The Box

Lesson from NYC: never agree to carry a box from one end of the city to the other

Last night after Apologetics Cafe was over, Allison (one of the other interns) and I headed back from the lower east side towards the MNYBA building. Now there are several different ways to get to the Graffiti building (the church that holds Apologetics Cafe) from where we are in the city, but the route that we usually takes involves a couple of transfers and a good bit of walking. As we left, we were asked to carry a box full of books back to the building. Of course we agreed, it wasn't that large of a box so we didn't think we would have any issues.

Allison started carrying the box first and as we walked I continually asked her if she needed me to to carry it for a little bit. It just looked uncomfortable carting around this awkwardly sized box in the middle of New York City. Eventually she had to hand it over and so I began the task of carrying the box. It started off easy. The box wasn't that heavy, and the only problem was that it was an awkward size. It was just wide enough to make it weird carrying it in front of you and too shallow to carry it propped on your hip. So here I go, carrying this box, flipping from side to side, holding it in front, propping it on benches in the subway stations, trying to do everything in my power to make carrying this box look as easy as possible.

Eventually the box started to get heavier and heavier. I wasn't throwing it from one arm to the other anymore, but I was slowly changing hands. I was looking for anything to prop the box on to relieve me of some of its weight. The trains were so full that we had to stand in the middle of the aisles which also meant I had to hold the box and also hold myself up because if you've ever ridden on a subway you know that they can make you lose your balance and the next thing you know, you are finding yourself staring up at the people sitting down and everyone is laughing at you. The box became too heavy and I had to admit defeat and let Allison take the box for the remainder of the trip.

As I finished the trip home last night, the whole episode with the box reminded me of the burdens we carry as Christians. Sometimes that fear, that sin, that situation, isn't really that heavy or hard to bear alone at first. We think that we can handle it. Sometimes they start out little and grow, and other times they are just so awkward or embarrassing that we just don't want to admit it is bothering us to anyone else. Those 'boxes' become heavier and heavier as we carry them alone. We begin looking for other things to help relieve the weight of the box, whether that ends up being relationships, drugs, alcohol, sports, or work. We begin to use those things to help hold some of the weight. We begin to rely on those things to keep us from admitting that the 'box' is too much for us to handle. Instead of asking for help, we try to make it look like there isn't a 'box', it just doesn't exist and we aren't carrying anything.

Just like the passage I shared with my mom the other day, we are called to relinquish our 'boxes' to someone who promises to help.

²⁸ "Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Accept my teachings and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives. ³⁰ The burden that I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is light." 
                                                                  Matthew 11


Just as Allison took the box from me, Christ offers to take our 'boxes' from us and to give us complete rest from them rather than the temporary relief that everything else offers. Christ promises that as we learn from Him, as we learn who He is, we will also learn true rest. He will lighten our loads, not because following Him is easy, but because the more we trust Him with our burdens, the more our hearts will be filled with peace.

⁶ Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks.⁷ And God's peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
                                                               Philippians 4