I once could see, but now I'm blind.

Last week I drove past a car loaded with a hundred cabbages on its roof.  It dawned on me about a mile farther down the road that vegetables are always transported via passenger car in Moldova!  I laughed to myself, picturing a rooftop of cabbages moving down an American highway!

I then realized that I was facing a serious problem.  I was becoming blind.  Sights that once caused me to swivel my head now seem quite normal.

I routinely see cars with their backseats filled to roof with green peppers. 

I regularly spy countless horse-drawn carts stacked high with a load of hay.

I often witness old women carrying enormous loads of wood upon their back.

I doubt you will see any of those scenes in your local neighborhood!  Can you picture yourself at the local mall, parking your Suburban next to a horse and cart?  Can you imagine the sight of a little sedan, backseat laden with grandma, a dog, and 400 pounds of potatoes?

As absurd as those scenes might appear in your neighborhood, there are as many crazy scenes right around you.  If we opened our eyes, we would see the ridiculous loads being toted around us.

We can see people toting loads of huge financial burdens, just because they needed the new SUV and new house.   The walk with bent backs loaded with the enormous burden of a little plastic credit card.  Much of this world carries the excessive load of want.

I have seen others carrying packs of unrealistic expectations---their careers, their churches, their spouses, or their kids.  Their expectations are often stratospheric---careers that are always moving higher, churches with perfect worship and perfect pastors, spouses that meet their every need, and kids that get straight A’s and are star athletes!  Even one of those expectations can load down an entire family.

I have seen people carrying loads of sky-high dreams---that life would always be fair and easy, that they would always live happily ever after.  Some loads are heavy, filled with broken dreams, broken hearts, and bad memories.  Packs filled with memories from divorces or broken relationships, lost sons or unforgiving daughters.  Of course, I continue to see too many people still loaded with the burden of sin.

It seems so strange to see the huge loads.  Jesus said that His burden is light.  We are free to throw our burdens on Him, because He cares for us.  Yet we keep carrying those loads.  They are so commonplace that we don't give a second thought, even if they are sitting next to us in our favorite pew.

Financial overload?  We barely notice the out-of-control materialism.

Guilt and shame?  It is almost the norm, to be televised on daytime talk shows.

Pain?  I'm too busy with my life to notice your load of pain.

Open your eyes to the loads around you.  Open your eyes to the loads you may be carrying.  As absurd as a load of cabbage would be to you, so should the loads of pain, shame, and materialism.  We know Someone who wants us to be free---Jesus..

Cabbage-free in Moldova,

Andy Raatz