Let Me

It was not that long ago, but far enough for me to not remember which church I was visiting, that the members closed the service with everyone making a big circle (holding hands) to sing, “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”  I am always struck by the lyric –“and let it begin with me.”  It moves me from sending my thoughts and prayers up the God, to having those thoughts and prayers dwell within me, rather in Christ who dwells within me.

Suddenly peace has begun and has begun in the first person – me. And like Mary, I say let it be done to me. For how could I be forced or coerced into a state of peace or being a peacemaker. “Let it begin” is both a prayer and an announcement of a new birth. It is also a sort of starting gun for a race or a new journey.

So there I was, standing in a circle, linked by hands, if not hearts, part of a community of faith. Yet, I was singing, proclaiming “let it begin with me.”  Such is our faith, personal holiness connected tangibly through our social holiness.

In all things in the spiritual life whether it be humility, generosity, justice, my yes combined with your yes is the beginning of change, as individuals and of the community. The yes is allowing Jesus to reform and remold us in his image. And to let it be done to me, to let it begin with me, I have to let go of me and my self-centeredness.

From a stewardship lens, when I address the role of money and wealth in my life, proclaiming let it be done to me, or to begin with me, is a living out of John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer:

I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, Exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O Glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.