YaDa YaDa YaDa

     Many of us  of us "old geezers" have been around long enough to just about hear it all:  Enter into worship and we hear all the praise a heart could desire.   Be it in what is called "Traditional" worship, "Contemporary" or even "Blended" worship, words of praise are lifted from those who are gathered around in a sacred space.  After all isn't that what worship is all about ... surrendering to God, yielding our lives and being thankful or offering praise?

   However, hang around this old world a while in the real world, and it is not long before we mere humans seem to think we know better than does God about how this place "should" operate.  Never mind that it was our sin that threw everything all out of kilter and brought sickness, pain and labor by the sweat of the brow to planet earth.  We come across -- as did our exponential numbers of ancestors before us -- having a better plan:  In the summer we hear it's too hot.  Continue for a while during the rainy season and we complain its too wet.  If we get a dry spell, we complain that we have not had enough rain. If we get cold weather, we wish our life away hoping for the spring --where it gets too wet for our liking -- all over again.

   Yup! We seem to know better because we wee little human beings just don't get it that God is in control of this mess we made of everything by our sin and rebellion.  We don't have a clue He really is demonstrating His love along with the right balance for life on planet earth.

   I wonder sometimes if God doesn't get a little tired of our YaDa- YaDa- Yada repetitious grumbling because of our microscopic viewpoint.  I wonder, does it kind of bother Him that -- while He gives us better than we deserve -- He receives back from us ingratitude because of our ant like perspective of things.  We cannot even begin to see the "big picture" while He can see it all in a kind of  IMAX 3-D.  We cannot see around the next corner but He sees it all from all sides and works out the plan for our benefit.

     We only have a short time here on this beautiful and unique ball we call the earth. God's creation of it and sustaining it exudes love that says, "I made this for you all, and I keep it going in perfect balance so that your can live."  He loves us everyday with this life giving homeostatic agape like philosophy; yet, we seem to crave not liking that with which we are blessed. Because we focus on what we don't have rather than on what is God is doing for us. We are not looking through the eyes of faith. So we may not can even see the gifts God lays out for us to cope and live.  And why cannot we see?  Because we are focused on that which makes us feel awful and awfully bad rather than the life giving principals that can help us find some semblance of being grateful and or glad.

     So here is how many of us little creatures respond to our truly Awesome All Powerful God: We "hate" Mondays, long for "Hump" day (Wednesdays,) and actually do find time to "Thank God It's Friday!" We do so because we did not like the other days He gave us as a gift, and we are less thankful for Friday (or not at all) if  it's too hot, rainy, cold, snowy dry of "dreary."  Then we long for another day, month or season of the year. Sadly all this wishing our lives away eventually comes about.  We actually do get close to the end of our journey ... some closer than other. And as our hair get's white with the frost of many winters and our strength begins to be less and our athletic abilities wane, we begin to wise up ... or at-least I hope we do.

   We realize, we are now the older generation.  Hopefully we begin to appreciate that true fulfilled living is a gift of living that is genuinely grateful for the day we have. We hopefully begin to focus the locus of our focus, not on what can happen in weeks months, years or decades. Because we recognize our life expectancy on this side is measured in dog years or less. We focus on living one day at a time, one moment at a time which really does work most of the time.

     Now that I think about it, and if I remember correctly, this is what Jesus wants of us.  I do remember somewhere him asking one thankful  leper ... who was the only one out of ten healed lepers to actually express thanksgiving ... I believe he asked something like ...  Hey where are your other buddies?  Weren't ten of you healed? Yet only one of you said thank you Jesus!  I also remember him telling us to take no thought for tomorrow because today has enough bad stuff of it's own with which to cope.  I hope we can see there is indeed power-filled living in his words.  If we practiced the habit of the minority of lepers and shortened our perception of journeying to one day at a time, we would find more happiness and hope.  But many just don't seem to take Jesus' thoughts  regarding these two things seriously. So we miss out on a lot of living.

   Hopefully I am learning to really grasp Jesus guidance on these matters.  I think I am actually learning that, when I focus on following a life plan of living for the day, trusting God and intentionally choosing to be thankful, something positive and marvelous happens inside my inner, eternal and spiritually based person.  I feel more peaceful, happy and more alive.  But when I try to be the God of my life, I learn all too quickly that it's not good for my spirit, my soul, my mental health nor my physical health. I am less happy, more inwardly dark and less strong.

   Now I am by no means a 24/7 intentionally thankful and praise-filled person.  But it is more of a goal today than before.  Because I like the way it impacts  life.  And I am fairly certain that doing so really does please the Lord more than having blue Mondays, longing for "hump" day and only thanking God for Friday because the other days He gave me just were not good enough ... at-least in my wee little mind.  And I am learning if we didn't get enough rain, the whole world would be a desert.  If we did not get enough cold, the bugs and critters my really bother us  ... and ... well you get my drift..

  I think I am going to daily start each day with surrender, as I have done for a while, and have it as my goal to remember that "This is the day that the LORD has made.  Let us REJOICE and be glad in it!"

SoJourner