Stay Put

Staying put is a message we don't usually want to hear.  We are accustomed to getting up and going as we please.  We call it freedom in that we don't have to answer to anyone about our whereabouts.  We are free to be.  We take our freedom as a God given right, something that our ancestors died for.  Free to defy laws and mandates, especially if it infringes on our rights.  But I wonder do we really know what our ancestors died for?  Perhaps it wasn't quite the freedom that we imagine today.

Jeremiah was asked to pray for the remnant of people left behind from the Babylonian conquerors.  These were the poorest of people, not worthy of being taken captive to Babylon.  They were survivors of horrors, their city ransacked and destroyed, their recently appointed leader murdered, along with 80 other men.  Those corpses just cast aside into a cistern to further contaminate any drinking water.  These people  had nothing to claim for themselves and they wanted Jeremiah to pray for them. They're on the verge of death, encamped along the near border of the country of Egypt, thinking that it may be a safe harbor for them.   Their words are seemingly humble and respectful "we'll listen to the voice of the Lord our God, whether pleasant or unpleasant." 

So the word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah in time, about 10 days of time.  His message is "Stay put,"  don't be afraid, don't run into Egypt, stay in this land, "I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you, for I shall relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you," (Jeremiah 42: 10).  What a simple, easy answer, just "stay put."  But unfortunately even before Jeremiah can get all the words out, the decision is made to not obey God, but to go into Egypt.  You have to wonder, why?  What is it about us, that even when we are desperately praying to God, wanting an answer, that we still are going to do, what we were going to do, even before we pray?  Why can we not just stay put?

 

Staying put is the message of this pandemic.  There have been grave consequences when people have chosen to defy this advice.  I realized that 325,000 people dead from this Corona virus is as if everyone in my city were dead.  Every street I walk down would be filled with dead bodies.  Somehow, thinking of that, I have even a better understanding of the devastation that has happened.  I think our greatest enemy is our own denial.  We live with beams in our eyes, unable to truly put ourselves in others shoes.  We can only see what's in it for us, our own selfish wills.

Staying put is something I seem to have acquired over the years.  As a child, deep roots with community or friends were not developed, as we moved quite a bit until my later elementary years.   Schools for junior high and high school brought changes,  new interests, and acquaintances.  Nursing school moved me to Chicago, IL and a marriage moved me west.   Perhaps that process always got me seeking "greener grass on the other side of fence."  But as an adult, I have lived in my present home for almost 27 years, I have worked in my practice for almost 21 years, and I have been a nurse for 41 years.  I have friendships that have been for 30 plus years, girlfriends that I can always call upon at just a moments notice.  Yes, there have been times when I thought moving or changing work had to be the answer.  I often didn't understand why opportunities never seemed to offer me the chance to move on out.  Staying put often felt like being left behind.  

Yet, staying put has given me meaning.  It's given me eyes to see and appreciate the ordinary, to experience joy with each season of life.  There's a richness in relationships that have weathered all the crises along with very jubilant times.  Though the calendar continues to document that time moves on, I still have find contentment with what I have and whom I am.  I have discovered the magnificence of hiking in the foothills and mountains only a short distance from my home.  I relish the painted sunrises and sunsets that frame my days.  The other morning was breath taking as Gypsy Rose and I started out. The moon was beaming brightness through morning clouds as it began to set in the west over LA, the mountains fresh with snow were sharp in their blue and purplish shadows, and the morning sun stretched the colors of pink, red and orange in an asymmetrical pattern in the eastern sky.  Days like that reinforce my staying put.

I don't need to chase the latest whim, worry about what lies ahead or fear that good ol' days are forever gone.  I don't need to succumb to political rhetoric or rants.  I don't need to control others or figure out how God is going to reveal Himself in this post modern secular society.  I am to just stay put and lay down roots, live a life of consistency, integrity and love.  I am to appreciate all that God has given me, all that He has been faithful to do for me and my family.  I am to live love fully each day, and just stay put. . .