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January 17, 2007
We Were Not Meant To Live Like This.....
This is the mantra that has been playing, rewinding and playing over in my head for the last month or so. I have had this thought before, many times, but there is something about where I am at in life right now...maybe it's age, stage, responsibility level. I'm not quite sure, but it's been something I have been thinking about.
When I say, "We were not meant to live like this" what is the this that I am talking about? I'm not exactly sure myself but I've had the feeling that the way that I and that we have sometimes organized and structured our lives is not what God had intended. So for me the "we were not meant to live like this" is about how I spend my time, the insane commuting, the inability to completely let go of work and projects and rest. I'm sitting home sick today from work...really from everything because I found myself with the flu or something like that at 3:30am this morning. And you know what I was thinking when I was feeling this way last night and this morning, had nothing to do with really being sick, but with all that I would have to make up and what a hassle it is to get sick. So I sat around all day trying to find things to do (i.e. finish projects, work on work, school, etc) and I had the nagging feeling that God was telling me to just rest. But I couldn't. I tried to post a blog, but I couldn't. Finally I went to bed for a few hours and woke up with this thought (though I'm not completely sure that God had blogging in mind when He said rest).
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live
We were meant to live
These are the closing stanzas of Switchfoot's hit song, We Were Meant To Live, off their album The Beautiful Letdown in 2003.
What is it that we were then meant to live for? The Westminster Shorter Catechism said:
Question 1: What is the chief end of man?
Answer 1: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.
To glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever. That is an amazing statement. I can't really even get my heart or mind around that. But I do know that I have structured and organized my life in such a way that often prohibits me from not only glorifying God, but enjoying Him for ever.
Instead of enjoying Him, I often find myself on the run from morning to night, completing one task after the other. Missing out on friends, family, solitude, play, relaxation, etc.
I'm fully aware that this is just a certain season in my life (having school, work, practicum, side projects, etc.) and that in less than three months I will be done with practicum and have no more school after June. The light is at the end of the tunnel. But how do I keep from finding myself in this position again.
On Tuesday nights I am taking a Psychopharmacology class (it's required for MFT licensure in the state of CA) from Dr. Archibald Hart who has written more books than you can imagine, especially on the connetion between stress and depression. He stated some staggering statistics in class the other night and asserted that the rise in online technology and multi-tasking in our lives has led to a rise in the stress in our lives and that there is a direct correlation between these two things, stress and depression. I don't think that what I am feeling is depression, but I do feel stressed and that is making me continue to ask the question about how am I organizing and structuring my life?
This last month I have slowly put aside a lot of the books I was planning on reading. I have blogged a little less than usual, and I have made a more clear attempt at when I feel the urge to do all these things that I redirect those towards just being with God, whether I have anything to say or not. In fact, part of my problem is that I probably always say and speak, rather than listen.
Part of my recent journey has been re-reading a book by Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart. In this book Nouwen focuses on three disciplines of the spiritual life: solitude, silence and prayer and the connection between all three of them. This short book has been a phenomenal asset to my life and I highly recommend it.
Are you feeling at this way? That you are living not as you were meant to live? What do you do to rectify that? What do you find helpful in priortizing your life?
Posted by rhett at 07:09 PM | Comments (2)
January 15, 2007
Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" Speech
Amazing day in history....Amazing man....Amazing speech! If you have never watched it in its entirety....you need to.
Martin Luther King, I Have A Dream
Posted by rhett at 12:53 PM | Comments (1)
January 11, 2007
Wow!
Yeah, I know we are all now officially wanting, or bet yet, coveting the new Apple iPhone. I'm not usually the gadget/tech guy waiting for the new releases, but everyone I knew, including myself was either watching the keynote or super excited about the new announcement. Very sweet phone!
This is the last time I buy anything before Steve Jobs is about to make big announcements. In December of 2005 I bought the Powerbook G4, and then a month later he introduces the new MacBooks.
Then, I shop six months for a phone finally decide that Apple isn't going to release a phone and so I buy the Blackberry Pearl.
Shows you what I know. The price is pretty high for the iPhone so maybe in the future the price may drop and it will be more affordable.
Posted by rhett at 12:37 AM | Comments (1)
January 09, 2007
It's January...what TV shows are you watching and why?
Since it's January 2007 I'm curious about what TV shows you are all watching and why? This seems to be the month where new shows or new seasons of shows start (i.e. 24) or current shows resume their schedules (i.e. LOST, Heroes). Those happen to be my favorite shows for various reasons (24, LOST, Heroes).
I'm wondering about you. What shows do you and your friends watch? Why? Is it the show? Is it the community? Both? Do the shows have any redeeming value? Just pure fun?
On a personal note as I stated above my favorite shows to watch are 24, LOST and Heroes. 24 is just pure action from beginning to end and I'm on the edge of my seat for months. When the clock ticks down to the final minute of that hour and it ends I am already anxiously waiting for next week's episode. LOST is pure mystery and unresolved tension and issues, and my brain is constantly spinning trying to figure out different theories. When the episode ends I usually end up going online to see what bloggers are hypothesizing about the episode. Heroes is a new show and I'm hooked on the characters, especially Hiro. I'm thinking a lot about people living "into" who they are...or fulfilling what they believe they were created for...or utilizing a gift. I could go on about each of these, but i would like to hear from you.
Posted by rhett at 11:54 AM | Comments (2)
January 03, 2007
Agenting for God
I love working at my church, Bel Air Presbyterian Church, and one of the main reasons is because of the large number of people in our congregation involved in the entertainment industry.
Besides working with college students in a traditional four year college, one of the fastest growing populations in our college ministry is college-aged, non-students, who are involved in music, acting, modeling, film, etc. Their presence brings a creativity and vitality to our ministry that has not always been present.
Here is a great article on Kim Door, Agenting for God who is our ordained pastor to the entertainment industry. I've been really happy about Bel Air's involvement in the entertainment industry and Kim is a great fit.
Posted by rhett at 11:28 PM | Comments (2)
January 02, 2007
2007! Are you serious?
If you are like me you probably can hardly believe that it's 2007. I'm still wondering where 2006 went so quickly. It's January 2nd and I find myself sitting in the Fuller Theological Seminary library firing off this blog between class breaks right now. I was hoping that there would be a little more downtime between the holidays and starting school, but no such luck. I know that sounds crazy but sometimes the holidays aren't as restful as we would like.
But now that it's 2007 I'm beginning to take stock of 2006. What great things happened? What things do I wish I could do over (either because they were so great or because I wish I had another shot at it)? Where and when did I feel God's presence the most? What dreams do I have for 2007? Etc, etc.
I've been reflecting on a text that one of our pastors preached from this last Sunday...Isaiah 43:16-21:
v. 16 This is what the LORD says--he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,
v. 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
v. 18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
v. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
v. 20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,
v. 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.
In vs. 16-17 the LORD reminds them of the things of the past...He reminds them of their deliverance from the Egyptians through the Red Sea. The Israelites have a past that they can look back on and reflect over. Their past gives them impetus and courage and confidence to live in the present and into the future. But the LORD also exhorts them to not remember, or rather, "to forget the former things...to not dwell in the past." Why? Because the LORD wants them to know that He is doing a new thing.
What does that mean for us? How do we live in the in-between of remembering our pasts and how they have shaped us, but not dwelling or living in them? It is surely a tough thing to do. For me, it tells me that I worship a God who is faithful and who has continually led His people out of bondage and into freedom. But that as a follower of God I am not to stay in the past and simply let my past define who I am. The LORD wants to remind me, and wants to remind you that He is going to do a new thing. Just as leading His people through the Red Sea was a new thing, they are not to only hold on to that and let that be the only event that defines them. He is continually moving them into new and challening events that push them to new levels of trust and faithfulness.
As 2007 looms ahead there are many things that are uncertain for me. Things regarding work, regarding family, regarding location. But I can look back on the past and see God's faithfulness in my life, but I am to not live there, but to focus on God as He is about to do a new thing in my life...something that I am probably completely unprepared for.
Do you have any thoughts about 2006 or 2007 that you would like to share with me, with us, as we to are embarking on a new thing? What new things do you think the LORD has in store for you? What new things do you hope the LORD will be doing in your life?
Posted by rhett at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)
