Bindings!

     Skiers are well aware of bindings as a device to keep them attached to their skis and to release the boots at critical times in falls.   I have had the thought that bindings are metaphors for other kinds of bindings in our lives.  Just as ski bindings are designed to keep us attached for most of  the time, they are also made to release at critical times.

    Thinking in the above terms in relation to personal bindings of our lives, the message is that most of the time we want to remain in relationships that nurture us and engender mutual benefits and respect.   However, there also seem to be times when the relationship can falter and be non productive for both parties. There is a certain fall from grace that demands a separation for a while.   However, just like getting up from a fall, recovering our skis, dusting ourselves off and resuming our run that is probably a good thing to do in a broken relationship.  Again carrying this farther, if you have broken a leg in the ski accident there will be an interlude to recover.   Such is it is for our human relationships. So there is work to be done in healing in the case of physical injury and also healing in emotional relationships.  Something for all of us to think about.

    Just a little clarification of what led me to the above thoughts.  My dear pastor wife Nancy preached a sermon yesterday on the subject of prayer. It was a masterful exposition of the elements of prayer grounded in the Lords Prayer which is a fundamental Christian tenet.  What really shook me to the core, was her leading the congregation to take a moment to pray for someone that would spring to mind for whatever reason.  What shook me, was the desire to pray for a grandchild that I am estranged from. We are living in separate worlds.  His is so foreign to me that I am stricken both with anger and grief.  However, Nancy's pastoral exercise revealed to me that I must find a way to forgive, forget and heal even if my estranged grandchild and I can't reconcile. Release and reconnect is the goal. Think about those things the next time your ski binding release.  And if you are not a skier, maybe a good thing to think about in a metaphorical sense.