mindful tip:

Why not play this song during your Savasana today and just let the dreamy song anchor your soul with beautiful truth as you soak in His Holy Presence and Power.  

Enjoy your practice! (its 34mins long)