The Thing that is Needed...

Luke 10:42 New International Version (NIV)

42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

During this time of COVID-19 quarantine, I can't help but think of how I've failed. Of course, I am enjoying this time as most others, spending time with my family and rooting deeper in the things most important. But there is a sense of gloom around it all. There is an air of fear. I am sick and have been so for weeks. The elderly are dying. And we are all in our houses getting ghostly white, pale from lack of exposure.

It is in this state that I think of my falling short. And I consider my distaste for appointed work. I would much rather do the work of my own choosing, but in that I show myself a bit of a selfish leader; a great leader does the thing that needs to be done, and makes that the thing that he most desires.

As I thought about doing the thing most needed, I considered the conditions that give rise to satisfy wholesomely that quest. It cannot be that I primarily do what is needed out of a stewardship, though that is certainly a necessary strength to develop, but rather primarily out of connecting to the need part of it. Perhaps I get twisted up the thing that others are asking for, and the thing that is needed. If I were to take time to more clearly separate the two, if only to put them back together again, I think I would find more passion for the purpose and the person.

Heavenly Father, I do not seek to be a yes man, but I want to be a far cry from a no man. Help me to look first to heaven above to assess my yes and my no. And let me not tarry unnecessarily, but to instead make a habit of decisively concluding on the way I believe You are leading. I have been wishy-washy. Let me instead be hopey-faithy. For the joy set before Him, Christ endured the cross. A servant is not greater than his Master.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Comments

A Dim Confidence

This morning CS Lewis conveyed to me in Mere Christianity many ideas I think I will have to go back and examine, but one key idea was the idea of why some people seem to get more of God than others. Lewis likened God's reality, His revealed self, to sunshine in a mirror (or something like that). If the mirror is mucky then it will not be very good at reflecting the radiance of the sun. In a similar way, if a man is mucky, if his heart is impure, his mind unclean, then he will not be able to absorb the light. The light will be distorted and hazy, obscured. I envy men who are able to jump out and take hold of God offers them. I envy men, if I'm being honest, who are able to jump out and take hold of much less than God. They have confidence, they know they will acquire what they are after. Where does it come from, this confidence? Is it real or imagined? In any case, I know that God would have us be confident, especially if our life is in Him. So, these are my prayers today...

From Goals to Roles

It's been quite a while since I've sat down to write down goals and map out plans to get there. I used to do this thing all the time when I was out of work living in Brooklyn. I would write down all of these details about the things I wanted to do (Bookbinding, Screen Printing, Music, etc). This was the era of David Allen and get things done. Much of that has stayed with me. As I look back, I became something of a productivity automaton. Not very crazy, as I have read about others being, but in my own haphazard way, I was one, too. Over the past several years there has not been quite the same reflective time, or maybe I have not thought that I needed it. But with my wife consistently telling me that I put too high a premium on work, that I'm not there to meet hers and the families needs, and with me thinking about friendships (or the lack of them) here in Memphis, my continued overweightness, and a few other messy features about myself, I consider that it is time to do...

Meditation as Rightly Concentrated Consideration | Contemplation as The Course of Right Action

Let us begin by saying that the basic difference between meditation and contemplation is that meditation is a human mode of prayer whereas contemplation is divinely infused prayer. This morning I consider, consideration. It's a term often used in the Bible, I believe in both the old and new testament. While you are going about your life, have you considered this... It's the entryway to the contemplative life. I use contemplation there, as a culminating thing, intentionally. Before I read a little bit, I might have considered using the word meditation instead, but that reveals my persuasion and error; also my inexperience. Meditation is man-initiated deep-thought. It's hope is to reach God. Contemplation, as exposed in the article below, is Spirit-breathed prayer inside of us, guiding us to right and holy actions. As I was searching consideration "vs" the other 2 terms, concentration came up. Presently, I see that as the course from consideration to meditation....

In the Morning When I Rise

Search This Blog