Stay In Your Lane

Last Thursday, September 11th, we woke up to a different America. We anticipated the somber remembrance of innocent Americans from New York City, the Pentagon, and in pastoral fields of Pennsylvania whose lives were taken 24 years ago by terrorists threatened by American ideals. But we also awakened to a terrifying overnight reality that an innocent American husband and father, while executing his Constitutional 1st Amendment Rights, was silenced - murdered by another American who disagreed with his ideals. Not since the late Dr. Martin Luther King have we witnessed such a heinous act of violence. It leaves many of us sickened and wondering in disbelief, what has happened to America, known as the land of the free and home of the brave? 💔 Turning inward, we must make space for sorrow and acknowledge the spiritual warfare that surrounds us in our daily lives. We must seek clarity over confusion and intentionally put on the armor of love to protect our minds, our hearts, and our relationships. 

Laying the Framework

During times of chaos, I especially look for clear, more simplistic ways of understanding. I have recently discovered Byron Katie’s The Work (2003), which lays out a framework for seeing the world as it is and focuses our attention on our thoughts and actions, and not those of others. 

Katie outlines that humans can only be in one of three places with their thoughts: in your own business, in someone else’s business, or in God’s business. 

someone else’s business

If you allow yourself to be in someone else’s business, you are likely coming from a place of fear or suffering, trying to control their thoughts and actions toward what you want - a “better” outcome. In reality, you cannot control another person: what they think, feel, or the decisions they make. It simply does not work, and yet sadly, we find ourselves here far too often, trying to influence, control, and undermine our relationships with others. 

God’s Business

If you are in God’s business, your inner ego is questioning His ways. Your “logic,” the way you see the world, wants to take matters into its own hands. Evil preys upon our fears and our ego, trying to convince us that the only way we will be accepted, loved, and thrive in this world is to take control ourselves rather than surrender to God. This truth goes back as far as Adam and Eve. Though we rationally know we are not in control, we are not omnipotent, and God’s business is His alone, evil feeds on the human ego. It knows that it is our place of weakness. Evil tells us lies and frames the way we see the world until the lies take root in our hearts. Evil that had taken root in a heart so emboldened as to play God was on full display last week, taking an innocent life. 

Our Business

Katie asserts that where we belong is in “our business”, each in our own lane. That does not mean we disconnect from others or God, and we are only selfishly concerned with ourselves. Rather, we can only control our thoughts, our reactions to situations, our words, and our actions. We can take personal responsibility for where we are, what we say and do, and in whom we place our trust. 

Humans are made for suffering. You likely have, you are, and you will suffer in this lifetime. Suffering is part of life this side of heaven. If we never suffered, we would never open our hearts in search of a higher power. We would never look to a God who can help us through the suffering and bring us healing and hope. Let us spend time now in silence, making space for God’s healing through this time of suffering and for His help in staying in our lane, the business of becoming our best, most loving self for humanity. 

Be well ❤️

Kelly