Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

• Matthew 11:28-30

In the photo is a cup that my wife bought for herself at a museum in Atlanta, GA.  If you notice, you can easily figure out which museum.  Then when she got home, she never used it.  I started to use it, and it became my favorite cup, and when she complained, I got her several cups similar to it.  She used and enjoyed the ones I had purchased.

But within the past couple of weeks, I have had some interesting observations.  Sometimes I pick up the cup and it feels light, but the cup is full.  Other times, I pick up the cup and it is heavier, but the cup might be two-thirds full or even less.

It took me hardly any time at all to figure out that my muscles and the sensors to detect the relative weight were not in error.  The cup really was heavier in one case and lighter in the other.

I use this “adult sippy cup” for ice water.  I fill the cup with two different sized ice cubes, and then I fill the spaces around those cubes with water, usually a flavored water.

Have you figured out how a full cup can be lighter?

The volume is determined by what will fit in the cup with the lid pressed down tightly.  Thus the maximum volume is always the same.  The cup is well insulated, but you mix some liquid with the ice and some of the ice will melt and no matter how well-insulated, heat gets into the cup to melt more of the ice.

Thus, I return and see the level a little lower and I add more ice.  The ice packs down, especially now that some of the ice is partially melted.  When there is a lot of ice in the cup, and ice floats on water due to a lower density, the cup can become noticeably lighter.

But if I am lazy and just add more water, even more ice melts.  The liquid water being denser, makes the cup noticeably heavier.  In fact, sometimes I have to re-grip the cup when picking it up.

Maybe, in a little different vein, this is what Jesus is talking about.  We still have our burdens to bear.  It is not that our burden is cut in half because two are lifting it, us and Jesus, but Jesus takes the heavier part of the load.  And just maybe, that heavier part of the load is dependent on how much faith we have.  My burden seems heavier when I rely on my own strength instead of resting upon the promises that Jesus willingly offers.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.