Well, this has been one of those weeks. Flu and cold bugs have hit our household this week and don't seem to want to go away. Ryan brought home a cat, a cute kitten. The bird loves it! Not. Adding another member to the household, even a feline member, interrupts the ordinary flow of living. Especially when plants are toppling, the bird is squawking, and the back of your legs are suddenly being impaled by razor-sharp kitten claws. And most worrisome of all, Mary Ann's dad is ill and in the hospital a thousand miles away.
It is amazing to me to watch and feel the energy level dip and the stress level rise as we deal with the "ordinary" disturbances that visit our home. They affect my outlook on life, my patience level with others, my passion for the things I care most about. Can I just pack up my fishing pole, a tent, and a couple of books and come back in a month when everything is better?
If only there were some assurance that everthing would indeed be better. I know it won't. The particular issues will likely be different. It might be a work stress, or another 9/11-like terrorist attack, or a death in the family. Whatever it is there is bound to be something that saps my energy or pushes my buttons. I know this.
But I also know that I have some choices about how I prepare myself to deal with the realities and stresses of everyday living, and I also have some choices about how I choose to respond to events, people, and even pets. Kicking the cat across the room is not ok. And no, I haven't done it.
If you want to know why God isn't dead and why religion won't go away even in our modern and post-modern world, it is because our religious traditions hold a repository of convictions and practices that have sustained stressed-out individuals for centuries. At the center of these convictions is trust - trust that we are truly known for who we are and loved, trust that we have been richly blessed with all that we really need to be happy and well, trust that there is meaning in our lives and that we are here for a higher purpose, and trust that there are spiritual practices and disciplines that can sustain and comfort us when we are in the midst of challenging moments, bad weeks, and even national disasters.
The choice we make on a daily basis is whether we will choose to tap into that repository of convictions and practices. It is hard to do. Sometimes it seems like it is hard to justify when there are so many pressing problems. But if we ever want to get to that place in our lives where we have a deep well of spiritual strength to draw on in our daily lives then we will want to begin to carve out the regular time required. The more I am at this job of being a spiritual leader in our community, the more I am convinced that this may be the most important thing we teach, and the most critical culture of practice and expectation we want to create in our community.
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