Being a Christian who pursues the Lord as an ongoing theme of life brings with it some difficult obstacles. Pretty quickly, you’ll come to the end of yourself and one of two things will happen:
Coming to the end of yourself means you’ve extended yourself in your pursuit of God as far as you ever have before. In high school, this point was a lot more obvious, because everything was exaggerated back then. Now its a little harder to pinpoint.
Either way though, you’d do one of those two things. Stop (making whatever connection you had with God more of a “camp high” than the beginning of a real lifetime pursuit). Or continue. Continuing is difficult. Here’s why it’s still difficult for me:
I’m set in my ways. We all are. Whoever you are, whatever you do, you’ve got certain things that you hold onto with a pretty tight grip. It doesn’t matter what these things are, it just matters that they exist, and that we acknowledge them.
We are a boulder. Our lives are a boulder. Inside our boulder is everything. Our families, kids, friends, jobs, health, attitude, interests, etc. That boulder sits there until you move it. You are the only person that can move it.
So here’s where the problem comes in:
A fruitful lifetime of pursuing the Lord means that boulder has to move.
We don’t like moving our boulders. It’s hard. And awkward. And too much trouble. We’re too busy to worry with it. We’ve got other things to do. Dancing with the Stars is on.
But God doesn’t seem to care about my interests nearly as much as I do. No matter what they are, God seems to be constantly drawing me away from all my interests - not because they are unworthy pursuits, but it seems like God just wants to see what he can talk me into giving up, simply for the sake of pursuing him instead.
God doesn’t seem to be nearly as interested in what I’m doing instead of pursuing him, just that there’s something else I’m choosing over him.
So that’s the difficulty.
I have things I want to do, and God wants me to clear my entire schedule for him, pretty much everyday.
I’m not necessarily talking about those things you have to do - like going to work, and feeding your cat - although I wouldn’t put it past God to try to talk you out of those things too.
Either way, I’m learning that as I take each step further away from myself, from pursuing my own interests, I find God to be that much more fulfilling, and exciting, and ravishing. This makes me want to get more and more creative in slashing my schedule and dropping interests and pursuing him even more. You see, it’s not just that God wants you to give things up, its that he knows that you will be happier and more fulfilled in life if you spend more time with him - thinking about him, talking about him, walking around with him.
So as you begin to learn these things, you’ll start to trust God more and more. You’ll start to have no regard for television, or Facebook, or video games - which (let’s be honest) is a good thing.
And pretty soon you’ll be free. Totally free from all those things that used to take up all your time. Then it gets challenging again. Then you have to start fixing other odd things in your life. You’ll start drinking less Cokes. You’ll start setting your alarm clock earlier. You’ll start getting outside more. You’ll stop smoking. You’ll drink less alcohol. You’ll start finding creative ways to get alone - riding your bike, taking a long drive in the country, working in the yard - anything just to get some uninterrupted time with Jesus. Praying. Singing. Writing. Thinking. Talking.
The boulder is moving. Things are changing.
But now that I’ve gotten a taste, and everything else has become some pale in comparison to God, I’m finding that I’m running out of things to give up. So what happens next?
We will see.
I just hope I keep choosing to continue when I hit a wall. That’s the other hard part.
I’ve been thinking a lot, which is to say, I’ve had a lot to think about.
My mind has been reeling for days (years even) regarding several topics, all very important to me. Here are the main things I’ve been mentally pressing into:
1. My photography business (how to continually manage, grow, and streamline everything)
2. Jesus (read my recent posts and stay tuned for more from the Holy Week Series)
3. Some new kind of movement towards a better and more purposeful style of living (see below)
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A New Humanity
I live in the world. I drive around. I eat out. I see and interact with people I don’t know.
I also have a close-kint community of friends who I love deeply, and who love me equally in return. People my age, and people older and younger than me.
I am drawn to people who want more out of life - who seem frustrated about the way things are - who have a longing that things can and will be better, someday. One friend has a word for this tattooed on his wrist - sensucht.
I too long for these things - and I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Another guy recently introduced me to the idea of dragging heaven to Earth, right now, in whatever way possible.
Below is a list of things that feel good to me right now - things I want to make happen. I invite you to see the value in these things and join me in this pursuit, if you’re so inclined.
1. Turn off the television.
Stop watching it. Just stop. Cancel your cable contract, pay the early termination fee if you have to. Dismantle the altar you’ve built for it in your home. It is utterly useless for life. If you want the news watch it on your computer, or better yet, read the newspaper. You’ll be amazed how much time you gain in you life to do better and more purposeful things.
2. Reject advertising.
Although this goes against my own business, I think it is a step in the right direction. Stop buying things you see in magazines or on television because they look so cool or desirable - they are most likely neither. If you think of something you need without seeing it in an ad, you’re on the right track.
3. Stop eating fast food.
This is difficult for me, although not as much as it used to be when I was a bachelor. I love a big bacon classic from Wendy’s just as much as the next guy, but it is just bad for you. It’s a simple fact. Hit up McDonald’s as a special treat on a rare occasion, but don’t make it a weekly habit. It makes you fat and unhealthy.
4. Take less medication.
I know we are a long way from where we were designed to be as humans, and we’ve really screwed ourselves up to need so many drugs, but the medical community is not making things any easier. There is a drug for everything these days and most doctors will more readily prescribe a pill than tell you to change something about your lifestyle. If we took better care of ourselves for the rest of our lives, we could spark a new generation of people that are one step closer to where we need to be.
5. Stop mindlessly surfing the internet.
There’s nothing wrong with a little digital entertainment in moderation, in fact I imagine its healthy to relax the mind a bit, but do what you’re going to do and then walk away. Put it down. Check Facebook, email, blogs, sports scores, whatever, and be done. If your laptop starts burning your legs, its a good sign you’ve had it there too long.
Now, if we can tackle the first five things on this list, especially numbers one and five, we will have a shocking amount of new free time to do some things that will prove to be much more valuable - things that most people would say they wish they had more time to devote to.
6. Read. Anything. Read Twilight if you have to. Everyone has books lying around that are either good or not-so-good. Read them and figure out why you think they are good or worthless. Get a library card. Books are free there. If you can’t think of anything to read, read this.
7. Walk out your front door, and close it behind you. Run. Bike. HIke. Walk. Stroll. Explore. Swim. Kayak. Fish. Play golf. Throw a frisbee. Volunteer. Work in the yard. Start a garden. Meet a friend somewhere. Make a friend somewhere. Just get out of your house and leave your phone in your pocket - or better yet, inside.
8. Have a conversation with someone. Once the television is off and the computer is shut down, you might be surprised to look up and find that there are other people living with you inside your own home. Talk to them. It will be good for you. If you don’t know what to talk about - start with the fact that you don’t know what to talk about and try to figure out why.
9. Clean your house. It is probably really dirty. If you pay someone to clean it, stop. Do it yourself like normal human being. If your house is too big for you to clean yourself, then your house is probably too big. Sell it.
10. Get out of the job you hate and get into something that suits you better. This is not necessary if you already love your job, but in my experience very few people love their jobs. If you already do, forget about this one. If you are stuck in a bad situation, I really do have compassion for you - but things are not going to change if you don’t give it a shot. Like my dad used to tell me - no one is going to call you up out of the blue and offer you your dream job, you have to go out there and get it yourself.
If you made it all the way through this post, you’re hopefully inspired by something I’ve said here.
Join me.
If you have a big huge argument about something I’ve said - I don’t really care. I feel pretty certain that these are all good things and it is doubtful that I’m going to be convinced otherwise. I’m not old and wise yet, but I have learned a few things in life and that’s what life is about - progress, not perfection.
Progress.
