Happy Saturday ADD Irregulars, WSN Delvers & other Black Sheep! Hey there Friends & Refugees, Misfits & PHAM and all the rest of you Insomniacs, Wanderers and Seekers. The move is going well, going to get some help today with the great unpacking. Things should begin to take shape in the house looking for like a home. A morning quote and some commentary for all you gentle readers.

God does not take away trials or carry us over them, but strengthens us through them. —E. B. Pusey

This quote tends to be my response when Believers and Disciples say the often heard comment of "God never gives you more than you can handle." That statement helps many deal with the challenges of life, but it has never done me much good as a person of faith. It presume or assumes a number of factors that I tend to find difficult to accept.

I am not a fan of Cosmic Micro-management. While I firmly believe in the God who pays a surprising amount of attention to me, I do not find Him, Her or Them constantly moving the levels of fortune, pushing the chess pieces or dropping things randomly into my lap. For me, it makes the Luminous some sort of arbitrary experimenter who is constantly testing us "for our own good." I have never put much stock in anyone testing or telling us something for "your own good." It is for their own good, their satisfaction or their plans, you are the pliant recipient who should appreciate their benevolence. Thanks any chap.

The permissive will of the Divine is one of the more challenging aspect of maintaining faith in a world broken by malice and the evils of humanity. I consider the problem of evil as it is called in philosophy the most pressing argument against an all powerful, all good and all loving Being that permits what seems like a massive amount of evil in the world. My personal answer that I expect to satisfy no-one but myself is patience. In time, probably on the other side of death and at the gateway of eternity I will humbly understand. Until then, I have to trust that the goodness of God is real enough.

In the midst of life's trials, the Divine wants us to deepen our faith through successive dives into the depths of trust, acceptance and yielding. God will often if not always give us more than we cand handle, especially if the great invitation is one of trust. While not arbitrarily willing something into our lives, He does allow the unfolding. I know I have repeated this point, but it is not one easily accepted by Believers.

It is all a bunch of talk until the testing occurs, and there will always be the "see here, see here" people who will point out your failings to trust, your wresting with acceptance or your lack of immediately yielding to God. God bless them and screw them. Such people don't deserve a place at the table of your life without a changed attitude. If they can't change it, they need to go or be muted. You may keep them around out of fondness and familiarity, but don't count on them helping you bear the trials of life. Sometimes it is with great sadness that long term family or friends get mired in that attitude of "told ya so." They are not doomed to always voice that corrosive attitude, but they will rarely be free of it without some real heart to heart discussion.

Be the person who trusts in the trial and helps others do so. Not in some pollyannish way, but real invitations to trust, hard moves of patience and yielding to the mysterious and unknown future. Perspective on anxiety or real concern need not cave into fear and panic. Listen to emotions, but don't let them drive you. They are the color of our world but nots its form. Together color and form make beautiful realities. It is the beautiful realities that the Luminous want to lead us to experience.

Happy Saturday my friends!