Morning Prayer is not the only spiritual discipline I have taken on in this Lenten season. I am also using a book called Pilgrim Road: A Benedictine Journey through Lent. Its writer, Albert Holtz, is a monk, called on a spiritual pilgrimage during his sabbatical year. In today's entry, Holtz writes about a Hungarian fort, and the story of its people's bearing up while under siege. At one time, the enemy decided to tunnel underground, but the general who had charge of the fort took bowls of water and set them all around the walls of the fortress, telling the guards to watch for ripples in the water which would signal underground activity. Well, the bowls did their trick, and the enemy's attempt to take the town by surprise was foiled.

It reminds me that there are so many levels of emotion and frustration in a person's life. The ripples in your bowl may be a disorganized mess in your home or office; an angry outburst that leaves others reeling and you wondering where the anger came from; overspending, over- drinking, over-flirting, over the top behavior of varying kinds.

That is the bowl and its rippling water.
What is going on beneath the surface is a whole other thing. It could be fear over an unidentified medical condition (are you taking care of yourself?); fear of loss of job, home, spouse, or financial security; residual anger or hurt because of what happened earlier in your life; lack of control in the circumstances that surround you.

Even beneath those things can be your personal reaction to what is going on in the world. You could be subliminally or obviously affected by the global weather issues -- earthquake, tsunami, volcanic action; war and rumors of war; political unrest. These and other global and uncontrollable issues may be lying deep within you, causing a deep layer of unrest.

Recognizing the underlying issues can help you understand what is going on in your life and in your heart. Some of the things you can do something about: cleaning your home or office can help uncover the things done and left undone that are discouraging you; getting an answer on why your back, stomach or teeth hurt can lead to fixing the problem and not only relieving the fear but also the pain.

But some things are beyond your control. You can't control the weather or the global climate changes. Voting is participation in government, but you can't control the day to day actions of politicians. You can help the victims of war and natural disaster, but you cannot control the causes.

It does help to give these things to God. Trust that the God who created the world and called it good, who created you AND CALLED YOU GOOD, can handle God's own creation, and can love and encourage and comfort God's people. Entrust the uncontrollable to God, and ask God to help you control those things you can change or solve or help.

Sounds simple, right? What happens so often for me is that I give the matter over to God and then I want to take it back and worry over it some more. I need to remember that God is really big enough to take care of God's world. God gives me back my piece to work on, and God really will take care of the rest.

So I offer you a bowl. Fill it with water, and watch for the ripples that signal underlying discontent. Then trust God to help you get through it all.
Godspeed.