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Control is an Illusion (and that is a good thing)

            Back when she was a little girl, Charlaine Dalpe could not have predicted the end result of her spontaneous act, but she is glad for the way it turned out.

            In 2004, when she was 12 years old, Dalpe and friend Claudia Garneau tossed a plastic bottle, with a message inside, into the Gulf of the St. Lawrence to see if anyone would find it. The bottle was found, 8 years later, on the shores of a small village in Ireland.

            A couple of weeks ago, nine year old Oisin Millea found the bottle and contacted Dalpe.  Somehow the story got the attention of Tourism Ireland and they offered the two women a free trip to Ireland to meet Oisin and to see the place where their bottle ended end up. 

            The interesting thing about this story is there that is no way those girls could have predicted or engineered this result.  Once they threw the bottle in the river, they gave up all control.  The events, as they unfolded, really had nothing to do with them. All they did was initiate the process.

            Thinking about my life and spiritual things, I often need that reminder.  I need to remember that control is an illusion.  I like to think I have a handle on things and I run my life, but the reality is that I control very little.  All it takes is a sickness or a bad circumstance to remind me there is much beyond the realm of my power.  At best, I can be an initiator.  At best, I can get things started.  All I can do is “toss the bottle in the river” and wait to see how things turn out.

            Now, that is not a bad thing.  In fact, it is very freeing.  If I do not have to “make things happen”, it takes a lot of pressure off of me.  The results will come. 

            Speaking with this same attitude, the apostle Paul says of his work with the church in Corinth, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6).  Paul knew he did not did not control anything.  In fact, he had no idea what the result would be.  He just did his part.  He “planted the seed” and waited for God to do something with it.

            So, forget about controlling and shaping everything.  Forget about your plans and expectations and simply go and do the good you can do right now. 

            Toss the bottle in the river. 
  
          With God involved, you may be shocked with where it ends up.

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