Slow Down and Tie Your Shoes

Today's world is a fast-paced one. It seems that there is never enough hours in the day. I find that I never have real down time alone. I am nearly always either with other people or busy with something.


Normally when I put my tennis shoes on, I just shove my feet down into them. My dad always told me, as a child, that this ruins the backs of the shoes. I didn't really care. I was much more interested in getting where I was going rather than taking extra care of my shoes. As a result, I did, in fact, ruin my fair share of shoes, and it always made them uncomfortable to wear after the backs were all messed up.


The other day I tried to put my on my shoes as usual. However, last time I had them on I had tied them a little tighter, which made it nearly impossible to slip on. I was forced to sit down and untie the shoes. I thought about how often I fail to slow down for these little things. Whether it's taking the time to do something the right way or taking the time to appreciate some little thing that we take for granted.


I thought about my religious freedom. I can pray or read my Bible anytime I want. But I don't. I guess I figure that right has always been there and will always be; therefore, I can do it later. As you can imagine, it gets put off indefinitely. I think the reason for this is that since I grew up in church and Christian school, I allowed the Bible to become more of a textbook rather than a guide for my life. I stopped putting the proper amount of importance on it.


The point is that I should be taking the time out of each day for spiritual enrichment from the Word. My message to myself through this is to slow down and make time for the important things. Yeah, I have class, homework, jobs, and social time to juggle. If I can fit time in between all that to eat my meals, I'm sure I can squeeze in a spot to get my spiritual nourishment for the day. My body can't function without food; neither can I function as a member of the body of Christ without my spiritual food.


Well, there it is. Slow down and tie your shoes - or whatever it is that you neglect to do the right way or even at all.

Back in the Groove

I spent last semester studying abroad at Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire, England. During that time, I traveled to many countries and experienced the world from a different viewpoint, that most people only dream of. A friend mentioned the other day, "I feel like last semester was just one big dream that only we remember." As cliche as it is, that's exactly how I feel. It was the time of my life.

As a result of being in a foreign country for that four month period, I have been forced to look at everything from a different viewpoint. In fact, if I could summarize what I have learned in one word that word would be perspective. Our perspectives are formed by our personal experiences and by the way we grow up: both the persons in charge of our upbringing and the general environment in which that upbringing takes place.

Let me pause at this point to note that despite the particular perspective that each one of us has (for each person has a unique perspective, although each may overlap, sharing some ideas and disagreeing on others), that does not mean that truth is relative to each perspective. Truth remains constant and the only source of truth is God. God is constant, as the Bible says; and God is truth.

I come from a family of right-wing conservatism. I had, for the most part, always agreed with the viewpoints that they hold. It was not until I arrived at college that I began to question the reasons for my belief in the ideas that my family had taught me to believe. It was not that I was seeking to abandon the teachings of my childhood; I just needed to establish why I believe what I do, and those beliefs needed to be based on truth. I needed to start by searching God's Word to discern between those things which are in accordance with truth and those which are a matter of preference - having nothing at all to do with godliness and truth.

To be honest, this is where I still find myself. I am still wrestling to discern between things which I should stand behind based on the truth of the Bible and those that are simply disguised as religous issues. One thing I am sure of is that God is much more interested in my personal relationship with Him and my testimony to others than whether I can make a strong political argument for Him. I belief life is about relationships: first, our relationship with God; and secondly, our relationships with other people. Think about the life of Christ. He spent His time teaching and fellowshipping with fishermen and common people - not arguing over political policies. For now, that's what I'll try to spend my time doing.