Your Baggage. God’s Got It.
Encouragement over Criticism.
Community of Holy Friends.
Extravagant Generosity.
Throughout this season of Lent, we’re checking our baggage and giving it to God to shoulder. Whatever the baggage, however heavy it may be, this Lent we are living into the reality that God’s Got It. This blog has been created to give you the space to anonymously declare all your baggage. This is an opportunity to to share your list of all the baggage that you’re giving up for God to carry.
At Thad’s, baggage flies free.
We encourage you to be bold. We encourage you to let God shoulder the guilt, the shame, the embarrassment, the pain, the anxiety, the fear, the doubt, the despair, the _________.
Jimmy taught on the first Sunday in Lent that “as we go inward in order to come outward with God’s love, we’ll no doubt face times of failure, times when we are confronted by our own shortsightedness, our own baggage. It will be up to us to remind each other that our baggage is not the measure of our success but simply the sign post that points us toward a life lived in hope, faith and love.”
MARCH 19th: This work continues into the waning days of Lent, with Easter just around the corner. We hope that this blog can now function as an opportunity to re-orient ourselves to see our baggage from God’s perspective. This process requires taking the fear and anxiety that looking at our baggage has evoked in all of us and seeing it now within the context of God’s Grace, as articulated in John Newton’s beautiful song, Amazing Grace:
‘Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear, and Grace my fears relieved!”
God’s Grace is now and has always been present, working to transform our lives and our baggage into something holy. This is God’s redemption in action. And, it continues forever, not just during the weeks of Lent. God’s Grace Abounds.
We’d love to hear from you if this has been your experience AND if it hasn’t AND if you’re somewhere in between.
Our hope is that each post will be a public reminder that none of us is alone. You are not alone. We all have baggage. And, God’s Got It.
I have told my favorite/most annoying client that I cannot be responsible for carrying other people’s anger and getting other people’s work done. God is my co-pilot, and everyone else in the organization is going to have to rely on themselves or Her, but definitely NOT ME, at least until Easter. I have to remind myself often, and quash the anxiety and inclination to habit; but one foot in front of the other . . . . it’s got to be more peaceful to not take on the responsibility for a whole corner of my world 24/7!
worry, fear, anger, confusion
fear of a future where the same old mistakes get made over and over and over…
Here’s the deal, hard to put all the baggage in just one suitcase. Hard to give it all up. So used to carrying the baggage, not sure I can just put it down. So used to juggling all those bags. So much of baggage is how I have come to define and know who I am. Like any trip or voyage, some baggage is needed, necessary, maybe even good. With so much baggage compartmentalized, how do I decide what to put down so I can move on? Some baggage I might have wanted to put down, I have decided to carry because I find I like it and have come to peace and understanding that it has made me a better person to have reached a point where it is okay. What was, was. It is who I am today and where I am going, not where I have been. I am not there (in the past) any longer. So is it really extra baggage any more? Or is it what comes with me on the voyage as needed like a toothbrush. So, all that being said, I know I can start with some baggage I wish to put down. I am a very private person, and have been so as long as I can remember. I keep my relationships at an arm’s length. Sometimes this personal privacy has served me well, overall I see how this privacy comes between myself and those I am in relationship around me. I am here to say I want to put down that baggage, that wall that I erect around me and those that I am in relationship to and those that I may be in relationship to.
Impatience and procrastination a lethal cocktail make. Take them both and leave the cocktail.
SIGH! it’s hard to heave this baggage out there, but here goes: perfectionism, and the belief that if people don’t approve of every tiny action i take, then i’m a failure. that if i don’t use the gifts God gave me to achieve something outstanding on a global scale, then i’m a failure. i recognize there’s not a lot of room for honesty, presence and loving relationship this baggage…but i’m still weighed down by the habit of it. time to check it.
sorry for having to post anonymously, really want to believe God’s got it all, just too hard to let go.
Dang, this stuff is hard
No really, this stuff is hard
It’s really hard, and it gives me some hope.
I am “checking” Jeff Carlson, Charles Messer and the belief that, if not a failure, I have underachieved professionally. Having “checked” some of my baggage, I realize that the process of doing so is unnerving. I stop and say, only somewhat facetiously, “What, I don”t have to beat myself up about the past? But, if I don`t I will not be holding myself accountable.” Then I remind myself that Jesus came so that we would not have to be held accountable. By checking my baggage I am going to have to learn a new way of living. The fear I face is by checking my baggage I am leaving the familiar for the unknown.
In the past when I would think about moving from the life I have to the abundant life Jesus promised I envisioned myself sitting beside the Devil on steps leading to a raised front porch. As I got up to go to the other side of the street which represented the abundant life, the Devil would say, “Stevie boy, we have been through this before. This life is not entirely satisfying. In fact, at times it is dissatisfying. But it is familiar. Now sit back down.” For me, checking my baggage will require I trust God enough to leave the familiar
I am so tired of worrying about the same things over and over
Need to turn it over to God regarding the dreaded IRS and State Franchise Tax Board. Please, God, guide me to how to resolve this mess.
God, please guide me in all that I need to do to reach my potential.
Please help God through your Lord Son Jesus
selfishness, envy, lack of self control, procrastination
An impediment to my going further with in faith is my belief in science and scientific discoveries. I can see how we are being to think of church ritual as a formalization or concretization of what has alread occurred in the spiritual realm. This is useful because having to believe in a strict set of behaviors as necessary for God’s love was — well — unbelieveable to me. But there are many barriers left to overcome. Sometimes it seems like the Bible’s treatment of faith is so outdated. We keep trying to bend the ancient stories to answer our modern questions. It seems like we need a newer Bible. In lieu of that unlikely event could some of the books being written now about the crisis between faith and science fill the gap a little bit? Taking this thought further, is there any interest in having a book club that would select one book a month to read and discuss in a group outside of the immediate church setting? It seems like there are enough books available for quite a while.
Paralyzing fear, trying to do it all myself, not trusting in God with abandon
Last week I stood before some of you and shared one piece of my baggage. Here’s the follow up from the last 8 days:
My brother and I planned and executed a surprise b-day for Mom. Part of the “surprise” was a movie that we created for all to enjoy. Sifting through hundreds and hundreds of pictures and choosing the perfect songs to match was not only a wonderfully bonding experience for my brother and me but it also helped shift my perspective. Yes, there is still some pain but I have much more empathy than I did AND I realize how quickly the years fly by. Somehow this gave me the motivation to honor my mother and helped me really enjoy the party.
Today is her actual birthday and she acknowledged once again how much she appreciated the celebration….”it was so beautiful…..the best party I could ever have… I had a GREAT time and just loved that I did not have to entertain anyone at all”. Plus, I think that dvd is likely worn out by now!
Interesting that I experienced so much darkness before the bright light.
I can hear my late grandmother saying:
“what is in the past is history
tomorrow is a mystery
today is a gift which is why we call it the present”
Dear Lord God, help me to move from the past that was, into a present that is, experiencing all your Glory and move into a future ever more filled with you presence and graceful love through your Son Jesus surrounded by with your love through this incredible community at Thad’s that I call my friends.
I had a rather black night of the soul yesterday, feeling that even as supportive as this community is, that the world of politics, consumerism and celebrity are trying to overwhelm our Lenten exercise. So I just let out my frustrations on my blog. Feel free to comment there if you feel like it.
http://jontaplin.com/2010/03/16/what-is-to-be-done/
JT
What is best for the Thad’s community of many outweighs the needs or wants of the few or the one. God let my ego step out of the way for the greater good of the many.
God grant me Grace, Peace and Serenity at work. We have adjustment pains coming as we focus on customer service, sales, safety, labor and controlling expenses. Work schedules are going to have to change and it impacts those that work for me in my department. Guide me to be able to do what is best for all. Grant me insight into how to guide my department forward into our company’s future.
So much fear…just take it…when successful…i am fearful…when not sccessful…i am fearful…just bless it…take it all…and give love in return..thanks..
bless all those who leave their baggage here…amen…and those who read but do not leave it…take it anyway…amen
Please Lord God through your Son Jesus guide me to resolution of taxes with IRS and the State.
My baggage has been blessed this Lent because in speaking it I can come closer to my Thad’s community and to God. Thank you for this introspective Lent that had brought me a spring time of new life. We can all keep on growing.
I’m checking a dopp kit of procrastination, a carry-on full of frustration/impatience towards family members, and a rolling duffel bag overflowing with “SHOULDS” – I should be at a different place in my life, love, career, I should be at the gym right now, I should be married with kids….I should be working instead of checking my baggage. No claim tag needed, thanks!
Help me my Lord God through your Son Jesus to face what I have to do with the IRS.
Thank you Lord God through your son Jesus to help me share (somewhat) my financial struggles via the IRS. This helps me know I am not alone in this struggle and I can trust in the personal revelation one on one that I am not critized for my percieved failings. I am trusting in your son Jesus to help guide me to resolution of this wreckage from my past. It is simply that, the past, and is not who I am today. Thank you to Ian for giving me the courage to voice. His is a voice of wisdom. Ian is a voice of inspisration to me personally within this community of Thads. Thank you Lord God through your son Jesus to have a friend such as Angelo for allowing me a space to speak my fears and confusion in being contacted by an ex-girlfriend. My “baggage”, I give to you Jesus.
My baggage is sadness, fear, and self-pity. Sunday at Thad’s is a love-bath. Immersing myself into it gives me courage to propel myself joyfully into the unknown future.
This is a psalm, sure as shootin’…by Mary Oliver
The Summer Day
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean–
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down–
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is is you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
Dear Lord Father Mother God, please help me to know my needs, financially to meet my needs, to guide me to a resolute financial situation that leads me to peace, a place that leads me to where I am to live.
Dear Lord Father Mother God, conitnue to guide me in my living situation. If I am to stay where I am at please guide me in the process to take the steps I need to. If I am to go somewhere else, please guide me in those steps I need to take.
Dear Lord Father Mother God, continue to guide in the steps i am taking regarding my living situation. Tomorrow Friday I seek to take over the cable and internet. Please make this transition smooth and seamless. Tomorrow Friday help me in making the calls to take over the electric and gas effective 6/1/10. Guide me the process to pay the rent for June 2010 on the 1st. This is all possible through the name of your son Jesus.
On Dogs, Barack Obama, Jimmy, Me and Growing Up Daddyless
My dog displays a type of reverence for me that frankly, though flattering, feels unearned. It’s not that I don’t treat him lovingly or that I’m not a fairly decent dog owner. I am. But you don’t have to be a dog whisperer to recognize that his preference for being in my presence is simply because he has identified me, rightly or wrongly, as the Alpha Dog of the household. Again, I’m no animal behavior expert, but I believe he arrived at that conclusion based entirely upon the facts that a) I’m a male b) I’m the biggest and c) I have the loudest voice. But the title is one I didn’t really aspire to or feel I fully deserve. Yet there he is, in all his doggy wisdom, anointing me all the same. Maybe he’s got a point.
The Alpha Dog is not just there to provide a sense of security, though that’s a big part of his job. He is also required to lead. My question, and it’s a question I think I’ve been asking my whole life in one way or another, what does it really mean to lead? And by that I mean not only what does it mean to be a leader of other people, but what does it mean to be your own leader? How do you exert authority over your own life? And if you are not the author of your life, who is?
I was thinking of my dog and his assertion when reading the recent criticism of President Obama. It’s coming primarily from people who would otherwise be loyalists — liberal pundits and the like. James Carville, for instance, criticizes him for not doing more about the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. What could he have done? What should he do? According to Carville, he needs to lead, he needs to show that he’s in charge, he needs to reassure us that everything will be ok — even if it things are going to be inexorably changed.
So Barack popped into my head when, during the teaching yesterday morning, Jimmy talked about the fact that his “Daddy” was absent or dead for most of his life and certainly during his formative years. So was Barack Obama’s. So was mine.
In Psalm 13 the psalmist seems to be going through a bit of an existential dilemma. “How long are things going to suck for me?,” he asks, “And when are you going to start making it suck for my enemies?” He is screaming out into the universe a giant “WTF???” Does he get an answer? He doesn’t say, but it seems to me he doesn’t, at least not one out loud. And yet, somehow he finds his answer. He seems to look within and say, “in spite of your apparent absence at this particular moment, I will praise you and I will thank you for your goodness to me.”
In a time when my preacher and my President both grew up like I did, Daddyless, I wonder if it’s some kind of national condition. I think that the social and political upheavals of the 20th Century left everyone in America feeling a bit Daddyless. The old model of the Alpha Dog doesn’t seem so useful today and its replacement has not fully emerged. We distrust authority, and yet we are not fully capable of assuming the authorship of our own lives.
And so what does the psalmist do in response to the silence? He praises God and thanks Him for all His blessings. In other words, in spite no obvious or clear guidance, he steps up and does what needs to be done.
And so what does that mean to me, the Alpha Dog? It does not mean that I need to deny that circumstances may suck. It does not mean that I need to deny that challenges may lie ahead. It doesn’t mean that I should ignore the fact that I don’t feel fully equipped to deal with whatever those challenges may be, or that I may be disheartened by the belief that some challenges will be simply too great to be overcome. But it does mean that I need to take stock of all the blessings that I’m surrounded with and in those blessings and from those blessings find a Hope that will inform and fuel my response to those challenges. And if I can do that for myself I can do that for others. That is what it means to be the Alpha Dog of my own life. That is what it means to Lead.
If my dog were not a dog I’m not sure but that he would be a little more discerning in his selection of whom he is to follow. But he is a dog and he has no choice. And so it is with us. We are stuck being ourselves. We can say that we are “following God” but ultimately we have to look into the darkness to see Him, we have to listen to the silence to hear His voice. It would be nice if we could have something a bit more solid to go on. Along the way we many encounter many Alpha Dogs worthy of being followed. But ultimately, because we are not dogs, we have to be the Leaders of ourselves. And we have to lead ourselves to God.
Praises and thanks to my Lord God through his son Jesus Christ in lovingly guiding me through the process of taking on the lease of my apartment from my roomate effective 7/1/10, helping me through the car issues (replacing fuel pump and resolving expired registration) and allowing the possibilty to reconcile and move forward with Crystal. Never have I most experianced the concept that ” through God All Things are Possible”. It is truly miraculous to see how God is working in my life for the good of all. It is only through this wonderful community that I can truly say I am a follower of Jesus and acknowlede the true wonder and power of the Father God Almighty.