OK, all you great comment-leavers out there. Warm up your fingers and get ready to drop some thought in my comment section. Please- I'd love some guidance here. Ground rules: you can't echo someone else's comment. Be original.
These are mostly unorganized thoughts, but they have a point and they have a common theme- I'll get to those two things soon.
I. By small and simple means are great things brought to pass
Story: About 2 years ago I found Beth's old Rubik's cube in Seth's toybox and decided I was going to figure it out. I worked at it at random times (while my code was building at work, when my computer was rebooting, when I rode to and from work with someone, etc). After a few months of practicing for far less than an hour a day, I had it. And from there I learned how to solve the 2x2x2, 4x4x4, and 5x5x5. All from minutes a day.
Story: I love to read, but with 4 kids I seem to have less and less time each year to dedicate to reading. I started listening to books on CD that I got from the library. During the past 4 years, I have "read" nearly 2 dozen books during my commute to and from work and church activities.
Moral: It's amazing what you can accomplish with simple, repeated effort.
II. Career
Thought: Jared and I were talking about work and our available career paths. He and I both have talked about wanting to pursue higher degrees so that we can teach and help people. Some look at higher degrees as portals to prestige, income, or flexibility in schedule. Others want to make a difference- make their mark on the world. We stayed on that last concept for a while. Jared tossed out this thought like a lawn dart that intuitively finds- and punctures- the sprinkler system: What is the source of our sense of accomplishment?
Unanswered questions: Are we living someone else's dream? Who are we listening to that tells us we have succeeded? Are we deciding that for ourselves? How much do you have to earn/accomplish/be in order to be "done"? Why?
III. Eternal Perspective
Monologue: Many things we do in this life will have eternal consequences- eternal importance. What job we hold or what career we build, however, will probably be just a detail. But in the meantime, while we're still in our lives, making money is a huge deal- having your family end up on the street is a bad thing.
Our relationship with Heavenly Father is supposed to be #1 in our lives. But with work draining 9 hours a day (plus 2 more for commuting)- it sure doesn't seem like He's getting His fair share. There must be some way to put the Lord first while still giving work the lion's share of my time.
IV. Wrap It Up
I'm actually not going to point out the common theme. I'll leave it all out there and let you figure out what it means to you. That's more important than what it means to me.
The point, though, is that how we use our time can prove to be critically helpful or critically damaging.
V. Leave the Loose Ends Untied
Is it okay to dream big? Maybe- if you can be "moderate in all things". Is it okay to float through life with no dreams or plans at all? Maybe- if you make good choices. Where's the line? Nope, sorry- no answers to that one here. Does this whole thought group make you feel unsatisfied and a little uncomfortable- maybe even a bit lost? Yeah, me too. That's why I wrote it down.
Your turn.
8 comments:
wow, that was some food for thought. I enjoyed seeing your perspective. I think every effort we put into something brings results. The bigger the effort the better the result. I love the feeling of accomplishment.
Wow, I don't know what I'd do if I had to work 9 hours a day. Poor thing. I measure my success by how many peanut butter whoppers I have. I would be more successful if they weren't so delicious.
Matt, you're a punk. But I love you for it.
I know- you work 28 hours a day, as opposed to my cushy 9. But what about the point I was making?
The ideal is that the Lord gets the highest priority, but the reality is that work demands the largest chunk of time. What to do?
While walking back to my car, I thought, "I always think when I'm walking back to the car." Then, I thought, "What if a portion of the brain could be disabled in order to "think about nothing." This led me to think, "Well, is there such a thing as "doing nothing." Nope. You might say, "If I die, I'm not thinking or doing." Wrong. If you die, your physical body is rotting, your spiritual one--moving on. We are always doing. Breathing, thinking, existing, etc. This thought process inspired me. I'm always doing "something," but am I always aware of that "something?" Do I always consciously choose that "something?" Nope. But, I can.
I'm out of whoppers. Sad face :(
Welp, gotta go to work again tomorrow.
i have frequently thought of the idea that if we devote so many hours to what we may look at as "in ourselves" and not to God, is He getting His fair share. A scholarly lad named chris lincoln taught me a principle one time i've never forgotten: all learning is important to the eternal perspective. with this in mind, think of God's eternal perspective: us. Think of an investment, as long as your investment produces positive fruits, it's working for you. the same application can be applied to the Lord regarding us (His investment). as long as we're learning/growing or providing for others to learn/grow, we're producing positively for the Lord, as his investment. here's an idea, in your prayers in the morning, dedicate your day to the Lord, in thought, action, and heart. That way, everything you do, belongs to "His time." He created an entire world, just for us, everything we do in it can be just for Him. What do you think?
I just dropped in for the comments.
I'd rather ramble my comments to you...and you've probably heard them enough...I will try to keep quiet so you can go to bed ontime someday soon!
I love reading your thoughts. Over the years, i have often felt that too much time is wasted ekking out our existence and too little on enhancing our spiritual growth. I think of that old saying, Bloom where you are planted...and I have come to realize that there are lessons to be learned in the ekking out process...and Gospel truths are everywhere. As I sat in nursing classes and learned that in every body system, stagnating is very bad...stopthe flow of urine or even slow down the process and a very yucky infection develops, and blood that doesn't keep flowing will clot and can cause death...such is true with us...we must move forward and learn and grow. I think it mattereth not so much WHAT we spend our day doing as long as we are looking for and acknowledging the hand of the Lord in the tiny details. the point is to learn and the lessons are there, wherever we are. I do think that change is good though and some of my greatest adventures come from operating outside the proverbial box..go for it Rob.
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