As I approach the 10th year anniversary of my residing on the North Shore in Cook County, I find myself reflecting on my life here.
I enjoy the many people, both resident and visitor, that I have met. As I have moved from house and eatery to remote forest and lakeshore, I have found a common experience among us all.
Every one of us lives a life where we find ourselves, “between a rock and a hard place.” This is especially true and visible as our life is lived out. Some of us flee to the North Shore from the pressures and troubles of city living. Some of us find ourselves in Cook County due to the flight from troubles (often of our own making); others live here simply because they’ve never lived anywhere else.
But no matter why you and I are here, every one of us have found ourselves and our isolated lives here in Cook County between a rock and the hard place.
It is true that isolation can give us a temporary relief and release from the pressures, troubles, and enemies that hassle and plague our lives. But isolation also brings us the continual 200 miles-plus trips to Duluth for shopping, medical appointments and air travel.
Such isolation can cause pressures of its own—a truth which every Christian living here relates to. I am not only speaking of the isolation from people or the plagues of life; but also of the terror of our own conscience. Every Christian reading this can testify to the constant reminder of our sin by our conscience and by its big brother—the Law of God.
Under the intense scrutinizing stare of these accusers, we often are tempted to run and hide or to cover ourselves as Adam and Eve attempted to do with fig leaves. But such attempts only work to reveal our isolation—this time, away from the God who created and who loves us still.
King David, in Psalm 139, knew of such futile flights, “O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
And You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. … Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are
there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.”
Every Christian in Cook County, whether visitor or resident, has felt the sharp edged sword of God’s Word. We have been brought to see ourselves as God’s Word sees us; we can no longer run or hide ourselves from it. Like King David (and the tax collector of Luke 18), the Christian finds faith in Jesus equipping them to say, “I have sinned against the Lord,” and “Be merciful to me a sinner.”
The Christian’s isolation amid the blessings of the North Shore and our life’s trials and tribulations in Cook County has been brought into sharp focus by God’s Word. But each Christian also is constantly reminded that God’s Word who condemns us is also the same Word that brings us our rescue.
King David in Psalm 139 also knew and experienced that rescue by the Lord. “If
I take the wings of the morning, and
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are
both alike to
You.”
The Christians of Cook County breathe easy and rest securely—even amid the treasure and the terror of their lives—in the hands of the God who is real and the God who loves them. They have the helper even amid “the rock and the hard place.”
I guess this is why Christians of all times and of all places are quietly and readily joining with St. Paul in saying, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans
7:24-25)
Each month a member of the
Cook County Ministerium will
offer Spiritual Reflections. For
July, our contributor is Rev.
Dennis C. Schutte, pastor of
Life in Christ Lutheran Church.
Pastor Schutte has lived in
Cook County (Lutsen) since
2000 serving as missionary and
pastor.
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