I woke up early this morning listening to roofers banging noisily away on a house down the street.

I lay in bed for a while with many quiet insights arriving. They went like this….

Everything Jesus said was true; it was just that the mind has no way of understanding the spirit. Parables remain mysterious until the soul’s deep desire is to find the key that unlocks them.

He did not want us to remain in the darkness of thought, so He said “Take no thought.”

He wanted us to surrender, so He made all kinds of offers to take over and run our lives. Well, so-called enlightened teachers make offers, too, but they are not on the same level. Jesus knew that the highest level is zero. Yes, a paradoxical savior is what we have. He wanted us to have all that we possibly can, but not on the physical level.

He was sad at the state of the world and He reassured us that He had overcome it and so could we. But only through surrender to Him.

I have been sad for most of my life; it is out of that sorrow that I have come to know what He was talking about. He was not talking to people that had everything and wanted more. He blessed the poor in spirit, did He not?

I do take comfort in the Word and if I am not able to heed it perfectly, I am already forgiven. I repent endlessly and that is how it should be.

I find comfort in honest inner confession and I have to make them all day long. I am constantly rowing my boat in the wrong direction.

I turn away from the world of false joy and embrace the Man of Sorrow. This is alchemy that only the surrendered soul can understand.

Vicki Woodyard