Monday, May 15, 2017
548 - What, Me Worry?
Spirituality
Column No. 548
May 16, 2017
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
You have plenty of money, great health, job security and career satisfaction. More importantly you have a loving, trustworthy and productive family – no one is in trouble, having trouble or wandering off the behavioral trail. You personally haven’t done anything dumb recently and your long-ago mistakes have buttressed your joy and perspective on life. You are debtless, have abundant discretionary time and resources, eat smart and well, and enjoy companionship that nurtures all involved.
You could do anything or go anywhere. Your mental faculties are sharp; your character, decision-making skills and leadership strength respected. Your political views are trusted, your kindness, patience and humility are obvious, and you possess a vast palette of talents and pursuits freely shared with others. Nobody owes you money.
And that secure job? You love it; can’t wait to get there. It is purpose-filled, interesting, helps others and presents challenges you love. You could quit the job but you don’t want to. You don’t need the money but you revel in labor’s joy.
At home the grass is cut, the flowers are in bloom, a loving spouse awaits and there is not a cross word to be heard. You sleep like a baby and awake with energy and wonder. If you cry it is usually due to happiness and awe, not sorrow and pain.
You love life and life loves you.
Can you improve on all this with a relationship with Jesus Christ? Of course you can, but for the moment let’s talk about true human freedom and what we do with it, and also discuss some of life’s worry-inducing tethers that actually serve to hold us safely back from the perils of over-indulging our worldly appetites and temptations.
It’s a subject as old as Adam and Eve.
In the Garden of Eden life was worry-free and rosy. Yet all God’s gifts did not keep Adam and Eve from listening to Satan instead of minding God. Humanity’s true freedom is properly put to use in the single-minded pursuit of glorifying God, but is often diverted to fashioning a Satan-pleasing false self-godliness. It’s a common mistake.
“There is a God, and I’m not Him,” said the wise priest.
G.K. Chesterton described the seemingly chaotic world of conflicting Christian doctrines, agendas and pursuits as a playground free-for-all taking place atop a tall, flat mountain, with the church serving as the security fence around the chasmic perimeter thus enabling the frantic Christian freedom of activity. Without the fence the people would gather fearfully and lifelessly in the middle, afraid of falling into the abyss.
Christ provides our fear-limited lives with a limitless safety net we often cannot or just plain refuse to see. It’s a lottery we’ve already won: humanity’s spirit-filled heavenly blessings restored from the curse of God through the grace of Jesus. Every worry-free scenario we can imagine falls short of the peace we already have in Christ.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) quotes Mad magazine in the title … and it works.
May 16, 2017
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
What, Me Worry?
By
Bob Walters
Let’s
just suppose for a minute that you have nothing to worry about.
You have plenty of money, great health, job security and career satisfaction. More importantly you have a loving, trustworthy and productive family – no one is in trouble, having trouble or wandering off the behavioral trail. You personally haven’t done anything dumb recently and your long-ago mistakes have buttressed your joy and perspective on life. You are debtless, have abundant discretionary time and resources, eat smart and well, and enjoy companionship that nurtures all involved.
You could do anything or go anywhere. Your mental faculties are sharp; your character, decision-making skills and leadership strength respected. Your political views are trusted, your kindness, patience and humility are obvious, and you possess a vast palette of talents and pursuits freely shared with others. Nobody owes you money.
And that secure job? You love it; can’t wait to get there. It is purpose-filled, interesting, helps others and presents challenges you love. You could quit the job but you don’t want to. You don’t need the money but you revel in labor’s joy.
At home the grass is cut, the flowers are in bloom, a loving spouse awaits and there is not a cross word to be heard. You sleep like a baby and awake with energy and wonder. If you cry it is usually due to happiness and awe, not sorrow and pain.
You love life and life loves you.
Can you improve on all this with a relationship with Jesus Christ? Of course you can, but for the moment let’s talk about true human freedom and what we do with it, and also discuss some of life’s worry-inducing tethers that actually serve to hold us safely back from the perils of over-indulging our worldly appetites and temptations.
It’s a subject as old as Adam and Eve.
In the Garden of Eden life was worry-free and rosy. Yet all God’s gifts did not keep Adam and Eve from listening to Satan instead of minding God. Humanity’s true freedom is properly put to use in the single-minded pursuit of glorifying God, but is often diverted to fashioning a Satan-pleasing false self-godliness. It’s a common mistake.
“There is a God, and I’m not Him,” said the wise priest.
G.K. Chesterton described the seemingly chaotic world of conflicting Christian doctrines, agendas and pursuits as a playground free-for-all taking place atop a tall, flat mountain, with the church serving as the security fence around the chasmic perimeter thus enabling the frantic Christian freedom of activity. Without the fence the people would gather fearfully and lifelessly in the middle, afraid of falling into the abyss.
Christ provides our fear-limited lives with a limitless safety net we often cannot or just plain refuse to see. It’s a lottery we’ve already won: humanity’s spirit-filled heavenly blessings restored from the curse of God through the grace of Jesus. Every worry-free scenario we can imagine falls short of the peace we already have in Christ.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) quotes Mad magazine in the title … and it works.
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