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From the Heart Living Like Weasels
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In her book Teaching A Stone To Talk, author Annie Dillard exhorts her readers to “live like weasels.” These small creatures maintain a steady focus. They are “obedient to instinct” and once an attack has commenced on its prey, there is no way to pry the weasel from the jugular vein of the unsuspecting. Annie tells of an eagle that was found dead with the skeletal remains of a weasel “fixed by the jaws to his throat,” looking like a “furry pendant.” The moral of her story is “to stalk your calling in a certain skilled and supple way, to locate the most tender and live spot and plug into that pulse.” It is “yielding at every moment to the perfect freedom of single necessity.”
Luke 5:17-26 tells of four men who lowered a paralyzed friend on a mat through a roof. They lived like weasels. Their “single necessity” was to get their pal to Jesus. Nothing could pry them away from their goal; not their friend’s fears, nor the sneers of others, nor even their own insecurities. Rope-holders is what I call them. They needed unity, strength, perseverance, courage and probably a good sense of humor to pull this off. But, most of all, they were desperate to get to Jesus.
It’s obvious that these rope-holders loved their friend. They were persistent and unconventional. They didn’t care what others thought, including the proper, religious crowd. And, they weren’t after the teaching. They wanted the touch. They wanted to access the “power of the Lord” that was “present” in that place (Luke 5:17). They knew Jesus was the source of sufficient help, so they aimed at getting “right in front of” him (Luke 5:19).
The rope-holders in my life are people who listen to me; to the words of my mouth and the silences of my heart. They offer gentle rebukes when necessary and they intercede for me. They teach me by holy example and keep me accountable. They don’t attempt to get me to achieve their expectations of me. Primarily, they place me in Jesus’ presence—where he does his magnificent work.
The obstacles were clear in the account of the paralytic. He couldn’t get off his mat. He had “lost the power of voluntary motion,” which is Webster’s definition of paralysis. There was no easy way in. And, there was no room because the crowd was too big. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were in the way.
Recently I asked God to help me see what might be paralyzing me. What things consistently keep me from moving into Your presence, God?
His answer startled me. He revealed bitterness in my life. It was a root from a seed of legitimate hurt that had taken a tenacious hold of me. The thoughts of my heart coddled the seed like warm soil. I thought of it often and with each critical, sour remembrance the root grew deeper, tangling around my legs and feet so I couldn’t move. Paralyzed, I seemed unable to get right in front of Jesus.
But, like the man on the mat, once I found myself in Jesus’ presence, healing began. And, like the paralytic I, too, heard Jesus’ freeing words. “Your sins are forgiven.…Get up and walk” (Luke 5:23). Luke goes on to tell the rest of the story. “Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.” Because his rope-holding friends lived like weasels, the onlookers at this event were amazed and said they had seen “remarkable things” (Luke 5:26).
The question begs asking. Where are you in this account? Are you paralyzed, lying on your now familiar mat? Are you immobilized by bitterness or fear, discouragement or disobedience, busyness or indifference, pride or anything else? Are you being carried by your friends? Are you right in front of Jesus? Have you received the touch of power; healed, but still choosing to be on your mat? Are you picking it up and walking home, praising God? Are you a by-stander, concerned more about how to fix the roof and indignant that such things have never happened in your church before and certain they won’t again? Or, are you a misunderstood rope-holder, desperate to get your friends right in front of Jesus?
The new year is a great time to ask God to touch what is paralyzing you or your friends. If you choose his caress or help another to feel his powerful touch, you, too, will be amazed and give praise to God. Perhaps you will start 2003 seeing remarkable things. You, too, can live like a weasel, intent on the single necessity of plugging into the most tender, live pulse. And, that would be Jesus!
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