You can have the world at your fingertips without realizing it. That's been me. Again I think about 1 Corinthians 12:4, which reads: "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit." Today this verse smacked me in the face; it's done so many times, but today it was pretty vivid. It hit me while I was doing each thing: running 2 .5 miles in the 93-degree heat, on the elliptical later at the club, doing sit-ups, waiting an hour for my pie to bake, etc. I learned that my next door neighbor, a recent graduate from St. Thomas, was offered an extremely amazing job at an advertising firm, with benefits and opportunities that many who have worked professional jobs for YEARS do not ever come across. While I should be so overjoyed for those who are being offered these things in life--much less jobs in general-- it strikes me that life doesn't ever wait. We can't put things on pause because they won't be there when we decide to come back. By the time sense has knocked us cold, it's too late. Of course we all know these things-- that life, like everything else in it, moves right along as it's always done. God has always been in control and He will always be in control. We have to find those little joys in life that piece us back together. What those things are certainly are different for each person in this world. We have things tossed in our faces a million times a day, but most of the time we're too blind to see them. I know I've been extremely blind (no pun intended). These "things" are pretty ordinary, no doubt, but they always get me thinking. It could be any"thing" from a person I see on the street, to a paragraph I read in a book, or a scene from a movie. I was watching Post-Grad tonight (how fitting) and there is a scene towards the end when Adam says: "What exactly needs explanation? ... The fact that you're so obsessed with your future that you completely forget about everyone you're supposed to care about? I'm not waiting anymore. I'm done." This could be taken a few different ways, but in my life it means that I've forgotten about God and who He is. Maybe not literally. And certainly not intentionally. But along this rocky road, I seem to have forgotten that God is the One who created my future, knows my future-- every single detail of it. He created me. Whenever someone tells me something good that has happened or has received an amazing opportunity like my neighbor did; and I instantly feel envious or upset rather than thrilled and optimistic for those people, I lose a bit more of myself. I don't think I ever planned to disappear, either, so I know that something has to change. As Google suggests, I need to 1. Cultivate optimism, 2. Be present, 3. Clarify, 4. Give out, 5. Connect, 6. Find flow, 7. Celebrate, and 8. Love myself. Just more food for thought.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Little Joys
You can have the world at your fingertips without realizing it. That's been me. Again I think about 1 Corinthians 12:4, which reads: "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit." Today this verse smacked me in the face; it's done so many times, but today it was pretty vivid. It hit me while I was doing each thing: running 2 .5 miles in the 93-degree heat, on the elliptical later at the club, doing sit-ups, waiting an hour for my pie to bake, etc. I learned that my next door neighbor, a recent graduate from St. Thomas, was offered an extremely amazing job at an advertising firm, with benefits and opportunities that many who have worked professional jobs for YEARS do not ever come across. While I should be so overjoyed for those who are being offered these things in life--much less jobs in general-- it strikes me that life doesn't ever wait. We can't put things on pause because they won't be there when we decide to come back. By the time sense has knocked us cold, it's too late. Of course we all know these things-- that life, like everything else in it, moves right along as it's always done. God has always been in control and He will always be in control. We have to find those little joys in life that piece us back together. What those things are certainly are different for each person in this world. We have things tossed in our faces a million times a day, but most of the time we're too blind to see them. I know I've been extremely blind (no pun intended). These "things" are pretty ordinary, no doubt, but they always get me thinking. It could be any"thing" from a person I see on the street, to a paragraph I read in a book, or a scene from a movie. I was watching Post-Grad tonight (how fitting) and there is a scene towards the end when Adam says: "What exactly needs explanation? ... The fact that you're so obsessed with your future that you completely forget about everyone you're supposed to care about? I'm not waiting anymore. I'm done." This could be taken a few different ways, but in my life it means that I've forgotten about God and who He is. Maybe not literally. And certainly not intentionally. But along this rocky road, I seem to have forgotten that God is the One who created my future, knows my future-- every single detail of it. He created me. Whenever someone tells me something good that has happened or has received an amazing opportunity like my neighbor did; and I instantly feel envious or upset rather than thrilled and optimistic for those people, I lose a bit more of myself. I don't think I ever planned to disappear, either, so I know that something has to change. As Google suggests, I need to 1. Cultivate optimism, 2. Be present, 3. Clarify, 4. Give out, 5. Connect, 6. Find flow, 7. Celebrate, and 8. Love myself. Just more food for thought.
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