Mystic Musings: Lent 2/27
“There’s a place in the world for a gambler. There’s a burden only he can bear. And he sees….oh, yes, he sees.”
Dan Fogelberg, There’s a Place in the World for Gambler
I had the hardest time with this lyric forty years ago. I loved the tune to the song. I loved to sing alongside it, but I found that I just couldn’t agree with the lyrics. In my mind, the world would be free of such things as gambling, hedonistic living and immoral behavior. My worldview only made room for “approved living.”
I am not sure what changed. Somehow over the years my theology made more room for experiences that I looked down on. Somehow over the years life became more complex and I found myself saying much more often, “But for the grace of God go I.”
Photo by Clay LeConey @clayleconey
I know exactly when this line made completely good sense for me. It was 2014. I was nearing the end of my Rome to Rumi cycling pilgrimage and had perched myself in the marvelous city of Istanbul, Turkey for four days. I did the usual tourists things—visited the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia and allowed my guide (a friend of church members back in Yachats, Oregon) to introduce me to Turkish life. But one afternoon I was sitting in the plaza underneath one of the imposing mosques. People were bustling about. To my left an older man shuffled past me. In America we would have assumed that he was homeless. I didn’t know if that was the case in Turkey, but it was clear that he was unlike others—his clothing was dirty and fatigued and his energy was heavy.
Photo by Oziel Gomez @ozgomz
For the first time in my life I didn’t feel sorry for this person. I felt jealous of him. I recognized that he was seeing the world through different eyes. I realized that the burdens he was carrying were different than the burdens I was carrying. I realized that my lot was not any better than his lot. I realized that he had access to God in a way I did not. And I yearned to be in his shoes.
“There’s a place in the world for a gambler. There’s a burden only he can bear.” Dan Fogelberg
Sit quietly. Breathe deeply and get in touch with the reality of your life. Give thanks for it no matter your current circumstances. Meditate on the following exercise:
Think of someone for whom you feel grateful that you aren’t in their shoes?
What are the privileges of your life that you are grateful for?
What are the burdens that you carry that are unique to you?
What the privileges of the life of the person you are thinking about?
What are the burdens that only that person can carry?
Would you be willing to trade shoes for one day so they can experience your world and you can experience their world?