Letting go of the past is not easy. Being forgiven for our mistakes and being washed clean from sin is one thing, but getting rid of the messy stink of the past is another thing altogether. We are aware that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, and that those sins were atoned for on the cross, but getting over the feeling of guilt, and shame, and hurt, is easier said than done. Sometimes it feels like there’s just too much stuff to dispose of, and that eventually God’s going to say, “Enough! I can’t take any more of your junk!” It’s like our spiritual drain gets clogged and stuff starts to back up. “Pray harder,” they tell us. Or, “You just have to bear the consequences. You got yourself into this mess; you’ll have to deal with it.”
What do you do when your spiritual drain gets clogged? When there’s just too much to deal with?
Let me come straight to the point. Life is meant to be lived with a vertical gaze. Think about it. It’s true from the time we are born and beyond. Babies first learn to make eye contact looking up. Toddlers learn to walk by looking up toward their destination, almost always with hands raised high. Looking up is how we first learn, and how learning is always done. It is an obvious, inescapable fact.
Paradigm. Why did I choose it as the name of my blog? Because it’s a powerful word. It says more in eight letters than many entire books say from cover to cover. Let’s look at the word itself.
