Bike Rides, The Giving Tree, and St John Of The Cross
Moving from asking God to fix our problems to a richer relationship that he offers.
I took a bike ride in the rain the other day. Not a sweet romantic drizzle but a cold driving rain that falls down and sideways at the same time.
I was making supper and needed one more ingredient but our car was at the mechanic. Biking was my only option to get to the grocery store. I put on all of my rainproof gear, donned a pair of ski goggles to see through the whipping rain and headed off.
It was awful.
Biking is usually a pleasant past time but the moment you add any element of weather it becomes incredibly difficult. The wind was against me both ways. It was cold and very wet. After the fact, I discovered that my back tire was flat. This made the ride that much more gruelling.
About 2 mins into the bike ride, the first prayer off my lips was, “God, please stop this wind and rain. Just for a few minutes so I can get through this.” But the rain did not stop.
Once I reached the grocery store I remembered that I did not have a bike lock with me. It’s my own fault. I haven’t bought one. But, it meant I had to walk my sopping wet bike through the store whilst at the same time trying to balance groceries, while wearing ski goggles. It was, in a word, chaotic. However, growing up is learning to own your own chaos, isn’t it?
The rain continued on my ride home and God still did not fix my problem.
On Sunday, our sermon on 1 Peter was about trials. The line that stuck with me was that trials expose where our faith is truly at. My taxing bike ride was no exception.
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein has received a lot of recent criticism. Adam Grant and Allison Sweet Grant’s New York Times article We Need To Talk About ‘The Giving Tree’ expressed concern that the book displayed an unhealthy model of relationship to children. The boy talks to the tree only when he needs something, he thanklessly takes and takes whenever he has need, and the tree gives and gives until she destroys herself.
My bike ride showed me that my relationship with God looks an awful lot like The Giving Tree. I’m not proud of it but it’s true. Maybe you can relate.
When push comes to shove I REALLY want God to be a God that makes bad things go away. I want him to make everything easier - from stopping the rain on a bike ride to healing the brain of my friend who has depression to solving the housing crisis and opioid epidemic with a snap of his fingers.
I want Jesus to fix things.
I am content to take and take with little give. God can sustain this type of relationship because he is fully self sufficient, completely eternal, and unending in his love and compassion for me. A Giving Tree relationship can be a place a start with God, it is where most of us start. But there is more to faith than asking God to fix our problems. A much richer and deeper relationship is offered to us, if we are willing.
But there is more to faith than asking God to fix our problems. A much richer and deeper relationship is offered to us.
St John of the Cross wrote about the “dark night of the soul”. These days we use it to refer to a difficult trial in someone’s life. But it is actually the final step of purification where one fully surrenders to God and moves from needing things from God to merely being beloved and at peace. It is a stage where the follower of Jesus is just at rest in being with him - no matter the circumstances nor what Jesus might provides.
St John of the Cross writes this in his poem Dark Night Of the Soul:
I remained, lost in oblivion;
My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself,
Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies.
In the midst of trials that are small - like my bike ride - or ones that are terrifying and devastating, there remains a relationship of beloved-ness. A posture where we abandon ourselves, embrace the unknowable reality of a loving and mysterious God and recline our faces on the Beloved. No longer asking God to fix things but receiving the comfort of merely being with him in the midst of trials.
It feels rather terrifying to move from requiring things from God to no longer asking. It can feel like we stand to lose everything. But the depth and closeness of relationship that can be gained when we abandon ourselves and our needs and embrace the satisfying presence of being with God is more satisfying that we can imagine. It is here that we can lay down our need for things to be fixed and abandon our cares among the lilies.
God is inviting you and me to move from The Giving Tree relationship to reclining your face on the Beloved and abandoning your fears. He is asking you to simply be with him through the wild rainy bike ride and not ask him to take it away. To know that surely God is in this place, the place where you are this very moment. And to know the peace that passes all understanding by knowing his presence today, exactly where you are, in exactly what is happening.
Other Fun Things
Something To Eat:
For an easy, tasty crockpot meal for those hot summer nights when you want savoury curry but don’t want to turn on the oven. Try this:
Red Lentil Coconut Curry:
1 Onion peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped
2 tbsp fresh ginger
4 tbsp curry paste
250 g red lentils
400 ml coconut milk (reduced fat or full fat)
400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
300 g butternut squash cubes fresh or frozen
100 ml vegetable stock
optional add tofu or chicken
*Put everything into the slow cooker and cook on High for 6 hours or Low for 8-9 hours. Serves 6 people. Serve with rice or naan and enjoy!
Something to Read:
To read Adam Grant and Allison Sweet Grant’s article on the Giving Tree - you can read it here.
It was recently peony season where I live and I wanted to share a beautiful Luci Shaw with you.
Contemplative Prayer with a Peony
By Luci Shaw
So, I didn’t latch onto a holy word
and go into space and, ethereal,
lose touch with my body. But God,
in those thirty slow minutes, you
unfolded in me the bud of a fresh
flower, with color and fragrance
that was more than my soul
was capable of, on its own.
. . . We all, with unveiled face,
behold as in a mirror
the glory of the Lord.
And when the peony showed up,
I knew it as a kind of mirror. This
was glory in pink and cream, with
a smell of heaven. Petals like valves
opening into the colors of my heart.
I saw myself kneeling on a grass border,
my knees bruising the green, pressing
my face into the face of this silken,
just-opened bloom, and breathing it,
wanting to drown in it. Wanting
to grow in its reflected image.
That’s it from me. Have a lovely July, friends!
You are a really gifted writer and kind soul, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us ❤️