In a rut?

A lady who belongs to a Yahoo group I'm in posted this message the other day. I thought it was so wonderful, I asked if I could share it here. She graciously gave me permission to do so. Here's some good and timely food for thought for the new year!

I would like to add two words to our vocabulary of spiritual growth: Stuck and Unstuck. Most people consider being stuck a sign of failure or burnout, an indication that a person isn't working hard enough on their spiritual life. Being stuck means getting an "F" on our spiritual report card. The hidden assumption is, "if you are stuck in your spiritual life, you aren't doing something right, because dedicated spiritual people should never be stuck.... Nothing could be more untrue.

Actually, getting stuck is the prerequisite to getting unstuck. Getting stuck is a great moment, a summons, a call from within, the glorious music of disaffection and dissatisfaction with our place in life. We get stuck when we want to change but can't, when we want to stop destructive behavior but don't, when the tug of war between God's will and ours stands still and we can't move. We're stuck going nowhere, unable to get beyond a particular point. Getting stuck can be the best thing that happens to us, because it forces us to stop. It halts the momentum of our lives. We have no choice but to notice what is around us, and we end up searching for God. When we're stuck, we're much more likely to pay attention to our hunger for God and the longings and yearnings we have stifled. Sometimes being stuck is the low point and we say "okay I give up!" We cannot grow without first giving up and letting go. Getting stuck comes before moving forward. Remember the next time you are stuck ~ get unstuck. Two words which go hand in hand, just like the words faith and trust: the key ingredient to helping us in our stuck/unstuck situations.