Food for the Journey

Food For The Journey Week of August 3rd, 2009

Folks…

You ever heard about how to kill a frog without the frog knowing it? You put the frog in a pot of cold water – so it’s comfortable… you know, so it doesn’t suspect anything. And you slowly turn up the heat until you bring the water to a boil. As the story goes, the frog will never notice it getting hotter and hotter… but the trick is to turn up the heat SLOWLY!

You ever stop to notice how fast things are? You ever wonder how things got so crazy? Well, it didn’t happen over-night. Our planners and day-timers, blackberries and schedules seem to suck the “moment” right out of our lives… but it happens little by little, over a long period of time. I think the thing is we’re geared to “produce”. If we spend our time on things that are not “productive” then we tend to feel guilty. So we lean towards doing, and doing, and doing. What can we “show” for our time spent? Some people over the years have even told me that if they could get by without sleeping, they would.

I know relaxing is in many respects “un-American”. The American ethos was formed from people that created this country by the sweat of their brow, forging ahead with the strength of their own backs. Our industrial might was founded on those ethics of putting in “an honest 8”. And look where it has gotten us – we’ve become a world industrial leader. Countries still want to be like us in some ways.

Being industrious is not a bad thing… it can help us learn about goals, and living up to our potential… all admirable things. Wouldn’t we want our children to live this way?

What I’m talking about is an imbalance in the way we live our lives. Our “honest 8” has become more and more an honest 10, or 12. We’ve forgotten the “moment”. When was the last time you had a Moment with God? Most of us have to find them as we can… squeezing them in between meetings, or driving from here to there.

Take your time back! You don’t have to let ‘em crank the heat up more and more! Yes there are some things we HAVE to do! But I don’t think those HAVE TO’s are as many as we might think. There probably are more things we have CHOSEN to do because of a variety of reasons. But in the midst of this, don’t forget to take time to just relax.

If you don’t already do this (If you do do this, you really are a step ahead) take a “moment” to be with your kids, with your spouse, with a person you care for, with God (pray, meditate, or however you connect with God) … schedule it, block out some time if you have to… and talk, eat, go for a walk, relax. Our in-box will still be there… it never goes anywhere anyway, and no matter how much we do, there’s always stuff in it… so…

Take A Moment… and see where it takes you!

And just for kicks - here’s a story about The Moment… http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/28/AR2009072803220.html

Peace,

Pr. C-

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust