What I Saw Today

I have a journal that is entitled "What I Saw Today". It's a log of things that impress me...both good and bad. Things that I think may affect my mood, my way of thinking, my faith and to mark the history I see in my lifetime. Here are the entries I made today: a mass of diverse humanity, a cold sunny day, people filled with hope and love, a woman delivering a billiant poem, a church staff watching the TV in silence and awe, Yo Yo Ma and Pearlman on the same stage (anyone...please take me to see these two men perform their music), a man who has a clear view of Christ's love.

Today at 11:00 a.m. I was privilaged to have a job where I could stop and watch the inauguration of our new president. I thought about him and his wife and the task before them. What I saw is the grace and wisdom of a very young couple who are moving forward with an understanding of Christ's message that I wish everyone had. The poetry, the music and finally President Obama's speech drove home the way this country will move forward and become again the true beacon that it was meant to be...a country that has changed in the way we look, feel, have faith and live our lives. I heard someone say recently that when, and only when, with the love of Christ, we can see ourselves in our brother and sister, will we have the ability to truly love, respect and live with each other. Not just in our own country but in the world community. We must all understand this and practice it. No matter your political leaning, we must all agree that Love is the answer. It isn't just a idealogical song, its a way of living.

God made pajamas...proof of a loving God!

I would never want to indicate that I'm prone to sloth. Sloth was finally acceptably defined for me by our senior minister, Dr. John Fiedler, as "resting before any work has been done". Because of that definition I now know that before I'm allowed to relax...ever...I must do something productive. Something that I've been needing to do or something that I'm abliged to do. So this past Saturday morning, at 10:30, when I was feeling the want to relax, I started looking around for something productive I was willing to do so that I wouldn't have to lay around and experience the guilt of the sin of sloth. I wasn't willing to dust the house. I couldn't get excited about doing any laundry or clearing some flowerbeds outside. So with all the energy of a slug I dragged myself to the kitchen and emptied the dishwasher, poured myself another cup of coffee and made the perfect decision to stay in my pajamas until lunch!

It's hard to decide when we are guilty of sloth and when we are simply basking in a moment of well-deserved and much needed rest. Sometimes I think we may talk ourselves into believe we're experience the latter just so we don't feel too cruddy about ourselves. I still can't figure out what my Saturday was all about but I did come up with a way to define whether I'm being a sloth or just relaxing.

As I completed the last rotation of my gleeful summersault back onto the couch, I realized that I was so excited about the prospect of resting that it could have only been a gift. There have been other times on the couch when I just felt miserable and bored. First senario=rest, second senario=sloth! Simple as that. When time doing nothing nurtures, that experience is a gift and we must take part in.

So, at the end of your work day (or mid moring on your day off) get back in your pajamas and take complete joy in your gift of rest.