Have you ever felt stuck in something?

A relationship?

A habit?

A job?

A dream?

A good ol’ fashioned rut of some sort?

My “stuckness” found me looking up the word momentum: The impetus gained by a moving object.

Hmmm. Impetus? I grab my pipe and don my most sleuth-like cap as I turn another stone.

Impetus is defined as: The driving force, the property possessed by a moving body that results in increased activity.

More stones turn as I ask myself,

What is the something (or Someone) that gets the body moving in the first place?

Maybe lack of momentum isn’t my problem. Perhaps what I need has far more to do with the force that moves me in the first place.

Ann Lamont (AL) tells a poignant story in her book Hallelujah Anyway-Rediscovering Mercy. A homeless man who had soiled himself was met with a tender (merciful) response. The loving act displayed by the caregivers deeply moved AL’s friend Tom.

As I was reading the story my mind jumped ahead. I was imagining the virtual applause that awaited the kind folks who not only helped a homeless man but whose actions ministered to Tom.

And then it happened. I was cut short by these words:

These men Tom told me about were common people, reached by a goodness outside or visitation from within. Something merciful found them where they were. {Emphasis mine.}

Of course!

I am SO blind!

It wasn’t the homeless man.
It wasn’t the caregivers.
It wasn’t the brave act of surrender on Tom’s part.

NO!

It was mercy.

God’s mercy found them!

How many times Lord do I think it’s about me coming to you?

How often have I prayed that those I love would do this or do that, go here or go there? As if my future, or theirs, were singularly dependent upon what we do or don’t do.

Mercy finds us.

It comes first. Newton would call it the First Law of Motion.

If an object is standing still and is not contacted by any forces, it will continue to remain motionless.

Momentum isn’t even an option in my life until I’m touched by mercy. Then and only then can momentum occur.

I’m wrecked by the realization of how little this business of who I am and who I hope to become has so very little to do with me.

Don’t get me wrong. I know we choose. (We could have a long cup of coffee over the matter of free will.) But at the end of the day the work…the mercy…the “thing that puts the ball in motion” is Him.

Shoulders lift as tears fall. The serenity of my soul matches the glass lake in front of me. But I’m not fooled by the stillness. I’m smiling because I know that He is a God of paradox. There’s a current beneath the still that has opened up. It moves strong and powerful. I take great comfort in the fact that it has nothing to do with me.

Movement has begun. The pre-requisite to momentum has been met.

Friend, if you are seeking the same for yourself or someone you love be encouraged by the scripture and music below. May we all be still long enough for Him to move in our lives and the lives of those we pray for.

^”He saved us. It wasn’t because of the good things we had done. It was because of his mercy. He saved us by washing away our sins. We were born again. The Holy Spirit gave us new life.” Titus 3:5 NIRV

“It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this.” Titus 3:5 MSG