"‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap.'" - Jesus (Luke 21:34-35a)
Dear Friends in Christ -
What do wasting time, getting drunk, and worrying have in common? They're all things that Jesus says we're supposed to stay away from. Why? Because they keep our hearts from rising to notice when and where Jesus is coming to us.
We often think of Jesus' coming as something that happened "back then" in a stable at Bethlehem or as something that will happen "sometime in the future" when Jesus descends through the clouds accompanied by trumpet fanfare. But Jesus' incarnation signalled to us that God is always coming to us. Now. Wherever we are. In ways we wouldn't expect. In ways we wont' notice unless we're ready, listening, open.
Wasting time, getting drunk, worrying. What do these things have in common? Avoidance. The purpose of wasting time is often to avoid an unpleasant task. The purpose of getting plowed is often to avoid dealing with difficulty or pain. The purpose of worrying is often to avoid being surprised by possible problems.
The trouble is not only that wasting time, getting drunk and worrying DON'T WORK. They also result in being unawake, unaware, and unattuned to the good possibilities of what might happen in this present moment. Jesus is HERE (He promised to always be with us), and in these preoccupations we're too distracted to notice.
Today, if you're tempted to waste time, get drunk or worry, STOP in your tracks. ASK yourself, 'what am I avoiding?' TRUTH will come to you in that moment, and you might feel fear, pain or stress. But call on Jesus, and he'll come. And he'll help you cross through . . . to something new.
Faithfully on guard with you,
Janet+
In our culture, eating is also a form of avoidance, especially among women. We eat when we're uncomfortable, or bored or frustrated with a task, or anxious about whatever. And though it may not seem "sinful," it's also not a way of being constructive, creative, or present.
ReplyDeleteSomeone wrote a book about it, called The Writing Diet. (Julia Cameron, maybe?) Anyhow, her technique - write before you eat anything and record how you feel - can be adapted to "pray before you eat anything" - and that's just what you've suggested, in relation to wasting time, drinking , and worrying.