For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:30 (World English Bible)
Matthew 11:30 (World English Bible)
Introduction
Consider the work above. From the outside he looks like a fine specimen of a man. But from the inside we have a unique glimpse into his soul and we see he is carrying a lot of baggage. Can you step into this man’s pain? Can you feel the weight of the burdens he carries hidden within?
Help Finish the Work
In a rogue art exhibit the baggage in this piece is labeled by the viewers. They are asked to consider what baggage this soul might be carrying and then write the name of the baggage on one of the boxes using chalk. Though you are not at an exhibit, take a moment to think about what baggage this soul might be carrying. What name would you give this baggage? If you had chalk in hand and were near the work what name would you write on one or more of the bags?
Questions to Consider
Did these bags come to the soul all at once or gradually over time?
At what point did this soul stop releasing the weight of burdens encountered? What caused him to linger with his burdens instead of releasing them?
Was it a major life event or a thousand subtle events that left him burdened?
Does he realize he is carrying such burdens? If so, does he really know why or how he ended up carrying them?
When you named one of the bags, why did you select that name? Is it something you carry with you? Is it something you sense in someone else?
How can we gain freedom from carrying the weight of such burdens?
We tend to use the metaphor of carrying baggage in a negative context. However, is there positive baggage? Are there things we carry with us that can make us wiser, or make us more empathetic or help us to love more fully?
Call to Action
We all have emotional pain in our history. We can let it be a cruel taskmaster; a constant reminder of our anguish or we can allow it to make us more fully human; to know the depths so we can arise to empathize and be a better agent of healing.
Trusting in the Lord’s grace and power, what action will you take to drop some baggage you carry or assist a friend in freeing them from a burden?
Final Thoughts
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens,
even the God who is our salvation.
Psalms 68:19 (World English Bible)
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2 (World English Bible)
Consider the work above. From the outside he looks like a fine specimen of a man. But from the inside we have a unique glimpse into his soul and we see he is carrying a lot of baggage. Can you step into this man’s pain? Can you feel the weight of the burdens he carries hidden within?
Help Finish the Work
In a rogue art exhibit the baggage in this piece is labeled by the viewers. They are asked to consider what baggage this soul might be carrying and then write the name of the baggage on one of the boxes using chalk. Though you are not at an exhibit, take a moment to think about what baggage this soul might be carrying. What name would you give this baggage? If you had chalk in hand and were near the work what name would you write on one or more of the bags?
Questions to Consider
Did these bags come to the soul all at once or gradually over time?
At what point did this soul stop releasing the weight of burdens encountered? What caused him to linger with his burdens instead of releasing them?
Was it a major life event or a thousand subtle events that left him burdened?
Does he realize he is carrying such burdens? If so, does he really know why or how he ended up carrying them?
When you named one of the bags, why did you select that name? Is it something you carry with you? Is it something you sense in someone else?
How can we gain freedom from carrying the weight of such burdens?
We tend to use the metaphor of carrying baggage in a negative context. However, is there positive baggage? Are there things we carry with us that can make us wiser, or make us more empathetic or help us to love more fully?
Call to Action
We all have emotional pain in our history. We can let it be a cruel taskmaster; a constant reminder of our anguish or we can allow it to make us more fully human; to know the depths so we can arise to empathize and be a better agent of healing.
Trusting in the Lord’s grace and power, what action will you take to drop some baggage you carry or assist a friend in freeing them from a burden?
Final Thoughts
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens,
even the God who is our salvation.
Psalms 68:19 (World English Bible)
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2 (World English Bible)
