Overpowered: Regaining control over our life’s direction

Charles Ringma – Dare to Journey, with Henri Nouwen 

We would like to think that we are always in control of our own lives and that we have the power to make purposeful decisions. Sadly, this is not always the case. We are not always in control. Sometimes our circumstances seem to rule our lives much more than our own decisions. Sometimes the consequences of previous unfortunate decisions plague us in the present. And frequently the demands of the present and pressures of the moment dominate our lives. We can feel overpowered. We feel overwhelmed and often begin to slide into resentment and fantasising. One move that we can begin to make as an alternative to these negative options is to create a place of stillness where we face the ‘enemies’ who are ranged against us.

In the place of stillness, quiet reflection and ruthless honesty, we begin to reclaim the ground which has been lost. We can retake the reins of our lives. We do this not by willing that things be different. Nor by fretful prayer. Nor by plotting to escape. We regain lost territory by rediscovering that we are more than the work of our own hands. That we are loved for who we are by the God of all compassion, not merely for what we do. And, by creating space for ourselves, we can gain new perspective on the pressures and the demands that we experience and so can begin to plot a new course for our lives.