Focus

Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.

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Reflect

I have never understood this verse as much as I think I should, but this week I have gained some understanding of it. I was recently listening to an interview with a filmmaker. He directed a movie called “The Hurt Locker.” The movie is about a soldier who defuses bombs during the Iraq war. After years of highly intense situations, the soldier comes home. There is a scene toward the end of the movie where the soldier is in a grocery store, looking at all the choices for cereal.

The filmmaker elaborated on the scene and said, “He is having trouble adjusting. He has been exposed to a different reality for so long, the endless choices we see in our grocery stores and the people walking around with no sense of fear or dread don’t make sense to him. He has been exposed to a world where bombs could go without warning, but no one even thinks that is a possibility.”

He has been exposed to a different reality and he can no longer see things the same way. My experience is not like the soldier in many ways, but now that I am a little older and I have taught college students and seen my children grow up, I have a little taste of what Jesus is saying in this verse. I am no longer satisfied with the sparkle of this world. Yes, there are enjoyable things in it, but I am no longer consumed by it. I am saddened when I sometimes hear and see young people run headlong into the world, thinking they will find something meaningful and lasting. Like, Qohelth in Ecclesiastes, they will find its all vanity and meaningless. We strive for the kingdom of God. Once we get a taste of that, we can never be comfortable here.

Pray

Lord, give us a taste of your goodness and set our eyes clearly on you. Help us not to be at home in this world. Give us clarity. Amen.

Go with God.