Lift up your hearts

- Thara Tlau

  

  

Poland, in so many ways, is a symbol of renewal and common purpose. More than half a century ago, from this spot, all one could see was a desert of ruins. Hardly did a single unbroken brick touch another. This city had been razed by the Nazis and betrayed by the Soviets. Its people were mostly displaced. Not far from here is the only monument which survived. It is the figure of Christ falling under the cross and struggling to rise. Under him are written the words "Sursum corda," "Lift up your hearts."

George W. Bush, address at Warsaw University (June 15, 2001).

  

  

The most challenging situation facing the Christians, at least according to this writer, is to lift up the heart when it is broken, when it is hurt, when it is fragmented or when it is violated. There are situations when we think the God of love is the God that ‘hurts’. All ills come to me when all blessings go to others - others like those who never bother to bow down and worship Him. Even the Israelites lamented when they felt abandoned, and being ‘violated’ by their captors: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion… How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” How shall we lift up our hearts when we feel abandoned, not only by the world, but also by the One who we think is the most merciful?

  

The psalmist sings: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” This is the type of praises we sing when we are happy and joyous, and experience the goodness of God in life. We feel the presence of the Almighty everywhere in our surroundings. We feel everything represents the ‘might’ of the awesome God. But, how long does such delightful experiences last? We know, in reality, life is not always a bed of roses… It’s rather more of a bed of thorns and pricks. Or, few roses among a heap of thorns. We are ‘abandoned’ many times when we are most helpless. We are left alone to fend for ourselves in many a trying situations. Where from the helps we sought for come in those difficult times? Many times – from nowhere. Still, we submit to the ‘will of God’ dutifully in all earnestness. We don’t really expect good things from Him… We are accustomed to the abandonment we frequently experiences the most trying of times. Isn’t that right?

  

If father doesn’t come to the rescue of daughter - though capable and able in all respect - when she needs him most, doesn’t that represent a kind of outright betrayal? When a good friend fails to act when you are in dire need of his help, doesn’t that portrays the truest form of deception? But when God does that to us, we submissively conclude that as His will, and assume it as for the good of us! Nevertheless, we are hurt, and deeply pained within. But, as Christians, we are accustomed (destined) to accepting the inaction of God in those situations as a manifestation of His deep love for us. Then, the question now is, how will we lift up the heart when it is hurt by none other than the most merciful One? It is the cross all Christians carry… And it is, probably, the pain we are going to endure till we reach the ‘promised land’.

  

The life of a Christian is interestingly paradoxical. She is taught to be happy when sad, to be forgiving when ‘violated’, to be content even when she has nothing to be content with! It is a life that endures every possible hardship under the sun. As a Christian, she must accept the scorn of the non-believers as their ‘ignorance’, the betrayal of fellow Christians as a ‘challenge’, and the inaction of God when vehemently needed as a sign of ‘His love for her’. Sometimes, I feel that such a ‘docile and tedious’ way of life hardly gives God a prominent role to play. Why? Because, we are already (pre)destined to accept things as they are - whether good or bad; gratefully ascribing them as the ‘will of God’.

  

This willingness to submission of every misfortune as the ‘will of God’ is the evil that plagues the very ethos of Christianity - the evil that hurts us and tears us apart, and makes us vulnerable to all kinds of evil intentions. It’s that evil that prevails upon us against showing our dauntless efforts and endurances as Christian soldiers. It’s that evil that prevents us to struggle to squeeze out the best in us (spiritually). It’s that evil that pulls us down when we want to lift up our spirits and move ahead in life. When that evil prevails, we are depressed and feel let down (by the world or God) though we may have ‘submissively’ accepted the consequences whatsoever as the ‘will of God’.

  

Christianity as a way of life is rather a life of struggle and battle. A Christian ought to be fighting fit and combat-ready always; not only against the world but also against God. Yes, we may fight with God, we should blame Him for our misfortunes, we should wrestle with Him spiritually (as Jacob did in physical form) to let the best in us and Him come out consequently. We may condemn Him if we are badly hurt for what we feel is due to His ‘inaction’. What is wrong in fighting a spiritual battle against our own lover? In a family, father scolds son, deprives him of his benefits to condition him and mould him to become a better person. So does the boy too. He rebels against his father, ignores his attention, defies his advices… All these just to provoke the softest corner of his father’s heart.

  

If we fight a battle against God in the right spirit with holy submission, He will not let us down. Our struggle will not simply go in vain. Whatever form the reward comes (expectedly or unexpectedly), it will unfailingly lift up our weary hearts and console our burdened souls. Friends, sometimes we ourselves have to earn our prayers from God fighting a fierce battle; an idle submission is not the best solution often.


*PYF Magazine of 22nd Biennial Conference, October 2017, Mission Vengthlang, Aizawl, Mizoram.