Monday, November 8, 2010
The unexamined life is not worth living...
So many times we go through life without ever stopping to think abut it. We just go through the motions and don't stop. I am as guilty of this as the next person. So many times I wish I would take the time to breath. To take the time and look around me, to notice God's beauty all around me. To take the time to stop and frame that perfect shot and thus hold a memory in my hand for time to come. To take the time to write down my thoughts. To take the time to go for a coffee with a friend every once in a while. Why is it that we always need to be running to the next thing? Why do we always need to be productive? We have lost the art of being silent. We need the noise. We come home and the first thing we do is put on the TV or the radio just to have some background noise drowning out the silence for fear that the silence would take over. What is it that we don't like about being silent, of stopping to think a little, to breath, to fully appreciate life and the things we have been given to enjoy? Is it because we would then have to finally face ourselves? Face who we truly are? Face the pain? The regret? The sorrows? The brokenness? Or is it the need to keep going, to never stop for fear of being left behind. The world is moving so quickly we barely see it. It becomes a blur as we travel through it. I want to slow down, to enjoy, to savor life but I don't know how to. How, when I've been running for so long, do I stop running? How do I start pacing, strolling through life again? I want to breath. I want to stop and feel the sunshine on my face. I want to stop in the middle of the street when it's pouring rain and feel the raindrops on my face. I want to live, to love, to laugh, to savor life. I want to learn the art of being silent, of examining my life, of savoring it. One of my favorite verses is "Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10 - Lord this is my desire, to worship You, to be still before you, to know You more and more each day. Teach me to be still before You and know that You are God.
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5 comments:
Beautiful post Janet. These thoughts are often on my mind too. I was reading somewhere (don't remember where) but that people speak of being busy as though it's a virtue when really it is often just a way to avoid meaningful contemplation. Although I definitely think there is a busyness that is good and rewarding but one shouldn't be busy just to be able to say they're so busy in order to find worth in other people's eyes. It is not ones busyness that makes their life worthwhile. But if it isn't, then what? That's what I think people are searching for.
Beautiful Bible verse at the end...
Love you Girl! I am SO sleepy and have got to go to bed...yaaaaawwwwwn...:)
Thanks Colleen :o)
Being idle or lazy is not a good way of life either. We need to find a balance, it's delicate but it has to be found. I think that in both extremes we loose part of life. By doing nothing we miss out on everything, by doing everything we miss out on the little things that make life so worth it. I often find that I'm a "big picture" person but I long to be a person who notices the little things.
I'm glad you took the time to go to bed! ;op
Yeah, I like to sleep...especially now as my age advances...;)
I totally agree about the lazy bit as well, that also kills something in us...drains us as much as being too busy does. We need balance...
I know that I love indulging in a bit of laziness if I have been super busy but I hate just doing nothing consistently...
Hi Janet, I just came across your blog and I enjoyed this post in particular. The part about facing who you truly are struck a nerve with me. I am on a journey of self discovery, and the more I pay attention the more I realize there are some things about myself I would like to improve. Maybe that's why I don't slow down. I recite that same Psalm all the time, its my favorite. Be still...so simple and yet so difficult.
Hi Deborah, I'm glad you stopped by! :o) I know how painful it can be seeing personal traits that need to change yet never seem to... all we can do is rest easy with the Lord and trust Him to loving guide and change us :o) Don't ever stop learning and changing for we never arrive! And I totally agree with you "Be still" is one of the hardest things to do!!!
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