THE MOTIONS

If you listen to contemporary Christian radio, you’ve undoubtedly heard Matthew West’s song “The Motions.” For those who haven’t heard it, here are the lyrics to the verses and refrain:

This might hurt, it's not safe
But I know that I've gotta make a change
I don't care if I break,
At least I'll be feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,instead of going through the motions?"

No regrets, not this time
I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I'm finally feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,instead of going through the motions?"

Whenever I hear the song, I have to admit that I’m indicted. There are times in my life (far more than I’d probably like to think about or admit) when I coast. I get complacent and think, “The status quo is OK for today.” And in those moments, while I’m not hurting anyone through my half-way attitude and actions, I’m certainly not helping anyone.

Somehow I don’t think I’m alone. We all go through those “nothing” times in our lives when our minds tell us that we deserve a break, that we don’t have to work at justice or compassion or kindness today because we did it yesterday and it’s on our agenda for tomorrow. But living as a follower of Jesus Christ is not like that. Living as a faithful follower means that we work at these things non-stop, because the needs never stop surfacing. Perhaps that’s why Jesus said, “If any want to become my followers, they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.”

But we can’t do it alone. We can’t keep up a breakneck pace of ministry without returning to the well to be refilled and refueled from time to time. And we can’t wait until it’s too late or else we end up like the tinman in the Wizard of Oz…frozen, motionless (and sometimes e-motionless), and useless. And so in the midst of doing justice and loving kindness, let us remember to walk humbly with our God. God’s consuming passion in our lives can make us whole and supply us with exactly what we need to continue strong in the tasks God has set before us.

I don’t want to get to the end of my ministry…the end of my life…and wonder “What if…?” I don’t want to simply go through the motions. Lord, I need your help…let’s chat!

NEED OR GREED?

I came across a quote from Mahatma Gandhi who said, “In nature, there is enough for every one’s need, but too little for one’s greed.”

I hear about the economic situation and corporate bailouts and I wonder, need or greed?

I hear about military spending (which in 2008 was about $1.7 trillion worldwide) and I wonder, need or greed.

I hear about churches that build multi-million dollar facilities on vast acreages of land (or the Dallas Cowboys who recently completed their new stadium at the cost of $1.15 billion!) and I wonder, need or greed?

At a time when affordable health care for all is being debated, when poverty and hunger still run rampant in our backyards and around the world, when schools are closing and teachers are being laid off, when diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis kill thousands daily, I wonder if the world's greed is standing in the way of caring for some very significant needs.

I recently read that if just 10% of the world military outlays, or 20% of the U.S. military expenditure were diverted yearly, we could fund programs that would end poverty by the year 2015, ensure that adequate health care was available to everyone, and end the spread of deadly diseases. Isn't that a better way to invest our money? Or maybe I'm just being greedy.

What do you think? Let's chat!

FOREVER DANCE

It's been a while since I've posted. Much has taken place, but nothing that should have kept me from writing. And so I return...

Because many of my posts are a sharing of something I have read, the fact that I haven't been blogging is a good indication that my reading has lagged as well. Again, there is no good reason other than "I've been busy..." (and who isn't busy, so that's really not a good reason). And so I return...

Turning again to the poetry of the mystic Hafiz, I came across this gem:

I am happy even before I have a reason

I am full of Light even before the sky

Can greet the sun or the moon.

Dear companions,

We have been in love with God

For so very, very long.

What can (we) now do but

Forever Dance!

When is the last time you felt like dancing? When were you so filled with joy or love or peace that the only fitting response was to kick up your heels, spin and twirl, and fall to the ground laughing? Has it been a while?

Remember the Spirit's word to the church at Ephesus: "I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance...I also know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name and that you ahve not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first" (Revelation 2:2-4).

I know that when it seems like my dancing shoes have gathered dust, when it feels like my relationships are becoming hard work, when I find myself engrossed in simply going through the motions, it's because I've abandoned my first love - God.

Been there yourself? Felt the same way? What has been your response? Let's chat...