Youthfulness provides such innocence, an innocence filled with optimism wanting to believe in the inherent goodness of humanity, all of humanity, including self.  However, the journey, a journey all must take, slowly proves ‘innocence’ wrong, including a slow-to-die hopefulness in self.  Slowly, comes the recognition self cannot be fixed, nor cleansed, nor healed, nor improved, etc…, by self.  As all discover eventually, self is crippled, tainted, damaged, ever so slightly or greatly, always enough to distort self in a ‘tragic’ manner.  A single ‘degree’ off course soon takes you miles from who you are intended to be, who you want to be.  It is the great tragedy of the human condition.

As ‘innocence’ dies, so will hope, ultimately enabling you to accept the crippled self, even loving the crippled self, perhaps even so bold as to declare the crippled self good; a tragic mistake hindering all future efforts toward self-enhancement.  However, those trekking after the Serving King discover a new source of ‘hope’, a source free of the limitations of self, free from the ‘infection’ of decay, free to be and do in ways self never could.  God, discovered and embraced, finally unleashed to do what only God can do with a damaged self.  The unthinkable now possible, healing for the crippled self, a new way of being and doing just over the horizon.  Fear not, God is radically committed to healing the self, liberating it to embrace a future only possible for those receiving redemption in all of its power, the full scope of God’s redemptive effort toward the crippled self.

Be warned, God intends to fix what really ails the self.  That fix will probe and prod you to the very core of your being into the ‘whole of spirit, soul and body’.  As the Spirit of God bores into the very essence of your being, expect moments of discomfort, moments of self discovery and cleansing, moments of anguish, moments of great joy, and, most profoundly, freedom for and from self.  A new way of ‘being and doing is ushered in, His way of being and doing.  Then, and only then, life authentically begins, liberated from the obsessions of the self-centered self.  So we pray, “May the God of peace sanctify you through and through…”  This journey is just beginning.  Embrace the fullness of God’s redemption waiting for you.  Accept the healing only God can provide…