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If I’m not paying attention, I find myself waking up each morning and picking up my phone to find out what is happening in the world. I see the world news. I get drawn into Facebook. I feel like the world is falling apart and the earth is going to be destroyed and I think that people are really quite terrible. My faith is shaken.
If I’m not paying attention, I go to bed with the world news on my mind and terrible images crossing over into my dreams (nightmares). I go to bed with a litany of to-dos jumping over the fences instead of gentle sheep. I go to bed with a slew of worries on my heart. My faith is shaken.
I don’t think I’m alone.
How many of us wake up rushing into the world and listening to the news and scrolling through our social media as we start our day? How many of us go to bed with thoughts of how terrible the world is and a litany of todos and worries? How many of us feel shaken?
How many of us know what terrible things happened this past week in the world? the horrible things that happened in our nation?
How many of us know what’s going on with our neighbors? How many of us reached out to help a neighbor in need? Likely, we’ve got a higher proportion of people who we checked in on and helped. We’re blessed. We live in a small town and we come here, to be reminded each week to reach out to one another. We reach out to hold/help and we reach out to be held/helped!
Big question these days is: Is church still relevant? This is one of the reasons why it is…church and communities of faith can be places to remind us of what matters most and remind us that we matter to something bigger than ourselves and in the lives of the people around us. Not small things in a world that is more and more isolated and lonely. Not small things in a world where we feel more and more irrelevant and unimportant.
How often do we find ourselves disturbed by people and the world around us? How often do we let it shake us and perhaps even shake our faith?
I was thinking about false prophets and idols this week. Perhaps we’re no longer worshipping the golden calf (false idols), but we adore our phones and all the excitement and distraction it has to offer. It’s almost our new idol and it’s filled with false prophets and preachers and teachers. It’s hard to sort out what is real and true. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by what needs our attention in the mess that bombards us each day.
A couple of things to help stay grounded in the chaos is to remember that whatever “it” is might be a mess that needs attention…but it might not need YOUR attention. One of the things that helps stay on target in life is the reminder that where our attention goes…our hearts go. Everyone follows the news. But who’s following their heart? Where our attention goes…our heart follows….
We tend to listen to the news with more attention than we give to anything else in this world. I’m not saying that the news isn’t important. But is it what matters more than anything else? Does the bigger news of the world matter more than the news of our neighbors and our lives? From the attention we give it, it would seem it does.
It’s the thing we talk about. It’s the thing we share. It’s the thing we argue about. It’s the thing that brings discord. It’s the thing that tears us apart. And yes, it is important to do the work up social justice. It is important to raise our voice in our vote. It is important to use our money wisely toward the things that matter are most to us. But how are we using our hands and voices?
In many ways, we have turned the news into our teacher and prophets and answers. The news and social media is what teaches us how to be present in the world. It might seem a simple small thing to post that meme or to say that thing, but is it something we’d say to someone right in front of us? Is it something that we need to say? Or is it something better said by someone else? Is it better left…unsaid?
Does what we are doing reflect who was want to be or say we want to be? Have we lost sight of what is most important? We talk about being good and kind and faithful…and then we post that one little thing, share that little big of gossip, spread that little bit of anger.
Another thing that helps me stay on target in this life is the reminder that if it’s not filled with Love…it’s not me Path. It might be someone else’s path, but it’s not mine. And yes, we’re human. We’re fallible. We forget. It’s why I love the phrase: the practice of faith. Then it’s okay to be shaken. It’s okay to fall. It’s okay…we can get back up and practice once again.
“The media drowns us in such a low image of the human being that it is essential to remind ourselves constantly of something higher.” -Eknath Easwaran
It doesn’t matter what religion or spiritual path we’re talking about. All of them are there to “remind ourselves constantly of something higher“. This is what gives us hope in what can feel like a broken world. It is what gives us peace in a world that feels as if it is in constant war.
I read recently that our society is always either in war, preparing for war, or recovering from war. We’re oriented toward…war. Even our daily lives and interactions with one another and even ourselves are full of warring, battling, and war metaphors.
We go to bed with images of a war torn world in our thoughts. We are drowned in images of the human being at its lowest and worst and meanest. Maybe war has become our idol?
It gives me heart and hope that Jesus didn’t focus on the news or the war torn mess. It was there and he was aware of it, but what Jesus focused on was the people right in front of him. What he focused on was healing the next person who needed him. What he focused on was telling stories that made the common people, the ones on his path, become more faithful and hope-filled people. He spread peace, not war. Not from the top, but from the bottom. He started with his own prayers. Then he spread from there…right where he was, in the life he was living with the people he was living alongside.
Do you feel shaken?
Did anyone read a passage from scripture this past week? Did anyone pray before going to bed? Anyone say words of gratitude before each meal—who remembered to make time to EAT all their meals this week? Who set an intention for bringing grace into the day upon waking up? Who thought about Jesus and/or the Stories or Words?
When was the last time you turned off the news and prayed before bed? When was the last time you woke with your heart ready to notice the blessings of this new day? When was the last time you read scripture or listened to a sacred story? When was the last time you were grateful for the meal set before you?
When was the last time that you reminded yourself of something higher? The higher divine spark in the person right before you. Maybe even the divine Love in the person in the mirror?
Community Church of North Orange & Tully 