The Strings That Control The System

“I see the strings that control the systems.” Flobots

One of the interesting things about following Jesus is how much of Scripture allows us to see the strings that control the system.  The world operates from a broken posture.  And Scripture allows us to see very clearly how and why we operate the way we do.  It allows us to see the strings that manipulates and controls people.  And once we’re aware of these strings, we can begin to recognize them in people’s lives, even our own life.  We can begin to see from a much different perspective why people move with bitterness, hate, anger, jealousy, and division.

Seeing the strings is a weird thing.  It’s like watching the backside of a puppet show.  In some ways it takes the mystery out of the grand production.  It robs us of the drama we sometimes long to hold onto. In some ways we feel betrayed for not knowing yet in knowing we can almost feel powerless to do anything about it.  The emotions of that transition can easily feel like death.  We’re no longer comfortable with the idea of being naive but we don’t quite know how to live differently.

To know the strings exist is to become aware of the drama that no longer captures us.  We miss it, like a good friend that leads us to drink to much.  The laughter was fun until we woke up the next morning with hangover.

Drama feeds us.  It makes us both laugh and cry.  It reminds us of the interactions in our lives and helps us process our own reactions.  And this human interactions reminds us that we are alive, if barely.  The drama feeds us in ways that leave us malnourished but just strong enough to contribute in a low level kind of way.

Following Jesus means walking backstage and leaving our naive state.  It means walking away from our excuses and obstacles that hinder our growth in so many ways.  It means leaving behind our anger that allows us to remain angry at the person who hurt us.  It means stepping into our own maturity at the expense of the games we play.  In other words, to see the strings means we can no longer remain anesthetized by the play taking place on the stage.  We’re now aware that the strings are controlling us.

To follow Jesus is to cut the strings.  It’s to leave behind religion that so carefully allows us to remain naive.  It means taking responsibility for our lives and nturing our dignity back to wholeness.  It means stepping into the chaos of love and trust.  It means participating in our own restoration at the expense of the pain that nurtured our retribution; pain we so desperately hold onto.  It menas not being defined by what other people say or do to us.  And it means taking the risk to discover the life we were meant to live.

Ultimately it means true freedom.  Care to follow?

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