Clinging to the illusion of control

"True availability to God overcomes the fear of being dependent on others, for God provides.  It is our determination to be independent by being in control that makes us unavailable to God . . . .  Availability is letting God have his way, even when it brings us to the cross." - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon

I wonder if this is more of a challenge in America than in other societies, though I'm sure there are other cultures that share our obsession in this area.  For the gospel which our society preaches is of independence and self-sufficiency.  As values, these certainly have great merit.  But if we make them our creed, well, we're going to find our dependence on Christ pretty tough to accept intellectually, let alone embrace wholeheartedly.

Consider the disdain we have for those who are in need.  "It's their own fault, " we lament, enumerating the reasons.  Consider how difficult we find it to ask for help, in any area of our lives.  We'd rather have every tool in our own shed, even if we're only going to need that snowblower once every 5 years.  We don't want to be personally indebted to anyone (yet at the same time we've accepted some types of debt as a natural part of modern life).  Consider how greatly we admire those who are always helping others but seemingly never need assistance for themselves.  Consider how we'd literally rather die than be a burden on others, even though they may long for the opportunity to serve us.

We don't realize how many of our circumstances are beyond our control.  For all of our competence and dedication and diligence, we are each but a single accident away from calamity, yet with our whole strength we clutch the illusion that we are in control and refuse to turn loose of it.  It is our security blanket, and indeed it is no more secure.

But our nearness to dire circumstance need not be a cause for anxiety!  God has us in his loving arms, and will provide for all that we need, all that our loved ones need.  For in the eternal scheme of things, our greatest and only lasting need is for him, and Christ has provided a Way home for us that no amount of competence, dedication, and diligence - and certainly not our own righteousness - could ever earn us.  When we depend on God for this most basic need, we learn that every other need we thought we had either doesn't really matter, or is provided for in abundance.