the one where I crumbled under the weight of such burden...

I remembering growing up and watching shows like 'Leave it to Beaver' and 'The Andy Griffith Show'.  I recall thinking how dull life must have been in those days.  Void of any color.  Nothing but shades of black and white with a mix of gray.

Now, before you go off thinking, she's an idiot.  I am well aware this world was filled with vivid colors way before RCA released the first color television.  I mean, I also watched shows like 'The Brady Bunch' and 'The Cosby Show' and 'Designing Women.'  

We don't live in a black and white world anymore than June Cleaver.  There are lots of gray places.  And some pretty colorful ones, too.  

When black and white turn to gray, things get muddy and murky.  And it is there that confusion builds.  Lines are blurred.  Eyes squint.  Heads cloud.  And hearts harden.  

Your happy place can quickly bring much sadness and a heaviness that draws you to your knees.

Because we were created with free choice, people choose sides.  And depending on where you stand determines the side you will defend.  Whether it's right or wrong.

I find myself in such a place this week.

My heart is heavy.  The burden too great to bear.  My shoulders sag under the weight of it all.  

Anger, bitterness, and dissension have clouded judgment.  And in the wake of such dark emotions, I find myself gripping, grasping, clawing my way to the truth.

The Truth.

It is said there are three sides to every story.  Yours.  Theirs.  And the truth.  

Your story is your story.  Your take on things.  Biased by your opinions and your beliefs.

Their story is their story.  Their take on things.  Biased by their opinions and their beliefs.

And then there is the truth.

The truth is always in the middle.  It doesn't have an opinion.  It doesn't stake a claim.  It isn't clouded.  It sees no line.  Or sides.  It isn't biased.  It is the truth.

The Truth is the truth.  The perfect, unchanging word of God.

The Truth will set you free.  

The Truth will bring you life.

The Truth reigns supreme.

People of this world may not always care to hear the Truth.  They may even persecute you for sharing the truth.  Or cause you to jail yourself in a burden of fear.  Fear that if you speak the truth or anything that opposes their belief you will be condemned.  Sentenced to much greater than your heart can endure.  

But, people will never know what you truly stand for if you keep your mouth closed.  They will never know Who you stand for if you spend your time judging those on the opposite side of you.  

Jesus was condemned.  Ridiculed.  Scorned.  Shamed.  Beaten.  Bloodied. Bruised.

And He was the Way.  The Truth.  The Life.

What would happen if we put down our signs of opposing opinions, crossed over the lines of 'I'm right-You're wrong' and loved like He did?  

I imagine it would look a whole lot like Glory.  The place He has prepared a room for me.  The place where opinions don't matter and there are no sides.  The place where there will be no hurt or scorn or half-truths.  The place where there is only love.  The only place void of darkness because His Light shines bright.  Always.  

Pray for me, won't you?  Pray that this heaviness of heart will be lifted.  Pray that I stand firm in Truth.  Pray that I lay this burden at the foot of the Cross and walk away.  

'Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God’s people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, 

which chips away at the faith. 

It just wears everyone out. 

Concentrate on doing your best for God, 

work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain

 and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. 

Words are not mere words, you know. 

If they’re not backed by a godly life, 

they accumulate as poison in the soul.'

2 Timothy 2:14-18