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Saturday, August 2, 2008

expectations


“The anguish in the world can be traced to expectations.

Anthony deMello


Did you ever notice how true this is for you? It certainly is true for me. It happens on vacations, in new jobs, during the holidays. I always have an idea in my head how it will work and it never seems to meet my expectations.

Honestly, I felt like that when I went to Israel two years ago. I expected to see THE tomb. They don’t know where THE tomb is. There are several possibilities. I expected to see the THE stable where Jesus was born. Now, in retrospect I realize how silly it was to think that the stable would still be there over 2000 years later. As you have guessed, there is no stable. In fact, the picture above is of a hole in the floor of a church in Bethlehem. You place your hand in the hole and feel the stone underneath. This is possibly the stone that was under the stable. Talk about unmet expectations.

It can happen with people too. We have expectations, they aren’t met and we become discouraged.

Consider holding your expectations lightly. I invite you to give them to God and allow him to attend to the outcome.

Blessings,
Deb

1 comments:

Carol said...

What a great reminder...
You know, when I look back at things (and I don't have to look too far back)I realize that I can completely identify with this quote, "The anguish in the world can be traced to expectations."...