You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
    You do not want a burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
    You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. – Psalm 51:16-17

Tuesday evening when Max and I headed out for our late walk, I was hoping to get a good look at this month’s much vaunted Super Moon. What I got instead was the most remarkably interesting sky and a series of stunning photographs around the historic district.

This was another great example of “you seldom get exactly what you’re looking for, so it’s best to keep your eyes open and pay attention just in case.”

Or “it’s best to keep your mind open because you may be wrong…”

Or, “it’s best to keep your heart open… your ears open… your conclusions open….”

I call this being “openspirited.” I used the word in a book once and the publisher’s copy editor flagged it. “Maybe you mean openhearted,” he said.

“Nope,” I replied, “I mean openspirited.”

“But it’s not a real word,” he insisted.

“It will be after we publish it.”

I think what this world needs right now is more openspiritedness (apparently not a real word either).

People who are openspirited have their hearts laid bare to God, they experience personal vulnerability as strength, they do not see differing perspectives as I’m right and you’re wrong, their view of the world is not so locked in that they can’t learn anything new, they enjoy the journey as much as the destination, they often experience serendipity and sometimes they don’t know where they are going until they get there.

Quid Pro Quo

Sometimes I come to God with a destination in mind (or a conclusion or a result) and I ask for specific directions. “You need to do this… and this… and this…” I say. “Then everything will be okay.”

Then God responds with something like, “Just give me your open spirit, follow me and let’s see where we go.”

I do not like uncertainty. But God’s promise is that nothing in all of creation is as certain as walking in God’s Way.

Historically, much of religion has been about offering some kind of a sacrifice or an offering to God in order to get what we want. Kind of a quid pro quo. But God wants us, openspirited, unburdened with our own agenda, ready to follow…

You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
    You do not want a burnt offering.
 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
    You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.