I realize that I am taking the Jefferson Airplane song horribly out of context by using it as the title of this post. That’s the beauty of blogging. You can do whatever you want! (Update: As some have pointed out, the song is from Buffalo Springfield. I believe it’s from both, but what do I know about music?)
As some of you know, I announced last Wednesday that I will stop writing the daily Oil Change once the current series concludes. That’s scheduled to happen in a couple of days. I’ve actually been done writing them for a week now. That means I didn’t have to spend some of Friday and all of yesterday writing Oil Changes. It was great! Mind you, I spoke at Greenbelt Baptist Church on Sunday, so that took up some of my day on Friday and a little of Saturday to finalize my message.
I woke up yesterday morning feeling like I wasn’t swamped before the week even started. Since I was still struggling with a cold I picked up on the weekend, I decided to lay low and do minor things. It was so nice out, that I ended up jumping on Heather’s bike and going for a spin. I ended up at a friend’s place and we chatted over coffee for about an hour. It was wonderful. The rest of my afternoon was spent reading a book that I need to review here on the blog (will do it later this week). At one point, as I sat on my front deck reading, my neighbour, Anne, came across the street and we chatted for a good twenty minutes. I hadn’t talked to her or her husband since last Fall. It was good to catch up.
As I sat, enjoying left over ribs from Sunday night, it hit me that no one is going to give me days like the one I had yesterday. If I don’t choose to make time to have time, I wont stop. I wont look around.
Perhaps you’re in the same boat. It seems like you’re always running. Always doing. Are you waiting for someone to stop the world so that you can find the time to enjoy it? If you are, you just might find yourself always waiting. You need to choose to find time to have time.
There’s a passage in the Bible where the author is describing chaos in the world. He describes a time where earthquakes are happening. Mountains are crumbling. Tsunamis are threatening. Nations are in crisis. And in the midst of it all, he writes these words:
Be still, and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:10)
Notice that it is the listener who must choose to be still. Must choose to stop.
I’m not sure what’s going on in your world. But maybe there’s a sound that you are missing because there is too much external noise right now. If that’s the case, perhaps it’s time to stop and listen.
