It's been awhile since I've blogged about anything that has been rambling around in the vacuous space that is my head. But I've recently been hit with some thoughts and thought I would like to share them with you, my little minions of webdom.
I've been asking a question of myself and others lately: What would that look like? Here's some of the settings in which I ask this question. I have not been very happy with my spiritual life in the past few years. I 'like' the church we go to but I don't 'love' it. I often find myself only wanting to go to Sunday School, because I enjoy the interaction, and wanting to skip the service all together. The reason? Probably arrogance. There is some apathy thrown in with an undercoating of boredom. I'm just not excited by 'the same old thing' right now. So, I have asked myself and others around me that complain about church, 'what would a happy spiritual life look like for you?' In other words, if you could draw a picture of you being content with your spiritual life, what's that going to look like? Is there fellowship, music, guitars, food, etc.? I wonder if you'd be there even if it had what you say you wanted.
In politics I have been asking all the candidates and others the same question. I heard Jesse Jackson babbling on about race the other day and while I think racism is a problem (a major one) I wanted to ask Jesse, 'what does a 'raceless' country look like to you?' 'how do things look in your mind so that you would no longer have anything to spout on about?' Can you ever truly have a raceless world? For our Presidential candidates there are about a thousand different areas that you could ask this question. So, it's all Bush's fault ok, we get that .... what's your American look like? Will that make all Americans happy or just those that support you? What does Iraq look like if we leave? Are you sure? Can we afford your programs? Do you care? What does a 'happy' America look like?
Marriage. For those of us that complain about it ad nauseum I ask, 'what does a 'great' marriage look like? Now, before you answer that you have to ask, 'will you answer be the same as your spouses?' I doubt it. You may want more space, more free time. You may want a day without kids. Your spouse may want more time with you, less free time without you. Maybe you want more sex (yes, that is a husband's answer 100% of the time) but does she? Maybe she wants more say in the money.... is that good for you? Maybe she'd have sex if you go to church. Maybe you can't be please and neither can she. What's it really look like in the windows of your mind?
I think this is the problem: we don't have a clue what we want. We only know what we have and what we have, we find problems with and reasons to complain. We say 'if only' because it gives us an out for being miserable and bringing most of that stress and misery on ourselves. You can blame God if you want; you're certainly not original in that. Things are never good enough for those that simply don't want things to be good enough. For the life of me I think I only know about 5 content people on this planet. No, I'm not one of them. I'm head of the complain-about-everything department. It's a very rare thing to run across someone who is just pretty happy to be alive. I know an engineer that I work with on the railroad that's like this. I call him 'Johnny Train'. He is the happiest human being I've ever known. I love working with Johnny. He goes to church and loves Jesus, but he likes to drink, play golf, see his kids, partied like a madman in his younger years, laugh , and you simply cannot be around him and be sad. He's 53 going on about 18. He's got something that everyone else I know, especially those of us that profess faith, simply don't have. He is 'in the moment' and doesn't care to lament about the past or worry that much about the future. His kids are happy, his wife is happy (though stressed from his energy) and life just couldn't be better. If you asked Johnny what would a happy life look like for him he would say, 'are you on crack? Look around man, I'm happy right now... it looks like this'.
I think the question has to change for all of us. It shouldn't be 'what would that look like'. It needs to be changed to a statement: THIS is what I look like. THIS is what my life is. THIS is where I am. THIS is what I AM doing. Somewhere within the tiny walls of our own lives, we need to redecorate things. We need an 'extreme makeover' in mind only. It's not that things are that bad, it's that we THINK they are and we THINK they could be better. You know why the value of the dollar is low? No, not Bush... it's because of 'worry'. Nothing that is fact based, simply investors that are so worried about the future that they are hurting the present. Did you catch that? So worried about everything that is outside of RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW! So you didn't make all-state. So your wife/husband isn't what you thought. So work is tedious and you should have been this or that. So the day-to-day isn't what you thought it would be. Do something about it. Better yet..... enjoy it for what it is.
You know what, racism isn't going away, but you don't have to be a racist. The Iraq war may not end soon, but you can love your neighbor anyway. Your spouse may let you down or not be exactly what you had imagined, but that doesn't mean it still can't be great. Perhaps some change on your end would help. I want things to be different. I want to have a better spiritual life, I want to golf more, I want to work out, I want to be better with my finances, I want to learn a Van Halen song on guitar note for note.... you know who I have to talk to? MYSELF! It's all right here. My life IS great. The opportunities in front of me are there for the taking but it's my own laziness and lack of confidence that prohibits me from enjoying them. This blog is for me people. I'm usually still in a deep-blue funk that I can't seem to shake. I am still living 1988, 1994 and 1998 like it matters. I'm still regretting things that no longer have a hold on me other than the fact I can't seem to loosen my grip of them. They aren't holding me, I'm holding on to them.
So what's your world look like? It's not really that bad is it? And if it is, more than likely you have more power to change that than you will ever know. BE HAPPY! I know I can't do it, but I want you all to do it for me. :-) More on this later..... this is all too depressing.
Here's your Bible passage: Matthew 6: 25-33 (The Message translation)
25-26"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27-29"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
30-33"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
