The Weight of the World
“ Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth ” —Psalm 46:10, NIV. Sometimes we feel as though the weight of the world rests on our shoulders. This expression comes from Greek mythology, which said that Zeus punished Atlas by forcing him to carry the world on his shoulders forever. It is also said that Atlas tricked Hercules into carrying the weight, but Hercules returned the favour and Atlas ended up right back where he started. When we feel that everything depends on us (ergo: the weight of the world resting on our shoulders) it’s time to step out from under the burden. Will it drop to the floor and break into a million pieces as, supposedly, the world would have if Atlas had just dropped it? Instead of having to clean up the mess and sweep up the broken pieces we might find something quite surprising. Some bits might fall to the ground of our lives, but the important stuff, the “God” stuff will be just fine. You know...