Spiritual Commerce – Daily Exchanges

freedom for bondage
peace for anxiety
beauty for ashes
joy for mourning
light for darkness
sight for blindness
life for death

It’s 7pm on a Tuesday evening…….  I’m thinking about my day as a series of exchanges, not unlike those I would conduct at a financial institution (investment firm, bank, etc.). I’m thinking about the people I interacted with (emails, phone, in person), the work & reading I did, my time alone with the Lord, the errands I ran, my hike in the hills…. I made exchanges in nearly all of these settings, my external actions being an indicator of inward activity. I was a buyer and a seller today. But the act of buying is what’s on my mind tonight.

All day I made assessments, consciously & unconsciously, about whatever was on the table at the moment, and I decided whether or not I was buying. If I was buying, I decided what I was willing to pay. These transactions happen internally too…….all day long…. inner dialogue with myself where I make many of my most important decisions.

Here’s an external example –  You’re in the car-pool-lane on the freeway and a car in front of you is going 10 mph below the posted speed. This is (was) your 1 chance in a million to move across one of our impossible So. Cal. valley floors in good time. The offer presented says, “I’m selling frustration, anger, anxiety, and I’m throwing in a chance to break the law by crossing the forbidden quadruple yellow line to escape me. You buying?” What might you offer for that lovely prize package? If it’s me buying, I’d likely offer whatever sense of tranquility and inner calm I might have. You? Once I do the deal, there’s no blaming the other guy. I bought. I chose.

One day, a few years back, I was meditating on Philippians 4: 6 & 7. Distracted (& irritated) by the part about being thankful, I got an image of putting something very concrete in God’s hand and Him putting something in my hand to replace it. Simple, but it was a real shift for me. There was an actual exchange. As long as I did not go and take back the thing I had given Him, it stayed where I put it. In this instance, I took something priceless away. Peace. How would you evaluate that rate of return? I’ve worn a path for the countless times I have gone and taken back my ‘precious’ anxiety, leaving peace squarely in His hand. Seems idiotic when you put it in these terms. Sometimes, I make inane choices…….simple as that.

It’s very good to know who you’re doing business with. It’s very good to know what’s on the table and what you’re really going to walk away with.

The thief does not come except to steal,
and to kill, and to destroy.
I have come that they may have life,
and that they may have it more abundantly.
~ John 10:10 ~