January 24th, 2010

If I say “Anchor” most folks will get a mental picture of a kind of cross-shaped thing used to keep boats from drifting away when parked. The word, however, has come into common usage in other areas, so we talk about wall anchors, which are actually special screws that fasten into walls so you can attach stuff. Then there are “anchormen” and “anchorwomen” whose job is to anchor a newscast; now, they don’t hold it in place physically, they are the constant, in-studio folks that introduce the on location folks while they tell the news from right where it happened.
The word anchor can also be applied to slightly situations, ones that need holding down, but that might be a little more flexible than what is traditionally intended by the term. I’m thinking of pick-up trucks and snowmobiles. What, you wonder, does that have to do with a boat anchor? Simply put, some folks use snowmobiles to give their pick-ups stability during the slippery winter months. Since pick-ups are very light in the rear, they slip and slide quite easily when the roads are icy. A heavy snowmobile helps it overcome  it’s traction problem. The weight helps the tires get more traction, so that the vehicle gains stability as it moves along. Thus, the snowmobile acts like a mobile anchor, keeping the truck on track while it gingerly zips through town.
There is yet one more anchor I’d like to share with you, but this one isn’t nearly as helpful its predecessors. This is a far more personal thing, an anchor that keeps a person from moving forward with their lives, or prevents them from feeling good about themselves. This anchor goes by various names like, guilt, shame and embarrassment and is, unlike its counterparts, not so easily removed.
Guilt is a natural reaction to having done something wrong, reminding us that we have a problem that needs fixing. It’s especially acute when we feel we’ve let someone down or hurt them some way. Trouble is, we don’t know how to get out of guilt which keeps us from fixing what needs to be fixed. The result is a downwards spiral that can lead us to despair and pain and, yes, even more guilt.
That doesn’t have to be the case. Guilt doesn’t have to crush us. God has this thing called “Forgiveness” that eliminates guilt and gives us a clean start. Sure, our guilt might come from what we’ve done to others, but we can’t always count on their forgiveness. In fact, sometimes even being forgiven by others isn’t enough, because we need to forgive ourselves first. That’s where God comes in. God loves us and wants the best for us. Guilt gets in the way of that holy health, so God is willing to forgive us so we can have a fresh start. All we have to do in return is promise to do better and not to make the same mistake again. God’s forgiveness lifts the anchor of guilt from us, puts us right with ourselves and frees us to move again carrying only the easily managed weight of His love and mercy. At least that’s the way I see it.