"hope of deliverance..."

"And I wouldn't mind knowing,
knowing that You wouldn't mind going,
going along with my plan.

When it will be right, I don't know.
What it will be like, I don't know.
We live in hope of deliverance
hope of deliverance
from the darkness that surrounds us."

I've been thinking about the concept of "deliverance" for a while now.  I think, spiritually, I've always thought of being delivered "from" something.  Just as Paul (McCartney...not the Apostle) sings of in his song, "Hope of Deliverance."  Delivered from darkness, delivered from pain, fear, sorrow...but something about this just feels "off" to me lately. 

Since God is the Creator of all that is...and it is all good.  What am I being delivered from?  Where did it come from, how did it come into my experience in the first place...and if deliverance means that I'm being taken away, or lifted up out of it, that means that it stays put, and I have to leave.  So it not only has substance and presence, but place.  I've gotta tell you....I'm not buying it.   Either God made all, and it is good, and there is no other presence or power...or it's all a bunch of words.   And as much as I love words...and you must know how I love words...I am not putting my trust in words, but in the Word.  In the promise.  The promise that God is All, made all, and it is good...and finished. 

So, again, I ask why would I need to be delivered from anything?  

But, when I look at this Psalm:

"Thou shalt compass me about
with songs of deliverance."

Songs of deliverance...not the hushed fearful whispers of someone whose being snuck out the back door.  Through this lens, I can see that there might be another way of looking at this.  And I think it might be the standpoint of "deliverance" as birth, as a coming forth...as in delivering a baby, then it all starts to make sense to me.  God delivers me into my lifework, sends me into opportunities (not away from challenges) according to His holy purpose, brings me forth out of a quiet womb, where I have been gathering energy, into the light of a new work. 

Well, this I like. 

Why would I want to be delivered from anything if everything is of God, and it's all good.  Yes, I might need to have a different perspective...a God-centered perspective...on everything, but I am certainly not running away from "all that is," if all that is, is of God, and all is good. 

With this in mind, the darkness is no longer a place I want to flee from anyway.  And sorrow is a lovely space to sit and ponder love in,  if it is really the opportunity to acknowledge the sweetness of a concluding experience, relationship, or life chapter. The unknown, the unplanned, the uncharted becomes a living promise.

So...yes, I guess I do have "Hope of Deliverance," just not from the darkness...but into the next space of light...be it the dim gentle light of a new dawn, the brightness of high noon, or the navy velvet of a wintery midnight.  I want every shade of light, every stage of relationships, every state of being.  I want it all, and I want to be delivered into it, like a blessed child being delivered into her parent's home, into the next moment of her awakening.

The Lord...Love...is my Deliverer....my blessed, beautiful, amazing Deliverer. And yes, He does deliver me from "sin" (the beliefthat I can be made to believe that I, or anyone else is, or can be, separated from God...from the All-in-allness of good) and brings me into right relationship with Him, and with the all-goodness of His wonderful creation...heaven and earth...where there is nothing unlike Him. Yes, He is my Deliverer...

the midwife of my hope...

with Love,

Kate

This post references Mary Baker Eddy's statement in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

"All that is made is the work of God, and all is good."