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Ever since I came across this excerpt as mentioned on the Walk Slowly, Live Wildly blog, it has really stayed with me and has indirectly been the subject of meditation.
"Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once…art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the good hiding the best. It is easy to find out whether our lives are focused, and if so, where the focus lies. Where do our thoughts settle when consciousness comes back in the morning? Where do they swing back when the pressure is off during the day? Dare to have it out with God…and ask Him to show you whether or not all is focused on Christ and His glory…" taken from "Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God" by Noel Piper.
The two phrases that really affected me were "to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once" and "the good hiding the best." For me personally, as a Christian, I no longer take part in worldly sins, i.e. drunkenness, stealing, promiscuity, etc. And while my life has wholesome activities and hobbies in it, I grappled with the concept of "good harmless" ideas the other day. For example, while I'm cutting back on watching television, now I'm investing time in reading books. And yes, reading is a good thing and depending upon the subject matter, harmless. But is it really the best thing? While reading of ways to enhance my homemaking skills is a noble and honest pursuit, wouldn't my time be better spent investing my life into others?
We have several neighbors within our unit, but there's one guy who lives directly below us, whom I'd like to minister to. He is most likely in his late sixties to early seventies and he lives alone with the exception of a few cats. His car is always in its space, yet he never leaves many lights on. For the past week I've been meaning to bake him some goodies or invite him over for dinner. But let's face it, at some point we've got to move from meaning to do something to actually doing it. Amen?
What things have you been meaning to do? Why haven't you done them already? What good things are hiding the best things in your life?
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3 comments:
Hey Megan, thanks for leaving a comment so I can find your blog. Being a Housewife can be such a challenging and awesome job! Have you read John Piper's challenge to women? (http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1995/1746_A_Challenge_to_Women/)
It's a great little message to wives like us! :o) (I wish I could keep house like the FlyLady! I saw her link on your blog!)
I linked to your site from the Live Lightly site. I was so excited to see Noel Piper's book on your last post. This is a favorite of mine. I have been thinking lately about who I am and I realize that my personality can change depending on who I am with...hence Noel's quote about being in many different worlds at once. Thanks for the post...it was an encouragement to me.
To Sheila,
Glad you dropped by :) I have read Piper's challenge to women before; I think I actually found it off your blog a while back. Man, that is heavy! But by God's grace, we can accomplish the task that lies before us!
To Deanna,
Thanks for coming by, I love meeting new people :) You know, you brought up a point that I had never thought about regarding changing one's personality to adjust to different worlds. Very insightful. Thanks for enlightening me!
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