Wednesday; June 3

As we enter the third month of this modern crisis I am well aware of the personal impact it is having on me – I AM BORED!  In the beginning the thought of being able to sit at home and get caught up on my TV-watching sounded fun, now I am binge-watching stuff I wasn’t interested in when it came on TV the first time.  When this first started, I was looking for an excuse to avoid going to the gym, now my joints feel rested but my clothes have shrunk.  I was looking forward to sitting on the back porch watching nature, now the biggest thrill of the day seems to be when my neighbors stop mowing and the bees go home at night.  Yep, I am bored.  When I was a child, I resisted the urge to admit I was bored because it seemed to inspire my parents to find things for me to do; but as an adult I don’t have that sort of accountability – or do I? 
One of the side effects of boredom is conflict.  If I don’t have enough to do, not only does my countenance fall, it has a tendency to negatively impact those around me.  I am more likely to stick my nose into your business when I don’t have enough to do.  When I don’t feel fulfilled, I am more apt to start picking at your weaknesses and failings.  When I am not doing something productive, I am tempted to be destructive.  When we become bored, our productivity and our relationships tend to suffer.
When the Apostle Paul learned of some church members who had stopped being productive he called them out by writing, “For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.” (II Thessalonians 3:11).  I realize the circumstances between us and the people of Thessalonica are different, but the challenges might be the similar.  Do we find ourselves fussing and fighting more often?  Could the reason be that we are bored? 
Let’s commit to being productive again.  Yes, it will take effort and creativity, but it will be worth it in the end.
          Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more