The other day Laura Kate, age 4, decided (again) what she wants to be when she grows up. She wants “the person who dumps those big piles of dirt.”
The other day I, age 53, decided (again) what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be the author of a book on leadership.
She’ll think of other things she wants to be when she grows up, and I’ll think of other things I’ll want to be when I grow up. I guess when either of us quits thinking of who or what we want to be at a point of maturity, it’ll be time to die.
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There is only one person who gets to measure love by obedience – that’s Jesus. All the rest of us have a different standard.
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When you’re trying to jam too many pegs into a mental or emotional hole, it’s time to stop. Rest. Be still. When there are many things to do and you don’t know what to do, the answer is, do nothing. Be still. Wait. Rest. When there is lots you want to say and you don’t know where to start, the answer is, say nothing. Listen. Rest.
But what if some things remain undone? What if some ideas go unspoken?
They may. But the reason for waiting and listening is to discern the priceless from the ordinary. The essential from the trivial. The critical from the merely important.
It’s not important to know everything to be said or done – only the next thing. The problem with saying or doing is that for every action we take or every word we say, there are hundreds of thoughts we think – and we can’t speak or act on them all (though some may try). So since we can’t act on them all or speak them all, doesn’t it make sense to speak and act on the most important? The most needed? The most ethical, the wisest, or most loving? This requires the discipline of listening. Waiting. Turning (to God).
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Life is an adventure in finding the balance. And finding the joy in the moment. And hearing the voice of God in it all.
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There’s a dog barking in the background as I type this (I’m on my back porch). Funny, in the midst of all the day’s background noise, if I tell my brain, “Listen for barking dogs,” I can hear them everywhere. All over the place. Not one annoying yapper. A whole community of dogs. Hey, maybe that scene in 101 Dalmations was accurate! The point is what the brain can hear (or see or sense) if it filters out everything else. It is a powerful thing.
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“Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. Just literally 20 seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.” -Matt Damon in “We Bought a Zoo”
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(On the idea that great minds run alike…) “Actually great minds think for themselves. Smart people steal from great minds.” -Jordan Reinhardt Baker.