Let go of the rope!

~ sparedbygrace@yahoo.com

cowboy dragged

I enjoyed westerns and still do. On occasion, someone would be tied to a rope and pulled behind a horse. Brutal. What a horrible punishment. I was amazed that anyone could survive such treatment. Amazed, too, that their clothes were not shredded. But, that is Hollywood.

We get dragged by a rope behind the horses of our past. That may be what has happened to us or was perpetrated against us. Or, it may be what we have done or not done, that we continue to torture ourselves for. We subject ourselves to brutal punishment. I am amazed that we survive such treatment. But, we do. I have been dragged and known others who were dragged. Not Hollywood: real life.

The big difference between the two images: In the westerns the victim has a rope tied around his/her wrists (I don’t remember a female being so tortured, but it could happen) and the other end tied around the saddle horn. In regard to being tied to the rope of ones’ past: One end is tied to the saddle horn. The other end? Well, we hang onto it. We need to let go.

What is your rope? What have you suffered and continue to suffer as a result of being dragged behind the punishing past? Healing and hope are possible. But, you have to let go of the rope.

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Published by sparedbygrace@yahoo.com

I am Richard Brewer—a Christ-follower, psychologist, husband, father, grandfather (Papa) sometimes writer, and lifelong student of people. For much of my professional life, I've had the privilege of sitting with people as they wrestle with some of life's most difficult questions—questions about faith, suffering, grief, relationships, identity, failure, hope, and what it means to live well. Those conversations have changed the way I see people and the way I understand my own faith. They have taught me that life is rarely as simple as our explanations of it, that people are almost always more complicated than they appear, and that sometimes the wisest response to a difficult question is to empathize and to keep asking better questions. I am a committed Christ-follower, but I am not interested in pretending that Christianity eliminates mystery or that faith means having an answer for everything. Faith invites us to pursue truth honestly, to think deeply, to acknowledge what we do not know, and ultimately to trust the God we do know. Mediocre Meanderings is where I explore some of those questions. I write about faith and psychology, grief and suffering, leadership and relationships, aging and ordinary life—and occasionally whatever else catches my attention along the way. I do not write from the perspective of someone who has figured life out. I write as someone who has lived enough of it to know that I have not. These are my thoughts, questions, observations, and occasional attempts at wisdom. Take what is useful. Challenge what is not. And, if you would like, meander along with me.