Skip to main content

Of Klutzes

             Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:1-2)

This is part of a passage I’m memorizing, and I can generally quote these two verses without difficulty. But today, two similar images come to mind.  One is my own experience, and the other gets talked about online a fair amount. I cannot tell you how many times I have tried to put something somewhere only to have it fall, flip, or otherwise end up somewhere I didn’t want it to be. I pick it back up and try again, and sometimes I must set it in place three or four times, usually chiding myself for being clumsy. The other image is that of a cat, which – if the memes are to be believed, cannot seem to tolerate anything on any surface if the cat can nudge it off.

To make it more challenging, the passage doesn’t refer to one thing that we’re to set, but two. And we’re to set them “on things above.” At the very least, this means “over our heads.” We can’t see all of what’s on that shelf. Sure, there’s a teapot visible, but is the section next to the teapot flat? Is there enough room? We may not have a chair or step stool, so setting anything on that shelf requires stretching. And what if there is some “feline” on that shelf, determined to knock them down?

The point is that we must be prepared to set both our minds and our hearts on things above- on the shelf that is God. Not one or the other, but both, and they may fall down – many times. They may be knocked down to earth repeatedly. And the third option we need to consider is that we may take them down. We may need to put our mind, or will, or both on things above many times per day. I know that as soon as I start to pray my mind wanders off. When I used to joh, I knew I could not focus my mind until I was half-way through my loop.

And when our minds or hearts do wander? It’s easy to swat at the cat or scold ourselves for being klutzes, but that’s another rabbit trail for our minds to wander down. In Practicing the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence suggests that we not make a big deal out of it. Just pick up our thoughts, feelings, or desires and return them to the shelf. Practice, it is said, makes perfect. I don’t think that’s true, but practice does make better and easier.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more